Track & Field
- Title:
- Assistant Coach (Sprints, Hurdles, Relays)
- Phone:
- 559-278-8785
 THE NEWELL FILE
Hometown: Alamogordo, N.M.
COACHING HISTORY
Fresno State
2019-present: Assistant Coach
San Francisco
2017-19: Assistant Coach
Texas Tech
2015-17: Volunteer Assistant Coach
West Texas A&M
2012-2015: Student Assistant Coach
EDUCATION
West Texas A&M (2015)
Bachelor's in History
Texas Tech (2017)
Master's in Sports Psychology
Last Updated: June 17, 2024
Gary Newell enters his sixth season as Fresno State's assistant coach in charge of sprints, hurdles and relays.
Newell's first year at Fresno State was cut short due to the coronavirus pandemic which canceled all athletic competition in mid-March. His second year saw the coach helped De'ja Hudson become one of the top 400-meter hurdles in the conference. At the Mountain West Championships, the sophomore recorded the seventh-best mark in program history at 1:00.66. He also added freshman Ceonna Pipion to a fourth-place result in the 400 meters at the championships (54.55). His 4x400 relay team, with Pipion running second, earned fourth with a season-best time of 3:46.83 to secure the team fifth at the meet, its best finish since 2017.
With Pipion in tow, she was the anchor of Newell's group throughout her career as they continued to progress. In 2022, she earned her first conference medal with the 4x100 relay, the program's highest finish in the event since 2016.
The 2024 season was the breakout as his group captured six medals. Pipion earned two, placing runner-up in the 400 meters both indoor with program record times (52.22 - outdoor; 52.90 - indoor) and Iyanna Ross earned the other with the program's third-best time, placing third outdoors (53.14). With Chloe Sharp finishing fifth in the race (54.15), Fresno State's group became just the fourth trio in conference history to place in the Top 5 in the event.
All three relays found the podium at conference championships with the 4x400 placing third indoors. The 4x100 broke the program's 21-year-old record with a time of 44.96, taking third, while the 4x400 placed second with the program's No. 2 time of 3:35.39.Â
Pipion and Ross each qualified for the NCAA West First Round in the 400, while Pipion also made it in the 200. With both Pipion and Ross, the 4x400 relay qualified for the regional meet as well.
Newell came to Fresno after after spending the last two seasons at San Francisco where he brought depth to the groups which broke school records in the 60 meters, 400 meters and 4x400 relay.
In his first season at USF in 2017-18, he coached the Dons to three school records in the 60-meter dash (indoor track), the 400 and the 4x400Â relay. He also recruited seven incoming sprints and hurdles student-athletes in his first season. Newell was tasked with boosting the Dons' hurdling crew, and has already done so by bringing in 400-meter hurdling specialists, also helping boost the relay and sprinting groups.
Newell came to the Dons by way of West Texas, most recently at Texas Tech and before that, West Texas A&M. Newell assisted the Red Raiders from 2015-17, helping guide the men to a 17th-place national finish and a top-50 showing for the women. The Red Raiders' squad featured 10 NCAA All-Americans in 2017, and the men's 4x400 relay team finished fifth at the NCAA Championships.
All told, Newell helped bring in the top-ranked sprint recruiting class in the Big 12, and the ninth-ranked sprint recruiting class in the NCAA, and Texas Tech featured 18 NCAA qualifiers during Newell's time with the program.
Prior to his time in Lubbock, Texas, Newell was on staff at his alma mater, West Texas A&M, for four seasons. Competing in NCAA Division II, Newell helped the Buffs capture 22 NCAA DII qualifying positions, with nine of those earning NCAA DII All-American status. Ten athletes were Lone Star Conference champions, and hurdler Cameron Lacour was the league's LSC Outdoor Track & Field Athlete of the Year in 2013.
Newell, a native of Alamogordo, N.M., earned his undergraduate degree in history from West Texas A&M and received his master's in sport psychology from Texas Tech.
