Shawn Wilbourn - Interim Head Coach - Track & Field Coaches

Photo by: Duke Athletics

Shawn Wilbourn

Title:
Interim Head Coach
Email:
shawn.wilbourn@duke.edu
Phone:
(919) 681-6360

Shawn Wilbourn serves as the A. Morris Williams Jr., Track & Field Director for Duke Athletics, a role he assumed on April 6, 2021. The 2025-26 campaign marks Wilbourn’s sixth season leading the Blue Devils’ track & field program.

Through five seasons at the helm, Wilbourn has led the Blue Devils to five ACC Championships, including four women’s titles (2021 Outdoor, 2022 Indoor, 2023 Outdoor, 2024 Outdoor) and one men’s championship (2025 Outdoor). Across the indoor and outdoor conference meets, Duke student-athletes have totaled 246 All-ACC honors under his watch, including 30 ACC event championships and 141 total medals.

A four-time ACC Outdoor Coach of the Year (2021, 2023, 2024, 2025) and two-time USTFCCCA Southeast Region Head Coach of the Year honoree (2023, 2025), Wilbourn has helped Duke qualify 83 student-athletes and total 88 All-America plaudits across the NCAA Indoor and Outdoor Championships. Additionally, under his direct tutelage, Simen Guttormsen reached the pinnacle of success at the indoor national meet, capturing the 2025 NCAA Indoor Championship in the men’s pole vault.

In 2022, Wilbourn was selected as one of four assistant coaches for the United States' Men's Track and Field national team at the 2022 World Athletics Championships Oregon22, where he coached the throws and multis units. Wilbourn also previously served as a member of the USATF National Team staff at the 2019 NACAC U23 Championships (Queretaro, Mexico) and the 2021 Pan Am U20 Championships (Santiago, Chile).

Wilbourn took over as interim head coach in July 2020 following the retirement of Norm Ogilvie and quickly guided Duke to success during the 2020-21 season. The men’s and women’s teams combined for seven medals at the ACC Indoor Championships and qualified two women for the NCAA Championships for the first time since 2018. Erin Marsh led the way with a bronze medal in the pentathlon, setting a program record and becoming Duke’s first NCAA medalist since Megan Clark in 2016.

During the outdoor slate, Wilbourn was named ACC Women’s Outdoor Coach of the Year after leading Duke to its first ACC Women’s Outdoor Championship. The historic season included three USTFCCCA All-America First Team honors for the women, headlined by standout performances from Brittany Aveni – the program’s first five-time All-American – and Marsh, who finished fourth in the heptathlon at the NCAA Outdoor Championships with a school record in the event.
Under Wilbourn’s leadership, Duke captured four ACC individual outdoor titles, highlighted by Aveni’s win in the 400m, Elasia Campbell’s high jump title and the championship-clinching 4x400m relay. The 2020–21 campaign also saw eight women’s outdoor school records broken across sprint, hurdle, relay and multis event disciplines, with Wilbourn coaching four Blue Devils who competed at the 2021 U.S. Olympic Trials.

Prior to his elevation, Wilbourn spent 10 seasons as an assistant and associate head coach with the Blue Devils. During this time, Wilbourn worked with Duke’s multis, pole vault, horizontal jumps, hurdles and sprint student-athletes. He earned back-to-back USTFCCCA Southeast Region Assistant Coach of the Year accolades (2015, 2016) and was instrumental in the development of numerous student-athletes that earned All-ACC and All-America honors.

During the 2019–20 season, Wilbourn guided Erin Marsh to the ACC Indoor pentathlon title and a qualifying spot at the NCAA Indoor Championships. Although the NCAA meet was canceled due to COVID-19, Marsh was still recognized as a USTFCCCA All-American. Wilbourn also coached Jacob Sobota, Esteban Suarez and Chesney Ward to all-conference performances at the ACC Indoor Championships.

Wilbourn’s 2019 crew notched record-breaking performances, setting Duke records in the indoor and outdoor triple jump (Dominique Patton), 100m hurdles (Erin Marsh) and 400m hurdles (India Lowe). Additional top-five program marks came in the pole vault, pentathlon and heptathlon. Marsh earned runner-up and All-ACC First Team honors at the ACC championships, along with USTFCCCA All-America Second Team honors at the NCAA Championships in the indoor pentathlon and outdoor heptathlon, respectively.

