Rahn Sheffield Position: Head Coach Experience: 18th Year Alma Mater: San Diego State, 1980

Rahn Sheffield's name has become synonymous with San Diego State track and field and he has played an integral part in writing the school's track and field history books.

A graduate of SDSU with a bachelor's degree in industrial arts and a champion track competitor himself, Sheffield has gained a reputation as one of the best at taking athletes with raw talent and developing them to their full potential.

In 2005, seniors Heather Heron and Shayla Balentine became the 13th and 14th athletes under Sheffield's tutelage to earn All-America honors, lifting the Aztecs to a top-30 team finish at the NCAA championships for the second year in a row.

Balentine finished as the runner-up in the pole vault at the NCAA meet, the highest finish by an Aztec since Laura DeSnoo (discus) and LaTanya Sheffield (400 hurdles) won national championships.

Heron, meanwhile, finished eighth in the finals of the 100-meter hurdles and recorded the sixth-fastest time (13.25) in school history during the semifinals.

At the Mountain West Conference outdoor championships, Balentine and Heron were also victorious in the pole vault and 100 hurdles, respectively, while Heron placed second in the 400 hurdles and was also a member of the runner-up 4x400 relay team along with Nicole Carmier, Larnie Boyd and Brittani Dudley.

Balentine captured the pole vaulting crown at the MWC indoor meet with a leap of 14-0, setting a conference, meet and school record. For her efforts, Balentine earned the MWC Female Outstanding Performance Award.

In 2004, Sheffield led the Aztecs to a No. 14 national ranking and their highest team finish (27th) in his tenure at the NCAA meet, highlighted by senior Tonette Dyer's two All-America finishes. Dyer placed fourth in the 200 and fifth in the 100, making her one of only two Aztecs to earn All-America honors four times or more in their career at SDSU (Laura DeSnoo (1982, 84-86) was the other). Dyer was an All-American in both 2003, as a member of the team's eighth-place 4x400 relay, and in 2002, with her ninth-place finish in the 400 meters. Dyer had the world's fastest time (22.34) in the 200 for the majority of the 2004 outdoor season and was also ranked nationally in the 400 (eighth) and 100 (12th).

Sheffield coached the team to second-place efforts in both the outdoor and indoor MWC championships in 2004. SDSU earned all three non-coaching awards for the second straight season at the outdoor meet. Senior Nicole Ireland repeated as the meet's high point award-winner, while Dyer received most outstanding performance honors for her record time of 51.15 in the 400 meters. Heptathlon champion Janine Polischuk was also named the conference's freshman of the year.

The Aztecs won the 2004 California-Nevada State Championships and Sheffield received the meet's coach of the year award for the second consecutive year and third time in the last four seasons.

In 2003, Sheffield guided SDSU to one of the program's finest seasons ever, when a record six Aztecs earned All-America honors. Newcomer Nicole Ireland placed fourth in the 400 hurdles, senior Leslie Miller took sixth in the heptathlon and the 4x400 became the school's first relay to earn All-America accolades with its eighth-place finish.

The NCAA meet was just a cap to the Aztecs' milestone 2003, as Sheffield led SDSU to its first-ever MWC outdoor team championship, breaking Brigham Young's nation's best streak of 21 straight league outdoor titles, dating back to 1983.

Senior Melinda Smedley was named the MWC outdoor meet's most outstanding performer with her sweep of the 100 and 200 meters. Ireland garnered the high-point award, after winning three individual events and running a leg on the two first-place relays. Shanon Meyer earned conference freshman-of-the-year honors at both the indoor and outdoor meets and would later go on to claim the heptathlon at the USA junior nationals in mid-June before taking fourth at the Pan American Junior Championships.

As a team in 2003, SDSU took first at the San Diego City Championships and the Cal-Nevada Championships, elevating to as high as third in the U.S. Track Coaches Association (USTCA) power rankings.

For his efforts, Sheffield earned three major coaching awards in 2003. He was named both MWC and the Cal-Nevada Coach of the Year for the second time in three seasons and followed that with USTCA West District Coach-of-the-Year honors.

In 2002, with Sheffield's guidance, Dyer placed ninth in the 400 meters at the NCAA outdoor meet, running the sixth-fastest time (53.98) by an American entrant in the finals.

Just two weeks prior, Dyer, who was joined by teammates Miller (heptathlon) and Balentine (pole vault) at the NCAA meet, helped the Aztecs place third at the Mountain West Conference championships for the second consecutive season.

Under Sheffield's direction, three school records fell during the 2002 campaign alone. Smedley raced to a school-record time of 23.32 in the 200 meters after running the anchor leg on the fastest ever 4x100-meter relay (44.24) in both school and MWC history. Balentine and teammate Patricia Gutierrez, meanwhile, combined to set the first school record of 2002 in the indoor pole vault (12-9.50).

In 2001, SDSU had two athletes earn All-America honors in the same season for the first time since 1986. Aja Makaila Frary took third in the heptathlon and Daveetta Shepherd placed among the top eight American entrants in the 100-meter hurdles.

The team also took first at the Cal-Nevada meet and third at the MWC outdoor championships to earn Sheffield coach-of-the-year honors at both competitions.

In 1999, Sheffield worked his magic once again, coaching Felicia Stone to a qualifying berth in the NCAA 100-meter hurdles.

