Indiana State University Athletics

Billy Poole-Harris joined the Sycamore coaching staff as a distance assistant in 2019 and will be entering his second season with Indiana State during the 2020-21 season.

During a COVID-plagued 2020-21, Poole-Harris helped the men's distance team break into the Indiana State record book. At the 2021 Drake Relays, he oversaw the school-record 4X800-meter relay squad of Wyatt Wyman, Napoleon Hernandez, Leroy Russell and Will Smith as they clocked a time of 7:22.93, a record by over 14 seconds. Russell (1:50.19), Wyman (1:50.42) and Smith (1:50.62) sit at sixth, seventh and eighth in the ISU record book in the outdoor 800-meter run as well from the 2021 season. 

At the 2021 MVC Indoor Championships, Poole-Harris oversaw five All-MVC honors including the men's distance medley relay squad that placed second overall and Will Smith who took third in the men's 800-meter run. 

Overseeing the men's distance squad during the 2020 indoor season, Poole-Harris helped lead the men's Distance Medley Relay team of Justin Niederhaus, Ben Shepard, Leroy Russell and Jackson Krieg to a fifth-place finish and also coached Cale Kilian to a fourth-place finish in a deep mile run field. 

Poole-Harris joins the Sycamores after a year stint at Northern Illinois University where he was the women's volunteer track and field assistant coach with a primary focus in distance events. While at NIU, Poole-Harris helped mentor two Mid-American Conference champions in the triple jump, two All-Conference performers (one in the triple jump, one in the 400-meter hurdles) and five scorers in mid-distance and distance events. The triple jump champion, Jehvania Whyte, placed 32nd at the NCAA Indoor Championships and 20th at the Outdoor Championships.
 
"Coach Poole-Harris is a go-getter and has a great knowledge base in all of track and field with his specialty being distance. I am excited to have the opportunity to work with him and I know that he and Coach Walsh have high standards for our cross country teams," Martin said.
 
Prior to his time at NIU, Poole-Harris served as the head coach cross country and assistant track and field coach at Whitney M. Young High School from 2006-2018. Poole-Harris saw numerous accomplishments while at Whitney M. Young including 29 individual state qualifiers in addition to 14 relay state qualifiers. During his time he coached six Illinois Cross Country All-State Finalists and in 2016 Whitney M. Young became the first Chicago Public School to win sectionals (and went on to place fifth at state finals).
 
In track and field at Whitney M. Young, Poole-Harris coached one state champion in the long jump, John Gardner, in both 2009 and 2010. Gardner also competed at the United States Track & Field Outdoor Junior Championships in 2010. In all, he coached six athletes to Illinois Track & Field All-State honors, as well as one relay. He also coached Gardner and distance standout Clayton Mendez to High School All-American finalist honors. Mendez ultimately went on to compete on the U.S. junior national team at Scotland's 2018 Great Edinburgh Cross Country Race, placing 15th against Great Britain and Europe. A total of seven school records fell at Whitney M. Young High School during Poole-Harris' time at the school.
 
Poole-Harris is also the founder, owner and president of Windy City Hammers Youth Track Club. Started in 2012 with just 13 athletes, it has now merged with two neighboring youth track clubs in Chicago. Since 2013, at least 110 young athletes between the ages of 8-18 have made their way onto the roster. Overall, the club has raised over $4,000 annually since 2014 to help supplement low income athletes.
 
Currently, Poole-Harris is a member of the Coaches Registry and has a USATF Level Three Certificate for endurance. In 2007 he was an attendee of the USATF/USOC Emerging Elite Coaching Symposium and he has over 15 years of full-time coaching in interscholastic and youth settings.
 
Poole-Harris received his Bachelor of Arts in from Concordia University in 2008 in exercise science and fitness management.