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Jason Francis is in his first season as associate head coach with the Panthers after serving three seasons as an assistant coach. Francis works with the sprints, hurdles, jumps, pole vault and multi-events. He also oversees the program's recruiting efforts, strength and conditioning program and assists in monitoring academic progress. "We are pleased to have Jason in our program," Corfeld said. "He is a track guy, so he really knows his stuff. With his multi-event background, he has knowledge in all areas of track and field, especially the pole vault." Francis has coached 40 individual league champions over his last two seasons and had two athletes with NCAA Provisional marks. In 2006, Joy VanLaanen cleared an NCAA Provisional height in the pole vault and reset the school record in the event by almost 10 inches. Then last season, Jenni Saarinen met the provisional score in the pentathlon. In his first season with UWM, the team broke five league records and seven school marks. That success has carried over into team championships, as he has helped the Panther men to indoor and outdoor Horizon League Championships in each of his first three seasons. The women, meanwhile, have won the last two indoor titles and an outdoor championship in 2007. A 2001 graduate of Indiana State University, Francis spent the 2003-04 season as a volunteer assistant pole vault coach at Lewis University in Romeoville, Ill. In his only season with the Flyers, Francis produced both the indoor and outdoor Division II National Champion and two more All-Americans in the event at both meets. He joined the Lewis staff upon completion of his masters degree in exercise science from Indiana State in 2003. In 2002-03 Francis volunteered with the Sycamore track team, coaching five athletes to top-six finishes at the league meet in the pole vault. Francis' affiliation with Indiana State began as a student-athlete, as he competed in the pole vault and decathlon. Four times he was named to the all-conference team, including in 2001, when he won the outdoor conference championship in the decathlon. A Downers Grove, Ill., native, Francis began at DuPage Junior College after a standout prep career at Downers Grove North High School. Francis is USATF Level II certified in jumping events, sprints, hurdles, relays and combined events and throws. |
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