SDSU finished fourth at the Western Athletic Conference Championships that year, the second-best finish since 1991, and pole vaulter Aimee Crabtree earned All-America honors.

Another of Sheffield's charges, Miesha McKelvy, twice earned All-America honors (1997 and `98) and competed at the 1998 Goodwill Games before representing the U.S. twice at the world championships, earning a bronze medal in the 100 hurdles in 2003. That same year, McKelvey also ran the third-fastest time ever in the 100 hurdles with a 12:51 clocking at the Nike Prefontaine Classic.

Sheffield's most well-known coaching job, however, began close to home when he directed his sister, LaTanya, in the 400 hurdles. LaTanya Sheffield, who did not begin hurdling until her sophomore year at SDSU, went on to run the fastest time in the world, establish an American record, an NCAA record and an NCAA meet record. She set that collegiate meet record in defeating a stellar field that included Jackie Joyner-Kersee and Sandra Farmer, the former American record holder.

LaTanya Sheffield capped a brilliant career by advancing to the 400-meter hurdle finals at the 1988 Olympic Games, establishing an American Olympic record in the process.

Another standout who developed under Sheffield's coaching wing was Renee Ross, SDSU's record holder in the 800 meters (2:02.88). In 1985, Ross missed the world 500-meter indoor record by a mere second at the Michelob Indoor Invitational. More recently, Sheffield tutored another former Aztec, 2000 Sydney Olympic participant Marla Runyan, who holds seven world records and claimed four gold medals at the 1992 Paralympics in Barcelona, Spain.

Since his arrival on Montezuma Mesa, Sheffield's athletes have rewritten SDSU's outdoor top 10 lists, claiming 16 school records. The Aztecs also dominated the PCAA/Big West Conference, setting six of eight records in the sprinting events.

In 1991, his first year as head coach, SDSU won four events, set three conference records and placed second at the WAC outdoor championships. All of this earned Sheffield coach-of-the-year honors in the conference.

SDSU's first two years in the WAC saw Sheffield produce two-time athlete of the year, Darla Vaughn, a three-time NCAA outdoor championships qualifier and a two-time NCAA Indoor Championships qualifier. She was one of six Sheffield athletes to qualify for the 1992 U.S. Olympic Trials, two of whom advanced to the finals.

Sheffield's trip to the Olympic Trials has become a tradition, with two athletes participating in 1984, eight in 1988, six in 1992, 1996 and 2000, and seven in 2004. Among these notable athletes are Olympic Festival 400-meter hurdle record holder Schowanda Williams and multiple Olympic Festival gold medalist Tim Williams.

In 2004, Sheffield coached Brenda Taylor, the seventh-ranked 400 hurdler in the world, to a spot on the U.S. Olympic team after she ran the third-fastest time ever on American soil. He also guided Megan Addy (eighth) and Tanisha Mills (10th) to national rankings in the 400 hurdles, while leading Miesha McKelvy-Jones to a ninth-place U.S. ranking in the 100 hurdles.

Sheffield's coaching ability has gained him worldwide recognition. He has been named one of the top hurdle/sprint coaches five times by the United States Olympic Development Committee. Sheffield's unique hurdling technique, the "rotation", has changed the outlook on hurdling. Using two of his athletes, the Olympic Development Committee compared this technique to the ultimate 400-meter hurdle model. Sheffield's athletes' performances were proven to be superior to that of the ultimate model.

The foundation for Sheffield's coaching achievements can surely be traced back to his own days as an athlete who had the talent and the heart to win. These are the traits that Sheffield tries to instill in his athletes. His career started at Crenshaw High School in Los Angeles when he won the AAU Age-Group Nationals. This was followed by a stellar career at East L.A. Junior College, where he became conference champion in the 400-meter hurdles and pole vault. He entered SDSU and wasted no time in winning the PCAA crown in the 400-meter hurdles, defeating Dee Dee Cooper, the second-ranked hurdler in the world. Sheffield later became one of only five Aztecs to become a two-time All-American and at one time ranked seventh in the nation and 21st in the world.

Sheffield's athletic expertise is not limited to track and field. He was also a member of the three-time conference champion Crenshaw High School football team. There he was named most valuable player and awarded the Mitchell Watson Memorial Award - the highest honor accorded to athletes at Crenshaw. He also played on a state champion football squad at East L.A. Junior College. Considered the best athlete ever coached by Jim Brown at Crenshaw High School, Sheffield expects nothing less than 100 percent from his athletes.

As a sprint/hurdle coach, Sheffield has been sought out by athletes across the nation and as far away as Canada and Holland. For the past three years (2003-05), he has overseen the Aztec football team's speed and conditioning program, drawing on his expertise as a specialist in the world of the National Football League. Pro football players from across the nation come to Sheffield as a conditioning coach in the off-season and have excelled on their teams as a result. The most notable being current Arizona Cardinals safety Robert Griffith and former San Diego Charger Ronnie Harmon, who was twice named team MVP while under Sheffield's tutelage.

Although the list of athletes coached by Sheffield is long and varied, one common thread runs through them all - a heart and a desire to succeed. With these two ingredients, Sheffield has had repeated success stories and a look into SDSU's history books is a testament to the gift that he possesses.