Rebecca Rhodes - Track & Field Coach - University of Utah Athletics

Rebecca Rhodes

Title:
Assistant Track & Field Coach
Email:
rrhodes@huntsman.utah.edu
Phone:
503-580-7718

Rebecca Rhodes enters her fourth season as an assistant track & field coach at Utah after joining the Utes in August of 2021. Rhodes spent her undergrad as a track & field student-athlete at the University of Oregon (2008-12) before joining the coaching ranks immediately afterwards.

Rhodes saw tremendous improvement during the 2022-23 track season with over a dozen entries into the school outdoor record book – including five new school records. She also saw Dinedye Denis qualify for the NCAA Championships in the 400m hurdles where she placed 18th-overall to earn USTFCCCA All-America Honorable Mentions.

That improvement continued into the 2023-24 season as the track squad once again made numerous edits to the school record books. The 4x400m relay team qualified for the NCAA West Regionals for the fourth-consecutive year for the first time ever before earning a spot at the NCAA Championships for the first time in program history. Rhodes also had two individuals qualify for the NCAA Championships in Josephine Eriksen (800m) and Harley Daniel (400mH). Eriksen would end up earning USTFCCCA Second-Team All-America honors while Daniel garnered honorable mention selection along with the relay team.

Eriksen also qualified for the 2024 Summer Olympics as a member of the Norwegian 4x400m relay team at the World Athletics Relays in the Bahamas before making her Olympic debut on Aug. 9 inside Stade de France. The Norwegian closed out her career with four indoor records (400m, 600m, 800, 4x400m) and six outdoor records (200m, 400m, 800m, 4x100m relay, 4x400m relay, 4x800m relay). She also broke the Norwegian indoor 600m record (1:28.27) back in 2022 and recently part of the 4x400m relay team that broke the national record twice – once at the World Relays and then again at European Championships (3:26.05) in 2024.

The 2022-23 indoor season saw Denis take down nearly every sprint record at Utah with her breaking the 60m, 200m and 400m records. Like the outdoor season, the indoor track season also saw over a dozen new entries into the record book.

Her first season leading the track & field crew saw a ton of success with Eriksen and Skyler Blair qualifying for the NCAA West Regionals as individuals while Lauren O’Banion, Jasie York and Oneillia Fuller qualified as part of the 4x400m relay team. Additionally, Rhodes’ also had the most track student-athletes compete on Championship Sunday at the Pac-12 Championships since joining the league.

Eriksen, who earned USTFCCCA All-America Honorable Mention honors after racing at the NCAA Championships, had an electric first season as a Ute. The Stavern, Norway, native broke four school records (3 indoors, 1 outdoor) and was a member of the DMR (Indoor) and 4x800m relay (Outdoor) teams that ran the fastest times at Utah.

Rhodes came to SLC having spent four seasons (2017-21) at Eastern Oregon where she served as an assistant track & field/cross country coach. While in La Grande, Ore., her student-athletes set numerous indoor and outdoor records – including 20 new school records for a total of 123 top-10 program marks. Rhodes also coached 10 All-Americans at Eastern Oregon with 47 student-athletes qualifying for the national meet. She helped guide Megan Bolton earn a runner-up finish in the 600m (1:31.9) and also led Paige Dodd to a runner-up finish in the pentathlon with a score of 3,419.

Rhodes was named the USTFCCCA Indoor West Region Assistant Women’s Coach of the Year three-consecutive seasons (2018-21) by her peers. She also swept the award in 2019-20, earning west region assistant coach of the year on both the men’s and women’s side.

Prior to her stint at EOU, Rhodes had two successful seasons at Misericordia University (2015-17) where she saw 11 of her student-athletes earn All-America honors while also breaking 21 school records (sprints and hurdles). Under Rhodes’ guidance, Juwan Pettis-Jackson captured the NCAA Indoor 200m title. In addition, she also coached a pair of runner-up finishers at the NCAA Championships in Oniesha Clarke (outdoor 100m, 11.64) and Reilly Wagner (indoor pentathlon, 3,456 points). Clarke also finished third in the 60m dash (7.63) during the indoor season.

Before her time with Misericordia, Rhodes served as an assistant track & field coach at Moravian College (2014-15) for a season. During her short stint with the Greyhounds, she coached one record holder, a national qualifier and seven conference champions.

Rhodes got her coaching start immediately after graduating at nearby Lane Community College for two seasons (2012-14) as the assistant track & field coach. Her impact was immediately with the Titans winning four conference championships in track & field during her time there. While at LCC Rhodes saw Kara Hollack set the school record in the 100m hurdles (14.16), Sean McGentrick set the 100m hurdles (14.37) record and Jalen Tims set the 400m hurdles (1:02.01) record.

During her time as a student-athlete with the Ducks, Rhodes was a two-time Pac-12 scorer and qualified for the NCAA West Region meet as a senior in the long jump and 100m hurdles. Her time of 8.62 in the 60m hurdles (indoor) still stands in the Women of Oregon record books sitting in a tie for 10th.

In addition, Rhodes is USATF Level Two certified in jumps, USTAFCCA Level Two certified in multi-events and USTAFCCCA Strength and Conditioning certified.

Rhodes earned her bachelor’s degree at the University of Oregon in 2012 and later obtained her MBA with a specialization in sports management from Misericordia University in 2017.