Joe Gadison is in his 13th season as an assistant track and field coach at Concordia University Texas. He has been involved with coaching track & field in Central Texas for over 20 years and will continue working with women’s relays as well as the men’s and women’s hurdlers and high jumpers this spring.
In the 2019 season, Gadison was once a part of another successful track and field team that saw the men's team set a school record and win three individual ASC titles at the conference meet.
In the long jump, Gadison assisted senior Gabriel Spivey, who broke his own school record, reaching a distance of 7.33m at the ASC Championships to clinch his second career ASC long jump title. Spivey also competed in his third straight NCAA DIII Championships, placing 16th overall.
Gadison also worked with Raul Villalpando, who wrapped up his collegiate career at the ASC Championships, to win the 110m hurdles event for the second year in a row.
The past two seasons, Gadison worked with Gabriel Spivey, who would set the school record in the long jump with a 7.31 meter jump at the Cardinal Invitational in San Antonio, Texas in 2017. Gadison has helped Spivey qualify for the last two NCAA DIII National Championships in the long jump and has finished in 15th and 20th place, respectively.
Additionally, Gadison helped Raul Villalpando win the 110-meter hurdles at the 2018 American Southwest Conference Championships. Villalpando also set the school record in the 110m hurdles with a 14.95 at the TLU Relays.
During the 2016 season, Gadison was an integral part to the field event athletes. He helped lead Spivey and Jeremy Adams to individual titles at the American Southwest Conference Championships in the triple jump and long jump respectively.
Both the men’s and women’s programs had their best seasons as third-year varsity programs in 2012, as they each recorded their highest point total and the women’s team finished a record-breaking fourth at the American Southwest Conference Championships after placing sixth at the two previous meets. Gadison’s athletes compiled 11 points in women’s relay, while men’s hurdler Cedric Perry finished third in the 400-meter intermediate hurdles and was the first athlete in school history – male or female – to compete at the prestigious Texas Relays. All in all, program records were broken and rebroken in three women’s events and one men’s event he oversaw. The teams also had their first seven Texas Relays qualifiers in school history.
Gadison helped the Tornados show significant signs of improvement during their second year of varsity competition in 2011. New school records were established in four of the seven events he oversaw, including the men’s and women’s high jump, the men’s and women’s 400-meter intermediate hurdles and the men’s 4x400-meter relay. The men’s squad finished one spot higher in the team standings at the ASC Championships by earning 13 more points than they did at the same meet in their inaugural season last spring, while the women’s team achieved 23.50 more points than they did at the ASCs the previous year.
Paced by freshman Chris Randle, Gadison saw his men’s athletes rack up 32 points at the ASC meet for the second straight season. After winning the high jump and earning all-conference recognition at the ASC meet, Randle went on to garner All-America laurels by tying for sixth in his premier event at the NCAA Championships. Cedric Perry, another freshman, fell just .37 seconds shy of meeting the NCAA provisional standard in the 400-meter intermediate hurdles. On the women’s side, Emma Clifford tied for fourth in the women’s high jump at the ASC’s postseason event.
Gadison’s men’s Tornado athletes racked up 32 of the team’s 41 points at the 2010 ASC Championships, which included runner-up finishes by Brent Reynolds in the high jump, Russell Jablonowski in the 110-meter high hurdles and Quincy Braxton in the 400-meter dash. Ashley Bell accumulated two points for the women by placing seventh in the 100-hurdles at the same meet.
Prior to assisting with starting up the track and field programs at Concordia, Gadison was the owner of the Texas Flash Track Club from 1999-2006 and the Texas Thunder Track Club from 2006-08. During this time, 114 athletes advanced to the Texas Amateur Athletic Federation (TAAF) Junior Olympics, 21 qualified for AAU Nationals and three competed in the regional finals.
Gadison, whose motto is to encourage and guide athletes to strive for excellence in reaching the next level by physically challenging them with supervised conditioning, also served as the head track and field coach at Hill Country Christian Academy in Austin during the 2008-09 season. His accomplishments in this position included mentoring a women’s high jumper and men’s long jumper that advanced to regionals.
Gadison, who lettered in track and field, football and basketball at nearby Round Rock High School before graduating in 1981, currently resides in Leander, Texas, with his wife, Bertha. They have three sons, Edward, Michael and Tai as well as one daughter, Niaya.
Edward is a veteran of the United States Air Force, Michael served in the Navy and Tai is currently enlisted in the Naval Reserve.
Coaching Highlights (Track and Field):
• 2021 NCAA Championships Qualifier and USTFCCCA All-West Region selection Bayli Luke
• 2021 ASC Outstanding Field Athlete USTFCCCA All-West Region selection Ravon Davis-Conway
• 2021 USTFCCCA All-West Region selection Brett Jackson
• 2019 ASTFCCCA All-West Region selection Gabriel Spivey
• 14 Individual ASC Titles
• 20 All-ASC selections
