Kim Graham-Miller. Photo credit: ucsdtritons.com
Olympic gold medal-winner Kim Graham-Miller will take over stewardship of UC San Diego’s track and field programs, succeeding two long-time head coaches.
Graham-Miller, who won relay gold at the 1996 Atlanta games, had served as an assistant coach at Sacramento State since 2014.
“We are pleased to welcome Kim to the Triton family,” said Earl W. Edwards, UCSD’s athletic director. “Her distinguished career on the track and her proven record of developing scholar-athletes will help build upon our strong tradition of success at UC San Diego.”
Graham-Miller takes over both the men’s and women’s program from long-time co-head coaches Tony Salerno and Darcy Ahner, who retired last season after parts of four decades of coaching on the La Jolla campus.
“I am excited about building a championship program and being a part of the Triton family as we continue to transition to Division I,” she said. “It is a blessing to have this new opportunity to continue to impact young scholar-athletes so they can succeed on and off the track.”
Graham-Miller spent the last eight seasons as an assistant men’s and women’s track & field coach at Sacramento State, working with relay teams and sprints and hurdles. She helped coach the Hornets to six Big Sky Conference titles.
She also had coaching stops at fellow Big West member UC Davis, Duke, Virginia and Illinois.
In three seasons at Davis, she helped the Aggies win two conference titles and coached four individual Big West champions. While coaching at Duke and Virginia, she coached five All-Americans, three Atlantic Coast Conference champions, and eight All-ACC athletes.
A 1993 graduate of Clemson University and track team captain was a three-time ACC Performer of the Year – the only woman to capture that honor three times. She was inducted into Clemson’s Hall of Fame in 1999.
After graduation, Graham-Miller took part in the 1995 Indoor and Outdoor World Championships, where she was a semifinalist in the 400-meter. Competing for the U.S. in the 1996 Olympic Games in Atlanta, she was a 400-meter semifinalist before capturing a gold medal as part of the 4×400 meter relay team.
One year later, in 1997, she earned gold in the 4×400 at the World Championships, and she won the 400m at the U.S. Outdoor Track & Field Championships in 1998.