Bobby Lockhart - Track & Field Coach - University of North Carolina Athletics

Bobby Lockhart

Title:
Assistant Coach (Cross Country/Distance)
Email:
lockhart@unc.edu
Phone:
919-962-5222

A renowned assistant coach at Oklahoma State and a standout runner at the University of Wisconsin, Bobby Lockhart has more than proven himself in the track & field and cross country spheres.

A native of Winchester, Va., Lockhart played a pivotal role in the Cowboys' success throughout his 10-year coaching career at Oklahoma State University. During his time at Oklahoma State, the men's cross country team won three NCAA National Championship titles in 2009, 2010, and 2012 and two more top-three finishes in 2011 and 2013. The men's program also won the NCAA Midwest Regional Cross-Country Championships eight times between 2008-2016 and racked up nine consecutive Big 12 Conference Championship titles during that same time period.

Throughout the years, Lockhart's guys have completely dominated the OSU record books, taking over the top-10 in the indoor mile, all but one of the top-10 spots in the indoor 3000 and all but three spots in the 1500. Their success twice earned them a second-place finish in the USTFCCCA National Program of the Year standings and following the 2015-16 academic year, both the men and women found themselves among the top-10 programs in the rankings.

In 2015, Lockhart helped coach the women's cross country team to wins at both the NCAA Midwest Regional Cross Country Championships and the Big 12 Cross Country Championship before the team took seventh at the NCAA National Cross Country Championships.

The teams also found success during the track and field seasons with the men finishing 6th at the 2014 NCAA Indoor National Championships and 8th at 2013 NCAA Indoors in 2013 while also capturing two Big 12 Indoor Track & Field Championships in 2014 and 2016.

While his teams won title after title, Lockhart's student-athletes found just as much success as individual competitors. Having helped coach 103 distance runners to All-America honors and 73 distance runners to Big 12 titles, it comes as no surprise that Lockhart's middle distance training set Chad Noelle on the path to an NCAA Outdoor Championship title in the men's 1500 in 2015. Oklahoma State had four more NCAA individual champions in the middle distance events during Lockhart's tenure, including Kaela Edwards in the 2016 indoor mile and Natalja Piliusina and German Fernandez in the 2013 and 2009 1500m competitions. Fernandez (2008 and 2011), Ryan Vail (2009), Girma Mecheso (2010), Kirubel Erassa (2014) and Vegard Oelstad (2015) were also crowned as Big 12 individual cross country champions.

Under Lockhart's decade at Oklahoma State, the men have managed nine straight cross country titles, six regional titles and a plethora of recognitions. Middle-distance runner Josh Thompson earned three All-America honors for the first time in 20 years and Hassan Abdi won Big 12 Newcomer of the Year in 2017. Lockhart's guidance led Craig Nowak to the Indoor High-Point Award.

In 2016, Lockhart assisted coaching transfer Josh Thompson into a national contender, bringing his personal best mile time down from 4:15 at the beginning of the season to 3:58.33. Thompson went on to win two Big 12 titles in his debut indoor season and anchored the distance medley relay team to the third-fastest time in NCAA history, as well as a fifth-place finish at the NCAA Championships. Thompson's breakout season under Lockhart earned him the USTFCCCA Midwest Region's Male Athlete of the Year award, as well as Big 12 Newcomer of the Year in Cross Country.

Cerake Geberkidane won two Big 12 titles at the 2016 Outdoor Championships that earned him Freshman of the Year. Geberkidane also won an indoor title in the 5000 and took home all-conference honors at the Big 12 Cross Country Championships this season.

Academically, Lockhart's teams have shown just as much dedication to their studies. The men's cross country rosters have earned USTFCCCA Academic All-Americas honors in seven of the last eight years with the 2009 and 2012 teams being named USTFCCCA Scholar Team of the Year. The women's cross country program bested the men's streak by one and have now earned USTFCCCA Academic All-America honors for eight straight years.

An impactful competitor at Wisconsin and former national high school athlete of the year, Lockhart came to Stillwater from the University of Oklahoma, where he served as an assistant coach for the Sooners track and field/cross country program in 2007-08.

A 2007 graduate, Lockhart helped Wisconsin win a national cross country championship in 2005 after finishing runner-up three consecutive years. He was also part of 11 Big Ten championship-winning cross country, indoor track and outdoor track teams.

Twice an NCAA All-American at Wisconsin, Lockhart earned the honor once each in cross country and outdoor track (10,000-meter run). He was twice named to the All-Big Ten Conference Cross Country Team.

Bursting onto the scene as one of the nation's most talented high school distance runners, Lockhart was a member of Team USA at the 2002 World Cross Country Championships and was named a Nike Athlete of the Year after winning the two-mile run at the Nike Indoor Nationals and two-mile run at the Adidas Outdoor Classic. Lockhart was also runner-up at the 2001 Foot Locker National Cross Country Championships and won 19 state titles in Virginia, including a record four in cross country. He was inducted into the Virginia High School Hall of Fame in 2015.