Kennesaw, Ga. – Director of Track and Field and Cross Country Andy Eggerth, announced the addition of three assistants to his staff for the 2015-16 season.
Ed Loyd has joined the staff as an assistant coach, coaching the jumps. Derrick Atkins will be a volunteer coach working with the sprints and relays group, and Dominique Woods has been named director of track and cross country operations.

Loyd comes to Kennesaw State after spending the last several years as volunteer coaching high school athletes in the jumps. He led several athletes to claim prestigious awards including two gold medals and a silver medal at the GHSA Georgia Olympics and two regional championships. Under Loyds direction, last season senior Bria Matthews from Forest Park High School had the longest triple jump in the nation in 2015.

Loyd also has a pretty illustrious career in the jumps. During his career, he competed in five US Track Championships along with the 1980 and 1984 US Olympic Trials. After high school, he competed at Fresno City College and Cal Poly for a year each before entering the Army. Loyd then headed to Middle Tennessee State to finish his collegiate career. While at MTSU, he won four Ohio Valley Conference Championships in the triple jump. He holds the MTSU track outdoor school record with a jump of 16.81m (55-2) in the triple jump.

"Ed is going to make a great addition to our staff," Eggerth said. "Having been a national class jumper, he knows what it takes to be successful.  He brings to the table wisdom with many years of experience in the sport, as well as many contacts across Georgia.  He is hungry to learn how to be successful as a coach in a DI program, and with that hunger comes a passion and excitement that will surely benefit our student-athletes."

Derrick Atkins, an NAIA Hall of Fame inductee in the athlete category, excelled in both indoor and outdoor track and field for four years at Dickinson State University (N.D.).  He has indoor and outdoor conference sprint records that are still standing, and he led his team to four Dakota Athletic Conference championships.  Atkins is a seven-time national champion, and he won national titles in the 100 meters in 2003, 2004 and 2005. In addition, he is an eight-time All-American in the sprints and relays. Atkins led Dickinson State to two consecutive national championships in 2004 and 2005 and to a runner-up finish in 2003. He also holds a Bahamas national record in the 100 meters in 9.91 seconds. Atkins placed second in the 100 meters at the World Championships in 2007, and he participated in the 2008 and 2012 Olympic Games in the 100 meters for his home country of the Bahamas.

 "With the multitude of sprint and relay events we always have a lot of student-athletes in that group," Eggerth said. "Adding Derrick to the staff provides another set of eyes and ears to be sure we're giving as much individualized coaching attention as possible.  With Derrick's professional and Olympic experience his advice carries weight where he can go beyond simply coaching to provide life lessons for our student-athletes that want to complete professionally, as well as those going professional in something else." 
 
Woods, comes to KSU from Mercer where she served as the Marketing Graduate Assistant. While at Mercer, she was the live event and promotions coordinator for Mercer's football and basketball teams. She also served as the Football Operations Assistant at Mercer where she secured travel logistics and meals for the football team.

Woods competed in track and field while at Shorter University where she was a two time NAIA Indoor Track All-American in the triple jump and two time NAIA Outdoor Track All-American in the triple jump and 4x100m relay team. Woods made the dean's list in all eight of her semesters while at Shorter. She graduated from Shorter with her degree in Business Administration and in Sport Management.

"As the Director of Operations, Dominique is going to be a big time difference maker for our program," Eggerth said.  "Her intelligence and organization are among the best of the best which will really allow our coaching staff to invest more time in our student-athletes and recruiting our future student-athletes.  Having been a strong collegiate jumper herself, she also brings an understanding of how our sport operates."
 
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