The Texas State track and field team announced two additions to its coaching staff: Aries Merritt and Natalie Ramirez, this offseason.
Merritt joins the program as an assistant coach in sprints, hurdles and relays. Ramirez will be the director of operations and assistant coach in throwing.
Merritt is the current world record holder for the 110-meter hurdle event with a recorded time of 12.80 seconds. He broke the previous record by 0.07 seconds on Sept. 7, 2012 at the Memorial Van Damme meet hosted in Belgium.
According to Merritt, the move from Brown University to Texas State has been smooth.
“My transition was pretty seamless, Coach [John] Frazier was very accommodating just as Texas State has been,” Merritt said. “They relocated me from Brown and it has been fairly quick to say the least.”
Merritt said things have been great thus far in the limited amount of time he has been in San Marcos and with the Texas State track team.
“My time in San Marcos has been excellent so far,” Merritt said. “The team is really, really good and I am directing them on the right track and the right path. I expect them to do really big things this year in the track season.”
Merritt spoke about his previous encounters at the University of Tennessee with Frazier who holds the position of Texas State Director of Track and Field.
“We did have a previous relationship back when I was in college. I turned pro in 2006 and Frazier was just hired around the time I was finishing my degree,” Merritt said.
The world record holder gave his thoughts about working with Frazier, one of his former college coaches.
“He was a fairly good coach then, and he is still a good coach now,” Merritt said. “We have always had a very good working relationship.”
Merritt gave his thoughts on what he hopes the track and field program can accomplish this upcoming season.
“I am hoping we can win a conference championship yet again. The idea is to win both men’s and women’s this year,” Merritt said. “I want to see a lot of the kids make it to NCAA regionals and the NCAA [Championships] and do some damage on the national level.”
Ramirez also spoke about her relationship with Frazier, leading her to coach at Texas State.
“He recruited me to UCLA in 2019, and he was my coach for two years,” Ramirez said. “I always trusted him as an athlete, and in my career as a coach and director of operations. I always felt he would be the perfect person to learn from.”
According to Ramirez, she expects her time in San Marcos will continue to be extraordinary.
“So far it has been amazing and I anticipate it to continue to be amazing,” Ramirez said. “Everybody has been so kind and welcoming, I love the staff and the athletes have been great.”
Ramirez spoke about what she hopes the track and field team can achieve this season.
“Getting another conference championship on the women’s side and hopefully getting towards the same goal on the men’s side. Getting to the bigger stages like junior world or indoor world is completely attainable for these athletes.”
Texas State track and field’s first meet will be the Ted Nelson Invitational on Jan. 25 hosted in College Station.
