HAMPTON, Va. (July 25, 2024) – Head track & field coach Maurice Pierce has built a program that has developed multiple Olympians, and this year's 2024 Paris Games continues to prove that fact.
Pierce has coached and or had a former athlete on every Olympic team since the 2000 Sydney Olympics.
Chidi Okezie and Edose Ibadin will compete for Nigeria starting next week. Both were crucial in bringing the 2013 MEAC Men's Outdoor Championship and 2014 MEAC Men's Indoor Championship to Hampton.
Okezie, a 2015 graduate, qualified for Nigeria's 4x400m relay team, along with the mixed relay squad.
While at Hampton, he was an All-American sprinter and was awarded All-MEAC honors in indoor and outdoor track in the 200 and 400-meter dash along with the 4x400m relay.
Okezie also was part of the United States 4x400m relay team that won a gold medal at the 2012 World Junior Championships in Barcelona. He reached the finals of the 400m at the 2018 Commonwealth Games while also running the anchor leg of the 4x400m relay. At the 2018 African Championships, Okezie earned a bronze medal in the 400m. He also anchored the Nigerian 4x400m relay team which earned a bronze medal.
Ibadin also graduated in 2015. He qualified for the 800m.
As a Pirate, Ibadin was named Second Team All-American in the 800m, and First and Second Team All-MEAC across the 800m and 4x400m.
He currently holds the Nigerian record in the 800m at 1:44.65. He helped Nigeria win the gold medal in the 4x100m relay at the 2023 African Games.
"Since 1996, we have created an environment that prepares our elite athletes for the Olympic level," said Coach Pierce. "We've had gold medalists, bronze medalists and finalists at the Olympic Games. Our two former athletes that will represent Nigeria at the 2024 Paris Olympic Games will keep our tradition going."
Past Olympians
The athletes listed below either attended Hampton or were coached by Maurice Pierce or both.
Francena McCorory
McCorory won the gold medal in the 4x400m at both the 2012 and 2016 Summer Olympics and at two World Championships. She also took home the bronze in the 400m at the 2011 World Championships.
While attending HU, she won three NCAA national titles. Those included the 2009 NCAA Indoor Track and Field Championship and both 400m NCAA titles in 2010 (both indoor and outdoor. When she crossed the finish line in the 400m at the 2010 NCAA Indoor Track and Field Championship, McCorory set the NCAA and American record with a time of (50.54). She also attended Hampton's Bethel High School where she set a National High School Indoor Record in 2006 with a 400m time of 51.93.
She was inducted into the MEAC Hall of fame in 2017, and the Hampton Roads Sports Hall of Fame in 2023.
Eldece Clark
Clark represented the Bahamas in the 1996 and 2000 Olympics. She took home the silver medal in the 4x100m in 1996, and won the gold in the same event at the 2000 Olympics.
She holds Hampton's outdoor record in the 100m dash at 11.10 seconds.
At the Central American and Caribbean Championships in 1982 she won gold in the 100m, silver in the 4x100m, and bronze in the 200m. Even earlier, she took home the silver in the 100m (1984) and bronze in the 200m (1982) at the Junior CARIFTA Games. In the Youth CARIFTA Games, she grabbed bronze in the 100m (1980) and 200m (1981).
Kellie Wells
Wells won the bronze medal in the 100m hurdles at the 2012 Olympics.
She holds the school record in the indoor 60m dash, 55m hurdles, and 60m hurdles. She helped the team win the 2005 and 2006 MEAC Women's Indoor Championship and the 2006 MEAC Women's Outdoor Championship.
She earned First Team All-MEAC (60m and 100m), Second Team All-MEAC (60m and 200m), and Third Team All-MEAC (200m) at Hampton.
Wells won the USA Indoor Nationals in the 60m dash in 2011.
Yvette Lewis
She competed in the 100m hurdles for Panama in the 2016 Olympics.
Lewis was a two-time NCAA champion at Hampton, taking the indoor triple jump title in 2006 and outdoor triple jump crown in 2007. She was named an All-American by the U.S. Track & Field and Cross Country Coaches Association (USTFCCCA) four times: 2006 indoor triple jump, 2006 outdoor triple jump, 2007 indoor long jump and triple jump, and 2007 outdoor triple jump and 100-meter hurdles.
She currently holds eight school records – three in the indoor season (triple jump, pentathlon, and individual points) and five outdoor records (100m hurdles, high jump, long jump, triple jump, and individual points.
Since graduating from Hampton in 2007, Lewis established herself as one of the world's top hurdlers and jumpers. In 2011, she won a gold medal in the 100-meter hurdles at the Pan American Games in Guadalajara, while also taking home a silver medal as part of the 4x100-meter relay team.
James Carter
Carter battled for the United States in the 400m hurdles at both the 2004 and 2000 Olympic games.
At the IAAF World Cup in Madrid in 2002, Carter won both gold in the 400m hurdles. In 2002, he took home the gold in the 4x400m and the 400m hurdles at the NACAC Championships.
At Hampton, he was named a two-time All-American in the 400m hurdles and made it to the finals of the National Championship twice (seventh in 1998, third in 1999).
He holds Hampton's indoor triple jump record and the individual points record.
Lavonne Idlette
Idlette competed for the Dominican Republic at the 2012 Olympics in the 100m hurdles. She holds the record for the fastest outdoor 100m hurdle time and the indoor 60m hurdle time in Dominican Republic history.
She won the 100m hurdles at the Ibero-American Championships and grabbed second in the 4x100m relay.
While at Hampton, she helped the team win seven MEAC track & field championships (four indoor, three outdoor).
Brandon Jones
Jones competed for Belize in the 2016 Olympics in the 200m race.
He holds Hampton's outdoor triple jump record.
David Payne
He competed for the United State at the 2008 Olympics where he won a silver medal in the 110m hurdles.
Payne did not attend Hampton University but moved to the area so that Pierce could coach him. He won the bronze medal in the 110m hurdles at both the 2007 and 2009 World Championships. He also brought home the silver at the 2007 Pan American Games (110m hurdles).
