COLLEGE PARK, Md.— The Terrapin squad will welcome three new staff members to the program this season. As announced by Head Coach Andrew Valmon, "We are excited to introduce these new staff members to our team. They each bring values and expertise that will be beneficial to our student-athletes and the program as a whole."
 
Chelsea France will assume the position of assistant coach for distance and cross country. France most recently joins the Maryland squad from a successful stint at the University of Pennsylvania. At Penn, France helped guide the team to some of their best years on the cross country course and on the track (2017-19). The squad boasted three NCAA cross country qualifiers (Madeline Villalba, Sam Webb, and Anthony Russo) in this time period. On the track, Abby Hong was a two-time 10,000m and 5,000m Ivy League Champion with Danielle Orie finishing as the runner up in these events twice in her career. Nia Akins was one of the most decorated athletes at Penn in recent years earning All-American honors as a two-time runner up in the 800m at the 2019 indoor and outdoor championships.  
 
France's previous coaching role was at George Washington University (2014-17), where she mentored and developed distance student-athletes under a newly established track program. This led to numerous conference, regional, and national-level academic and athletic recognitions for the program.  
 
Head Coach, Andrew Valmon, welcomed his new hire stating, "Coach France has all of the tools to help guide our distance program in a direction for success. Her knowledge and experience will be a great asset to our current student-athletes and I look forward to seeing her hit the ground running this season."
 
Matt Koelling will join the Terps in the 2019-20 season as an assistant coach specializing in jumps. Koelling joins the squad from the University of Memphis where he was responsible for the success of the jumpers and short sprints. In the 2018-19 season at Memphis, eight school records were broken in Koelling's events and five athletes earned All-America honors.
 
Memphis junior, Jordan Wesner, broke the 20-year old indoor high jump record with a jump of 2.25m (7'4.5"). He earned 1^st Team All-American Honors at the 2019 NCAA Indoor Championships with a 6^th place finish. He set a new personal best of 2.27m (7'5.25") during the outdoor season while competing unattached and placed 5^th at the USATF Outdoor Championships. Under Koelling's guidance, Tanalya Gordon broke the 21-year old long jump record with a jump of 6.28m (20'7.25"). She earned All-American Honors and was the only freshman to compete at the NCAA Outdoor Championships in long jump. He also coached Saida Burns-Moore, who set an outdoor school record in the high jump of 1.81m (5'11.25") and set a school record and personal best of 13.44m (44'1.25") in triple jump.
 
Before Memphis, Koelling spent the 2016-2017 season in Phoenix, Arizona, coaching a group of post-collegiate jumpers. He guided Josh Honeycutt to a personal best of 16.91m (55'5.75") in triple jump and a ranking of #14 in the world (Indoors).

From 2010-2016 his coaching career took him to Southeast Missouri State University. 
 
Valmon welcomed Koelling to the program stating, "We are excited to have Matt onboard. Our jumps program has historically been well represented at the NCAA level and I look forward to bringing in a coach that can continue this tradition of excellence. Koelling's experience coaching athletes to elite performances will be a strong asset to our program."
 
Mobolaji Adeokun (BJ) will join the Terrapin staff for the 2019-20 season assisting with administrative and coaching responsibilities. While she received her undergraduate degree at the University of Texas at Austin, Mobolaji is originally from the DMV area. She was a standout high school athlete in the hurdles while attending Duval high school in Lanham, Maryland. She went on to earn All-American honors in the 100m hurdles during her stellar collegiate career at Texas.
 
Following her graduation from Texas in 2016, Mobolaji traveled abroad to compete in Europe. During this time she also earned a masters degree in sports management from the University of East London, United Kingdom in 2018.
 
Head Coach Andrew Valmon welcomed her to the program stating, "I am looking forward to having BJ's assistance this year with our program. Her eagerness to learn and grow is a key asset and her experiences make her a strong role model for our student-athletes."
 
The first of the three running seasons will go underway with the cross country team opening up in their preliminary competition on August 30^th.