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HC Harlis Meaders
Position: Head Coach, Director of Track & Field/Cross Country (Throws)
Alma Mater: UNC
Graduating Year: 1992
Experience: 1st Year


  Harlis Meaders returns to his alma mater in his first season as the head coach of the track and field and cross country programs. Meaders comes home after an 18-year stint at Florida State that saw him rise to the program's associate head coach in 2004 while coaching the throwers and coordinating recruiting operations.

    "I'm extremely delighted to have the opportunity to reunite with the Carolina family," says Meaders, "I'm a product of North Carolina track and field. I was born and raised in this state and had the privilege to compete at the University of North Carolina.  If you've ever worn the Carolina Blue and White, you know how I feel. Carolina is an extremely special place and it's an honor to give back to the university and the community that has given so much to me."

    Meaders is a 1992 graduate who competed in the discus, shot put, and 35-pound weight throw. While competing, he won back-to-back ACC outdoor titles in the discus in 1991 and 1992 as well as an indoor conference crown in the weight throw in 1992. Meaders was a high school All-America who became an NCAA and Olympic Trials qualifier while at UNC in addition to his three individual conference championships. He set the school record in discus, a mark that stood for 23 years. Meaders ranks second on the UNC all-time list with a discus throw of 186-10 (56.95 meters). Meaders was also a captain on the 1992 track team that won the ACC Outdoor title in the same year.

    The Monroe, N.C., native began his coaching at Western Carolina where he spent three years as an assistant coach while earning his master's degree in physical education. While there Meaders also instructed courses in the physical education department. He coached several Western Carolina track and field athletes to multiple Southern Conference individual titles.

    During his tenure at Florida State, Meaders helped the Seminoles win the U.S. Track & Field and Cross Country Coaches Association's NCAA Division I men's program of the year award for two consecutive years in 2011-12. The Seminole men's and women's programs have both finished among the top five nationally in each of the four years the honor has been awarded by the governing body. As the throws coach, Meaders guided 11 different Florida State throwers to a total of 22 All-America honors and compiled 22 ACC indoor and outdoor titles. The male and female athletes he coached there hold more than three-quarters of the top-10 all-time school bests in the discus, javelin, shot put and weight throws. In 2005, Meaders was named the East Regional Assistant Coach of the Year for his success with the Seminoles throwing corps.

    At Florida State Meaders coached two-time NCAA Champion and Olympian Garrett Johnson who is widely considered the greatest student-athlete in school history. In the fall of 2005 Johnson was honored as the second Rhodes Scholar in school history as well as the first for a student-athlete. In the spring of 2005 Johnson claimed NCAA Indoor and Outdoor titles in the shot put for the Seminoles' first national championships in that event. Johnson also set school, conference and NCAA East Regional records that year. Johnson went on to compete in the 2008 U.S. Olympic Trials, earning a ranking of 14th in the world.

    Meaders has also coached countless Olympians, most recently former Florida State stand-out Dorian Scott of Jamaica in the 2012 London Olympics. Scott was the first Jamaican to ever reach the final of the men's shot put at an Olympics, throwing 66-6 (20.31 meters) to qualify, and ultimately finished 10th with a throw of 67-6 (20.61 meters). Scott has an all-time best shot throw of 70-4 ½ (21.45 meters) which he set in March 2008 in Tallahassee, Fla.

    Among producing top athletes, Meaders has also taught student-athletes who have gone on to become successful coaches: Gregg Jack is the throws coach at Virginia Tech, Cathy Erickson is the head coach at Northeastern University, David Price is at East Carolina, B.J. Linnenbrink is at Duke, and Dorian Scott is an assistant coach at Florida State. Karen Rademeyer and Makiba Batten are also former Meaders' pupils who went on to coach.

   In addition to the coaching and athletic successes to his name, Meaders brings with him a deep commitment to academic success. From 2007 to 2012, his student-athletes earned 19 Academic All-America honors. He was also the co-founder of R.E.A.L. Men (Reliable, Educated, Approachable Leaders), a leadership program at Florida State for male student-athletes. Along with his coaching duties at FSU, Meaders oversaw daily operations, including team travel and budget, as well as acting as the program's liaison with athletic department administration, compliance, facilities, admission, financial aid and the business office.
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