Reava Potter - Women's Track & Field Coach

Reava Potter

Title:
Women's Track and Field Assistant Coach
Email:
rpotter1@uab.edu
Phone:
934-7257

Reava Potter joined the UAB track and field coaching staff after spending three seasons at Bethune-Cookman. Potter will be coaching the jump and multi-event student-athletes under the direction of head coach Kurt Thomas. Last season, Potter helped to guide multiple athletes to success. Zieandrea Bridges broke freshman school records in the Weight Throw, Shot Put (indoor and outdoor), Hammer Throw, and Discus Throw. Bridges best marks in the Weight Throw, Shot Put, and Hammer Throw were also school records for all. Potter also guided three athletes to career personal-best times including Ali Meister and Avril McGhee to scoring positions in the Conference USA Championships. During the 2014-15 season, Potter oversaw an All-Conference USA performer in Shelby Barker. Barker finished third in the Pentathlon and fourth in the Heptathlon during the outdoor season, both personal-bests. Aided in five other athletes setting personal-bests including Kelli Smith with a sixth place finish in the Long Jump at the Conference USA Outdoor Championships While with the Wildcats, the multi-event, vertical jump and women's throws athletes aided the team in its first-ever men's Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference (MEAC) Outdoor Championship and a MEAC men's Indoor Runner-Up finish. In the 2013-14 season, athletes under Potter's charge proved to be significant scorers at both the Indoor and Outdoor Championships, contributing to the Wildcats' program-high finish on the men's side, as Indoor MEAC Runner-up and Outdoor MEAC Champions. Six student-athletes earned All-MEAC honors under Potter's watch, in addition to 2013-14 conference titles for Deidra Jordan (indoor pentathlon), Ed'Ricus Williams (indoor high jump), Keron Stoute (indoor heptathlon) and Nnamdi Davis (outdoor decathlon). Williams finished the indoor season ranked 30th nationally in the high jump and progressed through the outdoor season to rank in a 17th-place tie nationally in the 2013-14 outdoor standings. In her first season with Bethune-Cookman, she guided Martin Embry III to a MEAC outdoor title in the decathlon. In the fall of 2013, Potter was selected to receive a grant from the United States Olympic Committee (OSOC) and attend the USOC's Ethnic and Minority Women in Coaching Leadership Conference (EMWICL) in Colorado. A USA Track & Field Level I Certified Coach with a Level II Certification in Jumps, Potter spent seven months working with the Bears at Shaw University as an assistant coach in both track & field and cross country, joining the staff as part of the NCAA Division II Coaching Enhancement program. In addition to her coaching role, she worked as an administrator with Shaw's Student-Athlete Advisory Committee (SAAC). Potter also received a U.S. Track & Field and Cross Country Coaches Association (USTFCCCA) Academy scholarship as an assistant coach. Before Shaw, Potter was at her alma mater, Temple, where she worked as a graduate assistant after completing her competition eligibility. During her two seasons as a GA, her coaching emphasis was in sprints, hurdles, jumps and multi-events. Potter graduated with a bachelor's degree in Kinesiology in 2010, serving as the Owls' student assistant coach that same year. A four-year letter winner in track at Temple, Potter competed in the heptathlon, 400-meter hurdles, 800 meter run and the triple jump. She also served as the head of the fundraising committee for Temple's Student-Athlete Advisory Committee.