BATON ROUGE, La. – LSU track and field Head Coach Dennis Shaver announced the hiring of Jimmy Joseph as a recruiting coordinator and Sylvia Russell as an assistant coach on Friday.
Joseph joins the staff after serving as an assistant coach for track and field at Southern Miss last season. During his season with the Golden Eagles, the Donaldsonville, La., native primarily oversaw jumps and multi-events. Prior to his year in Mississippi, Joseph served as head coach of the women’s and men’s cross country and track and field programs at Alcorn State University.
“I would like to thank Coach Shaver for this great opportunity,” said Jimmy Joseph. “I chose LSU for its rich history of winning and its illustrious coaching staff that I want to be of service anyway possible.”
Prior to Alcorn, Joseph served at Garden City Community College in Kansas as the head coach of men’s and women’s track and cross country.
He spent four seasons as the associate head coach and recruiting director at Southern University. Joseph has also worked at the high school level, leading Donaldsonville High School for one year as the head track and field coach.
Russell joins the staff as an assistant coach for the women’s and men’s track and field and cross-country teams. She will be helping to improve the distance squad alongside assistant coach Houston Franks.
“Choosing to coach at LSU presented an opportunity to add to a winning culture and learn alongside exceptional peers,” said Sylvia Russell. “It’s the perfect environment for a coach that is ready to redefine excellence and grow with the sport.”
Russell graduated from Mississippi State in 2020 with a bachelor’s degree in psychology and soon followed it up in 2022 with a master’s of science in food science, nutrition, and health promotion. While studying there, the Ajax, Ontario, Canada, native competed for the Bulldogs in track & field and cross country.
After earning her first master’s degree she went to West Virginia to compete for the Mountaineers and complete her second master’s degree in public administration in 2023.
Russell was an USTFCCCA All-Academic member and a perennial SEC Honor Roll member during her collegiate career. She held personal-best times of 17:13.6 (5k) and 20:38.2 (6k) in college.
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