The University of Alabama at Birmingham Athletics
Travis Pope Named Head Cross Country Coach
8/28/2023 3:26:00 PM | Women's Cross Country, Women's Track & Field
BIRMINGHAM – Travis Pope has been named the new Head Coach of Cross Country and Assistant Track & Field Coach for the UAB Blazers on August 25, 2023.
He last served as the assistant coach at the University of Texas at Rio Grande Valley. While at UTRGV, he handled training and recruiting for mid/long-distance. Pope would also coach 20 top-ten all-time performers through his stint coaching the Vaquero, including a second-place finish for Ricky Mendoza in the WAC outdoor championships and a third-place finish for Miguel Escamilla in the WAC indoor championships, both in the 800m.
Pope served as a volunteer assistant coach at LSU for three years (2019-22). At LSU, He assisted in training design for mid and long-distance athletes, facilitated practices, day-to-day program operations, and meet management. He helped coach the 2021 Men's Outdoor Track & Field National Championship team and some of LSU's highest-placing men's and women's teams at SEC and NCAA South Central Regional Championships.
He also served as an educator and coach at Creekview High School in Canton, Ga. for four years, coaching Track & Field and Cross Country for three of the four. Pope coached six state champions and four region championship teams and led three cross country teams to top-three performances in the GHSA State Championships.
He would develop six SEC All-Region athletes and seven SEC Indoor Track & Field Scorers, including Katy Ann McDonald and David Bove. McDonald would be the second Tiger to qualify for the NCAA Women's Cross Country Championship.
Pope graduated from LSU in 2015 with a Bachelor of Arts in History and a concentration in Secondary Education. He walked on to the cross country and track & field teams, lettering for three years, and named the 2014 LSU Cross Country Runner of the Year; he boasted one of the program's best times (30:33) in the 10,000-meter run.
"I'm excited for our program and especially our cross country team/distance athletes. Travis is an outstanding young coach coming in with great experience at all levels," said head coach Kurt Thomas. "He comes highly regarded from some of the best distance coaches in the SEC. He has used success and training athletes to personal records, school records and team podium finishes from the places he has been. Our young ladies will be well taken care of."
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