Custom Search ORANGEBURG, SC—Former Mercer Track & Field Coach Jerod Wims has been named the new head coach of Men’s & Women’s Track & Field/Cross Country at South Carolina State University.
Wims
Wims comes to SC State after spending the past five years at the helm of the Mercer University Women's Track and Field and M/W Cross Country programs.
He brings an impressive tradition of winning to the program, with 11 top-three Southern Conference finishers for the track & field and cross country programs in the first three seasons of his tenure at Mercer, developing the program into one of the top sprint groups in the conference.
In 2018, he led Mercer's men's cross country team to a seventh-place conference finish, its highest team finish since joining the SoCon. Freshman Rob Zell earned SoCon All-Freshman honors on the men's side and was accompanied by Hannah Corson, who earned All-Freshman team honors on the women's side after finishing as one of the top rookies in the league.
On the track, the 2019 spring outdoor season included seven top-three finishers at the SoCon Championships, eight new school records, wins in the 4x100 and 4x400 meter relays and a sixth-place finish with a total of 70 points (most in program history) at the SoCon Championships. Mercer's 4x100 meter relay team also recorded the second-fastest time in the state of Georgia for the 2019 season (45.71 seconds). Additionally, the 4x100 meter relay team ranked 32nd in the NCAA East Region, falling just six spots shy of securing a spot at the NCAA East region preliminaries.
In that same year in 2018, Wims guided a young and largely inexperienced women's track & field team to a sixth-place finish at the SoCon Outdoor Championships. Wims led the group to a 49-point finish, a then-program best, three top-three finishers and the first-ever Southern Conference Champion in the triple jump (Alex Williams).
Wims was hired as the interim head coach for track & field and cross country (at Mercer) in 2017, and went on to guide the 2017 squad to a seventh-place finish and 26 points at the SoCon Championships, yet another program-best at that time.
Wims' leadership produced Mercer's first SoCon medalist in 2017, as Ciarra Edwards earned a silver medal in the Javelin throw (38.94 meters) and fell just two meters shy of a school record. Eight school records fell in 2017, five of which were held by 2019 graduate Madison Mueller.
A native of Miami, Fla., Wims previously served as the head coach for track & cross country at Windsor Academy High School and as a Fire Sergeant for the City of Perry (Ga.) prior to Mercer.