About Shareese Woods Hicks

UTRGV Athletics hired Shareese Hicks as the Head Track & Field and Cross Country Coach on July 20, 2021, after she spent two successful seasons as an assistant coach at the University of Memphis. Since arriving in the Rio Grande Valley, Hicks has transformed the Vaqueros into one of the premier programs in the Southland Conference, establishing a culture centered on championship performance, academic excellence, community engagement, and student-athlete development.

Under Hicks' leadership, UTRGV has achieved unprecedented success. She guided the Vaqueros to the program's first-ever Southland Conference Women's Indoor Track & Field Championship and has overseen the most successful era in school history. Her student-athletes have earned NCAA All-America honors, qualified a program-record number of athletes to the NCAA West Preliminary Championships, broken numerous school records, and captured multiple Southland Conference individual and relay championships.

Hicks has built a reputation as one of the nation's premier sprint and hurdle coaches. During her tenure, every women's sprint school record has been rewritten, highlighted by the development of NCAA All-American Nayla Harris, who became the first Southland Conference female sprinter from UTRGV to earn First-Team All-America honors. Her athletes consistently rank among the best in the conference and region while achieving personal best performances at an exceptional rate.

Beyond competitive success, Hicks has emphasized the complete development of the student-athlete. Under her leadership, the program has maintained a cumulative team GPA above 3.0, achieved a perfect NCAA Academic Progress Rate (APR), and consistently ranked among the department's top-performing teams academically. Her teams have also been recognized nationally for community service efforts and engagement throughout the Rio Grande Valley.

Hicks has played a significant role in elevating the visibility and infrastructure of UTRGV Track & Field and Cross Country. She helped advertise the efforts surrounding the university's $14 million track and field facility renovation, providing student-athletes with one of the premier training environments in the region. The facility has become a centerpiece for recruiting, community engagement, and championship-level performance.

Prior to UTRGV, Hicks spent two seasons at the University of Memphis, where she coached six conference finalists during the 2020 indoor season and guided multiple athletes to American Athletic Conference Championship finals and NCAA East Preliminary Round appearances.

Before Memphis, Hicks served as Head Track & Field Coach at Neosho County Community College for five seasons. There she coached 20 NJCAA National Championship qualifiers, including three NJCAA All-Americans and a national champion. Her teams improved both competitively and academically while also significantly increasing their community service efforts.

As an athlete, Hicks enjoyed an accomplished professional career from 2008-2015. A USA Indoor National Champion in the 400 meters, she earned bronze medals at the IAAF World Indoor Championships in both the 400 meters and 4x400-meter relay. She represented Team USA internationally, winning relay gold medals at the North American, Central American and Caribbean Championships and earning a silver medal at the Pan American Games.

Prior to her professional career, Hicks was one of the most decorated student-athletes in the history of the University of North Carolina at Charlotte. A four-time NCAA All-American, she won nine individual conference championships and five relay conference titles while helping lead Charlotte to four Atlantic 10 Conference team championships. She remains one of the most accomplished athletes in program history, holding or sharing eight school records.

Hicks became the first female sprinter in Charlotte history to qualify for the NCAA Championships and achieved the highest NCAA finish in program history with a fourth-place finish in the 200 meters at the 2007 NCAA Indoor Championships. In recognition of her extraordinary accomplishments, Charlotte Athletics honored Hicks with a jersey retirement recognition in 2019 and inducted her into the inaugural class of the Charlotte Athletics Hall of Fame in 2020.

A native of Fort Bragg, North Carolina, Hicks is widely recognized as one of the rising leaders in collegiate track and field coaching. Her commitment to excellence, athlete development, and building championship culture continues to elevate UTRGV on the conference, regional, and national levels.

Hicks and her husband, Antwon, have one daughter, Semira.