INDIANAPOLIS - Rana Reider has been named the 2011 Nike Coach of the Year by USA Track & Field. Reider will be honored on Saturday, December 3, at the Jesse Owens Awards and Hall of Fame Induction Ceremony in St. Louis, Mo. The event is held in conjunction with USA Track & Field’s 2011 Annual Meeting, which will run November 30-December 4.

Reider helped Team USA stand atop the medal count at the IAAF World Championships as his athletes won three individual medals in Daegu, South Korea. Veteran Dwight Phillips won his fourth world title while Christian Taylor won triple jump gold in his first season as a professional. On the track, Danielle Carruthers also won silver in the women’s 100m hurdles.

“There aren’t words that can describe how I felt at the World Championships,” Reider said. “By the time the triple jump was over, I was exhausted. But it was a surreal feeling to have back to back medals three days in a row.”

Reider has coached Phillips for the past two seasons and has made quite an impression on the World Champion.

“Coach Reider's enthusiasm towards training made this year remarkable,” Phillips said. “This was one of the most frustrating years I have encountered in my career. However, coach Reider helped me accomplish something no other American has ever achieved in the long jump by winning my fourth World Championship. He helped me physically and mentally prepare myself to make history and I could not have done it without him.”

In 20 years of coaching, Reider has led numerous athletes to success at Florida, Kansas State, Clemson, Life University, California Baptist and Riverside Community College. He was previously awarded the NAIA National Coach of the Year honor in 2000. Notable athletes who train under Reider include Walter Davis, Trevell Quinley and Nichole Denby. Reider has also coached the reigning Olympic decathlon champion and this year’s Visa Humanitarian of the Year Bryan Clay in the jumps.

“I was really surprised, shocked and honored to be named Coach of the Year,” Reider said. “Without the athletes I’m coaching, there is no way I’d get this award. This award is as much theirs as mine.”

The Nike Coach of the Year Award has been given annually since 1998 to recognize the outstanding achievements by coaches in our sport. A list of previous recipients can be viewed here.