ABILENE – Abilene Christian head track and field coach
Keith Barnier Friday announced the addition of NCAA Division II triple jump champion Vladyslav Gorbenko to an already superior assistant coaching staff.
Gorbenko is the fifth assistant coach hired by Barnier this offseason, joining a group that features national champions
Angie Aguilar (pole vault),
Drew Graham (distance) and
Nick Jones (throws), plus multiple all-Americas
Cory Aguilar (pole vault) and
Jerrod Cook (throws).
"I'm thrilled to have Vlad, a no-nonsense national champion jumper, back here at ACU to educate our Wildcats on how to perform at their very best when it means the most," said Barnier. "Vlad is a great role model for all of our student-athletes and fits the mission of this university and our track and field program."
A native of Dnepropetrovsk, Ukraine, Gorbenko will oversee the Wildcats' progress in the long and triple jumps, which were his two primary events as a student-athlete from 2004 to 2007. His honors include the 2007 national indoor title in the triple jump, eight all-America citations and three consecutive Lone Star Conference triple jump crowns in 2005, 2006 and 2007.
Gorbenko's best outdoor triple jump as a Wildcat of 52 feet-6.75 inches set a LSC meet record in 2006 and ranks as the seventh best all-time at ACU. His longest indoor triple jump distance of 53-4 was posted at the national championships in Boston and is third best mark in Wildcat history.
Gorbenko was a key member of the Wildcats' Purple Reign of the mid-2000's, during which they won four national outdoor and conference championship and back-to-back NCAA indoor titles in 2004 and 2005. ACU was the national runner-up indoors during Gorbenko's junior and senior seasons.
Gorbenko's teammates also were among the very best triple jumpers in the NCAA. Yevgen Pashchenko won the national indoor and outdoor titles in 2004, while Davy Manga won it outdoors in 2007. Gorbenko and Manga later shared ACU's Kirk Goodwin Award, which is presented to the Wildcats' outstanding field event performer.
A two-time academic all-conference selection and academic all-district honoree, Gorbenko graduated from ACU in 2007 with a degree in architectural design. He and his wife, Allison (Tate), have a two-year-old son, William.
