University of Connecticut Athletics
Men's Track and Field
- Title:
- Assistant Coach (Women's Pole Vault)
- Email:
- james.3.sullivan@uconn.edu
Coach Jim Sullivan was named Assistant Track & Field Head Coach by Director of Track & Field Beth Alford-Sullivan in 2022. Sullivan is a key member of the UConn staff, coaching women's pole vaulters throughout his time with the program. In 2024, Sullivan led the Huskies to a pole vault sweep in the BIG EAST Outdoor Championships, as Kalli Knott, Rachel Mason, and Sofia Wittmann took the top three spots on the women's side. Mason achieved a PR at 3.83 meters. In the 2024 Indoor Championships, the Huskies swept the women's pole vault as well, securing the top four spots in the conference.
Prior to UConn, Sullivan came to Tennessee with his wife, Beth Alford-Sullivan when she was appointed Director of Track & Field/Cross Country at Tennessee. In his capacity as a volunteer coach he works with the pole vaulters. He worked with Jake Blankenship as Blankenship won the 2016 NCAA Outdoor Championship in the pole vault.
Prior to Tennessee, Sullivan had served as the volunteer coach at Penn State. He worked with the Nittany Lions’ pole vaulters since 1999. In 2004, he helped guide Sara Daugherty to the Big Ten Indoor title and Big Ten runner-up honors in her sophomore season. Dougherty was an NCAA qualifier and holds the Penn State record at 13-5 1/2. In 2009, Sullivan helped John Vellenoweth to Penn State records during the indoor and outdoor seasons, as well as an appearance at the NCAA Outdoor Championships. All told, Sullivan guided four Lion vaulters to the NCAA East Regional Championships.
In addition to his experience as a coach, Sullivan is an assistant professor in the Kinesiology, Recreation and Sports Studies department at Tennessee. He teaches courses in the physiology of exercise and strength/conditioning programs. Sullivan has teaching and coaching specializations in advanced strength and conditioning, track and field and martial arts. Sullivan earned his Ph.D. in exercise physiology in 1993 from Southern Illinois University, where he was formerly a varsity track and field athlete during his undergraduate years.
Sullivan comes from Penn State University where he created a student fitness assessment center, taught theory and activity classes, and worked with Men’s and Women’s Track and Field, Women’s Rugby and USA Rugby. He also was a member of the faculty at Southern Illinois and Minnesota State prior to teaching overseas in Japan. He returned to a position as a strength and conditioning coach at Stanford, where he was in charge of the training programs for 24 teams. While at Stanford he worked as a consultant to an Internet startup company, GetFit.com, and eventually left Stanford to become the company's chief physiologist.
