RICHMOND, Va.- VCU Track & Field Head Coach Jon Riley has announced the hiring of Elaine Derricott as an assistant coach.
"I want to thank Coach Riley for the opportunity to do what I love in the city I love. I look forward to working with the VCU athletics department, our student-athletes and the community to take the Track & Field program to the next level," Derricott said.
Prior to VCU, Derricott has collegiate coaching experience at Richard Bland, Monmouth, Richmond, Virginia Union, Mississippi Valley State, and Eastern Kentucky. She competed collegiately at Marshall where she also served as a strength and conditioning intern.
Derricott spent one season at Richard Bland where she coached six athletes who qualified for the NJCAA National Championship meet, including Freshman Michaelyn Fisher who was named to the NJCAA All-American team after a podium finish in the long jump. Additionally, Derricott led strong sprint teams for the Statesmen as both the men and women had top performers throughout the indoor and outdoor season. In all, Derricott coached 12 athletes to the NJCAA National Qualifiers and 24 athletes to a personal-best performance in their respective event.
Prior to Richard Bland, Derricott spent nearly two years as the head recruiting coach at NCSA recruiting. In this role, she guided high school student-athletes through the college recruiting process. NCSA is the largest recruiting platform in the world as a part of IMG Academy. As part of this role, Derricott helped more than 1,000 recruits and transfers through the college recruiting process.
Additionally, Derricott spent three seasons as an assistant coach at Monmouth where she coached the sprints and hurdles. During her first season, she coached Khalid Slocum who dominated the indoor season in multiple sprint events including five top-2 finishes in the six events he competed in. In her tenure, she coached eight men and nine women who recorded top-10 finishes in program history for their respective events. This includes a dominant performance for the women in the 300-meter dash at the 2021 Wagner Seahawk Shootout. Five Hawks finished in the top 10 for that event and four of them recorded top 10 finishes in program history for the event (Madison Latimer, Brianna Rubio, Alondra Church, Anne Rutledge). Under her leadership, the Hawks won seven MAAC conference titles and set three school records in sprint and hurdle events.
This is Derricott's third stint in Richmond as a coach, previously coaching at the University of Richmond and Virginia Union. At Richmond, Derricott spent two seasons as the assistant track coach, working with the sprinters, jumpers and hurdlers. She was a part of the recruiting coordination that saw their team double their numbers from eight to 16. During her time in Richmond, her team consisted of four USA Track & Field U-20 National Qualifiers, six NCAA Regional Qualifiers, and two NCAA All-Academic Team members. She was also named the school's SAAC Assistant Coach of the Year in 2018.
Derricott spent the 2016-17 season at Virginia Union. She joined the VUU Athletic Department as an Assistant Men's and Women's Track and Field/Cross Country coach in the fall of 2016 where she served as the Recruiting Coordinator and worked directly with the sprints, jumps, hurdles and multi-events. In addition, she assisted with both cross country teams. During her first year, VUU saw a Second Team NCAA DII All-American in the 60M, 42 conference scores, 11 All-Conference performances, three conference champions, 96 personal best performances, and the men's team achieving the highest GPA within the CIAA. Additionally the men's cross country team was crowned CIAA Champions, while the women's team earned runner-up. During the outdoor championships the men's team finished as the league's runner-up.
Before VUU, Derricott served as a graduate assistant coach at Eastern Kentucky, where she coached jumps, throws, and sprints and assisted in the development of the cross country team. During her first year EKU saw one Ohio Valley Conference Champion, three All-Conference athletes, nine conference scorers' during indoor, and 13 conference scorers in outdoor under her direction.
As a student-athlete, Derricott was a seven-time NCAA Division I All-Conference athlete, and 12-time conference scorer. She began her collegiate track career at Radford where she was the Big South Conference Pentathlon Champion, Freshman of the Year, and set the conference pentathlon record before transferring to Marshall. At Marshall, she became the first ever heptathlon conference champion for the Thundering Herd, as well as earning three Conference USA All-Conference finishes in the multi-events. Derricott was also a member of the Herd's record-holding, All-CUSA and NCAA East Preliminary qualifying 4x400 and 4x100 relay teams.
