Ranard Adkison enters his fourth season as assistant coach for the Southwest Baptist University men's and women's track and field teams. Adkison brings an enthusiastic and energetic coaching style to SBU. Working primarily with the sprinters, hurdlers, jumpers, and relays, he has been instrumental in developing ten all-conference performers.

During the 2006-07 campaign, Adkison aided in the development of SBU’s key sprinters including the MIAA 400 meter hurdles runner-up Jennifer Gillespie. In her first year competing in the event, Gillespie posted a time of 1:02.60 at the Linebacker Invitational Last Chance meet in Joplin, MO. which moved her to #19 on the national list. In addition, the sprint squads garnered ten indoor and outdoor school records.

The 2007-08 season proved to be another remarkable year for the sprinters as they improved on six school records from the previous year including three additional. Jennifer Gillespie competed at the NCAA national meet in the 400- meter hurdles, becoming the first SBU women’s sprinter to qualify for the national meet in the school’s history. Gillespie's school-record time of 1:01.25 at the 2008 MIAA Outdoor Championship qualified her for the trip to Walnut, Calif. Gillespie finished 9th, one spot away for All-American status.

"I continually look forward to assisting Coach McElhaney and the rest of the staff in developing a winning program at the conference and national levels," Adkison stated. "At the same time we recognize that winning is not the single measure of success. We work to boost school and community interest in the team, to make our program more attractive to prospective athletes and to improve the performances of each individual and the team as a whole throughout the season.

"Through track and field and the associated training, we seek to develop skills and a work ethic among our athletes that can be transferred to activities off the track."

Adkison entered the coaching ranks following a standout athletic career at Long Island University - Brooklyn. He was a three-time Division I Northeast Conference champion as a member of the sprint team. Adkison set four school records and a conference record while in Brooklyn, NY. He earned his bachelor's degree in Media Arts (Film Production) from Long Island University in 2004 and his master's in Education from Southwest Baptist University in 2007.