Esteban Suarez earned bronze and All-ACC First Team honors in the pole vault at the ACC Indoor Championships, with Cole Rowan, Rivka Arbiv, Patton and Nati Sheppard earning Indoor All-ACC status as well. At the ACC Outdoor Championships, Lauren Hoffman, Marsh and Sheppard claimed All-ACC First Team honors while Kate Kutzer, Rowan and Suarez earned nods to the second team.

In 2018, Wilbourn’s athletes earned All-America honors at the NCAA Championships, led by Madison Heath (Indoor, USTFCCCA All-America First Team) and Laura Marty (Outdoor, USTFCCCA All-America Second Team). Heath earned All-ACC First Team accolades at the ACC Indoor Championships, adding a second-team nod alongside Nati Sheppard at the outdoor meet. The multis group excelled with All-ACC honors from Jacob Sobota, Christian Friis and Jaida Lemmons indoors, followed by outdoor recognition for Lemmons, Erin Marsh, Sobota and Friis.

The 2017 season featured strong national and conference success, highlighted by Madison Heath earning USTFCCCA All-America Second Team honors at both NCAA Indoor and Outdoor Championships. Daniel Golubovic added All-America honors in the decathlon during the outdoor season, while Connor Hall earned honorable mention recognition.

At the ACC Championships, Heath won the indoor pole vault title, Golubovic and Chaz Hawkins earned All-ACC honors in the heptathlon, and multiple athletes – including Heath, Golubovic, Hall, Sydnei Murphy, Jaida Lemmons and Nati Sheppard – collected All-ACC honors during the indoor and outdoor campaigns.

Wilbourn’s 2016 unit featured multiple NCAA qualifiers, including Megan Clark, Madison Heath, Teddi Maslowski and Karli Johonnot. Clark finished second at the NCAA Indoor Championships and captured ACC titles in the pole vault, while Johonnot won the ACC pentathlon and Robert Rohner claimed the men’s heptathlon title. The season included four women setting indoor school records, numerous All-ACC and All-America honors earned, and Clark being named USTFCCCA Southeast Region Women’s Field Athlete of the Year.

In 2015, Wilbourn guided Megan Clark through one of the top pole vault seasons in program history, highlighted by indoor USTFCCCA All-America First Team honors, ACC Indoor Field Performer of the Year recognition and school records indoors and outdoors. Clark won ACC titles during the indoor and outdoor seasons and finished second at the NCAA Indoor Championships, tying the ACC record. Connor Hall also posted a career-best year, finishing second at the ACC Outdoor Championships with one of the top marks in school history.

Prior to working at Duke, Wilbourn held a similar position at Georgia after spending four years at Cortland State University, the last two as Director of Men’s and Women’s Track and Field and Cross Country. He was honored with numerous Atlantic Region and New York State Coach of the Year honors for his mentoring at Cortland State, while coaching 18 All-Americans and two national champions.

Wilbourn’s other collegiate coaching stops include the University of Arizona, Arizona State University and his alma mater, Long Beach State University, where he also earned his master’s in kinesiology in 2003. A standout athlete in football and track & field during his time with The Beach, Wilbourn was inducted into the Long Beach State Athletics Hall of Fame as a member of the 2013 class.

In addition to college coaching experience, Wilbourn has also imparted his knowledge to athletes following their collegiate careers. In 2008, Wilbourn coached former Georgia long jumper Patty Sylvester to the Beijing Olympics. The Grenadian posted a mark of 22-0.25 (6.71) the same year, a national record for the event.

As an athlete, Wilbourn was a 1996 Olympic Trials finalist in the decathlon and competed at the World Championships for the United States in 1997. His career best in the decathlon is 8,268 points.

Wilbourn was also selected by the Buffalo Bills in the fifth round of the 1991 NFL Draft. He spent time under contract with the San Francisco 49ers during the 1992 NFL campaign.

In addition, Wilbourn is a USATF Level II certified coach as well as a certified strength and conditioning specialist.

Wilbourn is married to Nicole Wray and has two children – a daughter, Justice, and son, Braeden, as well as a stepdaughter Mackenzie.