RIO GRANDE VALLEY – The University of Texas Rio Grande Valley (UTRGV) Department of Intercollegiate Athletics announced on Tuesday the hiring of Travis Pope to be the new distance assistant coach with the cross country and track & field programs.
 
Pope served as a volunteer assistant coach at LSU from June 2019 through Jan. 2022. Prior to that stop, Pope spent four years coaching at Creekview High School in Canton, Ga., including three as the head track & field and cross country coach. 
 
He was a three-time Region 6A and Cherokee County track & field/cross country coach of the year. Pope coached six state champions and four region championship teams and led three cross country teams to top-3 performances at state. 
 
"I am very excited to start this new opportunity. UTRGV head coach Shareese Hicks has built a great staff and I cannot wait to help our program reach new levels of competitiveness," Pope said. "I want to make sure we help our student-athletes become successful on the track and in the classroom. Our goal is to consistently perform at a high level and compete for the top spots in our conference, region and, ultimately, the national level." 
 
At LSU, Pope assisted with recruiting and training methodology and design for mid- and long-distance athletes. He helped coach the 2021 Men's Outdoor Track & Field National Championship team and some of LSU's highest-placing men's and women's teams at SEC and NCAA South Central Regional Championships. 
 
He assisted in the training of several All-SEC and All-Region athletes, and coached Katy-Ann McDonald and Davis Bove to become NCAA Championship qualifiers. In total, Pope helped his distance runners set 19 top-10 times in LSU history. 
 
Pope graduated from LSU in 2015 with a Bachelor of Arts in History and a concentration in Secondary Education. After walking on to the cross country and track & field teams, he quickly rose to the top. Pope was the 2014 LSU Cross Country Runner of the Year and boasted one of the program's best times (30:33) in the 10,000-meter run. 
 
"We are very excited to welcome Coach Pope aboard. He is the final piece to what we hope to see in the future of our program," Hicks said. "Coach Pope brings a championship mentality to the Valley. He has a wealth of knowledge in his event group and will push our student-athletes to more lifetime bests. His SEC pedigree will complement the foundation we have put together across our entire team." 

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