Jaymes Talkington joined the Kennesaw State Track and Field program as Associate Head Coach in February of 2019.
Since taking over the Jumping Events in 2019, Talkington’s group has seen:
2x Second Team All-Americans
2x All-American Honorable Mentions
4x NCAA National Championship Qualifiers
20x NCAA East Preliminary Qualifiers
1x USA Olympic Trails Qualifier
1x USA Championships Qualifier
2x U20 Championships Qualifiers
33x ASUN Conference Champions
Talkington’s jumpers collected 7x ASUN Event Championships at the Indoor and Outdoor Conference Meet, highlighted by sweeping the podiums in the Men’s and Women’s Pole Vault along with the Men’s Long Jump. Simon Seid broke both the Indoor and Outdoor School Record in the Men’s Pole Vault with a personal best of 5.36m (17’7). The group saw three jumpers qualify for the East Regional Meet: Kaelen Mitchell in the Long Jump, Simon Seid in the Pole Vault, and Justin Campbell in the Triple Jump. Freshman Zane Gibson qualified for the USA U20 Championship in the Pole Vault with a season best jump of 5.00m (16’4). The Owls won both the Indoor and Outdoor Men’s and Women’s team titles in the ASUN for the 2024 seasons.
The 2023 Indoor and Outdoor season was highlighted by Kelvin Campbell, who qualified for the Outdoor National Championship in the Triple Jump with a leap of 16.06m (52’8). Campbell also broke the ASUN Outdoor Conference record in the Triple Jump and was a qualifier for the USA Championships where he finished 13th. Talkington also coached Freshman Simon Seid to the Indoor and Outdoor ASUN Conference Championship in the Pole Vault where he finished the season with a personal best of 5.18m (17ft). Seid also qualified for the USA U20 Championships where he finished 4th. Talkington’s group of jumpers landed 7 Individual ASUN Conference Champions, highlighted by the men’s group winning the Long Jump, Triple Jump, High Jump, and Pole Vault at the Outdoor Conference Championship. The group qualified 7 jumpers for the NCAA East Preliminary Meet; AJ Johnson in the Pole Vault with a PR of 5.25m (17’2), Simon Seid in the Pole Vault with a PR of 5.18m (17’), Kelvin Campbell in the Triple Jump with a PR of 16.06m (52’8), Kaelen Mitchell in the Long Jump with a PR of 7.59m (24’11), Tayla Moreland in the Triple Jump with a PR of 12.62m (41’5), Sultan Simms in the High Jumps with a PR of 2.15m (7’.05), and Juan Cavazos in the High Jump with a PR of 2.15m (7’.05).
In the 2022 Indoor and Outdoor Season, Talkington coached Jasmine Akins to become the first Women’s Long Jumper in KSU history to make finals at the NCAA Indoor National Championships with a jump of 6.37m (20’10 ¾ ) finishing ninth with Second Team All American Honors. Jada Smith broke the Indoor School and ASUN Indoor Conference Record in the Pole Vault with a jump of 3.97m (13’ ¼ ). Kennesaw State now holds both the Indoor and Outdoor Men’s and Women’s ASUN Conference Records in the Pole Vault. Both Akins and Smith won their events at the ASUN Indoor Conference Championship. Freshman AJ Johnson won both the Indoor and Outdoor ASUN Conference Championship in the Men’s Pole Vault, finishing the year with a season best of 5.15m (16’10 ¾ ) qualifying him for the NCAA East Preliminary meet. Talkington’s group saw two other NCAA East Preliminary Qualifiers this year; Sultan Simms in the High Jump and Jasmine Akins in the Long Jump. Akins advanced to the NCAA Outdoor National Championship where she finished with an Honorable Mention. She was the first Owl in KSU history to qualify for the NCAA Outdoor National Championships in the Women’s Long Jump.
At the conclusion of the 2021 Indoor and Outdoor Season, Talkington’s jumpers claimed eight ASUN Conference Event Championships and 11 ASUN All-Conference finishes. The group saw five jumpers qualify for the NCAA East Preliminary Meet in a total of six events. Jack Rhea advanced to the NCAA Outdoor National Championship where he finished with Second Team All-America honors with a 10th-place finish in the pole vault. Rhea also broke both the indoor and outdoor school and conference records in the pole vault with a personal-best jump of 5.35m. Qwazon Al-Khaliq, who was also the ASUN Outdoor Champion, qualified for the 2021 US Olympic Trials in the triple jump with a season-best mark of 15.78m.
During the 2019-2020 indoor season, Brenton Rosa broke the school record in the men’s pole vault with a jump of 5.06m. Talkington coached three ASUN Indoor Conference Champions and five All-ASUN Conference finishers, including a sweep of the podium in the men’s triple jump.
During Talkington’s first year at KSU, he coached Erica Sergeant to break the women’s outdoor pole vault record three times and her own ASUN Conference Record with a final jump of 4.15m. Talkington also coached the women’s indoor and men’s outdoor ASUN Champions in the triple jump. In total, Talkington coached nine ASUN All-Conference Performers and two NCAA Regional qualifiers in the pole vault.
Talkington comes to KSU after spending two years as an assistant coach at Western Carolina working with jumps and multi-event athletes. While at WCU, he coached nine Southern Conference Champions, four NCAA Regional Qualifiers and five Southern Conference Championship teams. Off the track, he oversaw recruiting and acted as a liaison to multiple groups across campus.
He spent 2014-16 at Marshall University while he completed his Master’s degree in Sport Administration. During his first year, he served as a graduate assistant coach working with the Jump, Multi and Sprint events. He helped develop a pair of All-Conference USA Multi-Event student-athletes and one Second Team All-American Triple Jumper who still holds the school record with a jump of 13.56meters (44’6). His final season saw him take over the director of operations role that allowed him to manage the day-to-day operations of the Marshall Track & Field program.
Talkington holds a USA Track & Field Level 1 coaching certificate, a USTFCCCA Jumps Specialist Certification, and a USTFCCCA Strength and Conditioning Certification.
He graduated from the University of Wyoming in 2013 with a Bachelor’s degree in History and was a jumper for the Cowboys Track and Field Team.
