Two-time NCAA All-American and national champion runner, Travis Thompson, joined the elite Dons' track and field and cross country program as an assistant coach in the fall of 2016, spending one year on the Hilltop.
Thompson came to the Dons after spending four seasons at Lane Community College where he most recently served as the associate head coach, and one year at Oregon State as a volunteer assistant.
While at Lane, Thompson helped the squad to men's and women's southern regional team championships in 2013, '14, and '16, and coached 36 junior college all-americans. He also mentored two athletes that qualified for the USA Junior Track & Field Championships (Rubie Cordey and Rashad Swank-Jones). Coupled with his stint with the Beavers, Thompson guided his athletes to 42 top-10 marks in school history and seven school records.
Along with a solid track record as a coach, Thompson enjoyed an illustrious collegiate running career at track & field powerhouse, Oregon. He was tapped as a two-time NCAA All-American, and earned the 2010 national championship in the indoor distance medley relay where he ran the 800m leg.
The two-year captain for the Ducks was a part of two PAC-12 champion teams, and enjoyed three top-five individual performances at the conference meet (4x400m relay: 3rd – '09, 5th – '10; 800 m – 5th – '10). The Oregon squad finished third at the 2010 NCAA Indoor and Outdoor Track & Field Championships, with Thompson providing key individual and relay performances.
Thompson holds the second-fastest mark in the indoor 600m at Oregon, and the eight-fastest outdoor mark in the 800m with a time of 1:47.6. Starting his collegiate career at Lane, he won the 2007 NWAACC Championship in the 400m.
After graduating from the Ducks' program with a degree in sociology, Thompson went on to earn his masters in coaching and athletic administration from Concordia University-Irvine. Athletically, he continued to round the track, earning a spot at the 2014 USF Outdoor Track & Field Championships in the 800m.
