Todd Harbour is currently in his sixth season
with the Baylor track program. Since the summer of 2000,
Harbour has served as the head cross country coach, as well
as an assistant track coach.
While at Baylor, Harbour has coached
All-American Floyd Thompson to a fourth-place finish in the
800 at the U.S. Championships and saw Lanie Millar break the
school record in the outdoor 800 meters.
Harbour has seen success with Baylor's
relay teams. The quartet of Jon Capron, Damian Davis,
Jonathan Pike and Floyd Thompson established a school-record
time of 7:17.55 in the 4x800 relay, while the team of Ferenc
Bekesi, Jon Capron, Matt Chance, and Nick Devenport set a
school record in the 4x1,500 meter relay with a time of
15:40.08.
Under the direction of Harbour, Baylor's
cross country teams also have experienced tremendous
success. The women's teams have made back-to-back NCAA
Championship appearances, their first two in school history.
The Bears have hosted the NCAA South Central Regional the
past two years with the women finishing second in 2003 and
third in 2004, while the men have finished seventh both
years. In 2003, the women recorded their highest finish in
school history by placing second at the Big 12
Championships, led by all-conference perfomances from Angela
Marvin and Brittany Brockman, who earned her second straight
all-conference honor in 2004.
One of Baylor's most legendary track
athletes, Harbour holds the school mark in the 1,500 meters
and the mile and is the collegiate world record holder in
the mile with a time of 3:50.34.
During his collegiate days, Harbour was
the Southwest Conference Champion in the 1,500 meters in
1978, 1979, 1980 and 1981. He claimed the NCAA 1,500-meter
runner-up title in 1979, 1980 and 1981, the only athlete to
ever win three consecutive runner-up titles in that event.
Harbour won the silver medal at the Pan Am Games in 1979 and
was ranked ninth in the world in the 1,500-meters in 1982.
After graduating from Baylor, Harbour ran
professionally for Nike and was one of the top milers in the
world. After the 1985 season, Harbour headed to Riesel,
Texas, where he found another profession that would
eventually lead him to Baylor.
Harbour began teaching history at Class 2A
Riesel High School, then found himself coaching the junior
track and field teams. From there he became involved with
the varsity football program and eventually ended up as the
head football coach and athletic director.
His success at Riesel included numerous
district and regional championships in football and track
and field. His track and field teams claimed district
championships from 1987-90 and 1993-97 and produced regional
championships in 1988, 1989 and 1994. Harbour coached eight
individual state champions in track and field and led his
cross country teams to a regional championship and a state
runner-up position. Harbour was the 1995-96 chairman of the
track advisory committee for the Texas High School Coaches
Association.
Harbour's varsity football teams compiled
a 51-24-4 record and advanced to the bi-district playoffs
four times and the area playoffs once in his six years at
the helm. Those accomplishments earned him District 16A
Coach of the Year, Central Texas Coach of the Year, District
14A Coach of the Year and Lay Witness for Christ Ministry
Coach of the Year honors.
Baylor saw success in Harbour's first two
seasons at the helm of the cross country program. The
women's team finished third at the NCAA South Central
Regional, while the men's team placed fourth in 2001. Senior
Kara Newton was the top individual earning her second
consecutive trip to the NCAA Championships after receiving
all-conference and all-region honors. She finished 10th at
the Big 12 Championships and fifth at the regionals before
placing 76th in a field of more than 250 at the national
championships. In 2002, Harbour coached Debbie Thornhill to
All-Big 12 and Big 12 Newcomer of the Year honors as well as
seeing Kyle King to the NCAA Championships.
Harbour, a 2004 inductee into the Rio
Gande Valley Sports Hall of Fame, and his wife, Cindy, have
three boys: Jonathan (22), a senior and manager for the
track and field teams at Baylor, Stephen (20), a sophomore
sprinter on the Baylor track team, and Aaron (16