Ernie Clark is in his second year as an Assistant Coach in charge of sprints, hurdles, and jumps after joining the NAU Track & Field coaching staff in the fall of 2023.
 
The 2024 outdoor season proved to be just as successful as the indoor season for Clark’s athletes, earning 11 Big Sky Outdoor Track & Field individual titles. Clark sent six athletes in eight events to the NCAA West Regional, with the women’s 4x400-meter relay team earning a spot at the national meet.
 
Madeline Wilson, LiNay Perry, Maggi Congdon, and Kyairra Reigh broke the NAU and Big Sky record in the 4x400-meter relay at the NCAA National Championship meet with a time of 3:31.28 as they placed 14^th to earn second-team All-American honors.
 
Wilson also broke the 200-meter school record earlier in the outdoor season after running a time of 22.98. Reigh broke the school and conference 400-meter record with a time of 52.19, while Perry broke the NAU record in the 400-meter hurdles with a time of 58.00.
 
In his first season at NAU, Clark saw eight Big Sky Indoor Track & Field individual champions and sent Mitchell Effing to the NCAA National Championships in the triple jump. Effing placed 15^th at the national meet to earn second-team All-American honors.
 
Effing broke the NAU school record in the triple jump at the beginning of the season with a mark of 16.02 meters. Madeline Wilson also toppled a school and conference record in the 200-meter with a time of 23.09.
 
Clark joins the team from San José State, where he was an assistant coach for two years. Prior to his time with San José State, Clark was an associate head track & field coach at Ashland for six years.
 
During his time at San José State, Clark saw success at both the conference and national level. He coached 11 Mountain West Conference Champions, with eight of those champion titles coming in the 2022-23 season. Clark also sent 11 athletes to the NCAA West Regional in his two years at San José State.
 
Clark coached his athletes to setting a total of 15 school records, nine of which were set during the 2022-23 indoor season. Clark coached Cameron Tarver to a school record in the indoor 200-meter at the Mountain West Championships, where he earned the individual title in the event with a time of 20.87.
 
While at Ashland, Clark was a four-time USTFCCCA National Assistant Coach of the Year recipient (2017-18 outdoor, 2019-20 outdoor, 2020-21 indoor, 2020-21 outdoor). The Eagles earned three NCAA 4x400-meter relay national title under Clark’s guidance, during the 2018 outdoor season, the 2021 indoor season, and the 2021 outdoor season.
 
Clark coached six USA Olympic Trials Championship qualifiers, three USTFCCCA National Athletes of the Year, and two athletes ranked in the top-10 in the world.
 
Clark graduated from Indianapolis, where he was a two-time DII national provisional qualifier in the 400-meter hurdles and was also named the Great Lakes Valley Conference Freshman of the Year.