Assistant coach Clayton Pritchard has revitalized the Bison jumps and sprints programs since joining the NDSU track & field coaching staff in July 2016. He enters his fifth year as an assistant coach for the Bison in the 2020-21 season.
In the past four seasons, he has coached the Bison women to 18 new performances that rank among the school’s all-time Top 10 in the jumps, headlined by Piper Jensen standing in the top five in NDSU history in the indoor & outdoor triple jump and indoor & outdoor long jump. Jensen reached 42 feet in the triple jump, broke the 20-foot barrier in the long jump, and won a pair of Summit League titles.
Four of the top 10 women’s triple jumpers in NDSU indoor history have come in the past three seasons under Pritchard’s direction. On the men’s side, he has coached athletes into NDSU’s all-time Top 5 in the long jump, triple jump and high jump in the past three years.
In 2016 – the season before Pritchard’s arrival at NDSU – the Bison women and men combined to score 42 team points in the long jump and triple jump at the Summit League Championships. In 2019, the Bison racked up a remarkable 145 points in the long jump and triple jump at the conference meets – multiplying their output by nearly 3 1/2 times.
In the men’s short sprints, Pritchard coached J.T. Butler into NDSU’s all-time Top 5 in the 60m dash (6.84), indoor 200m (21.63), and outdoor 200m (20.94) in the 2019 season, earning a qualifying spot at the NCAA West Preliminary Rounds.
Pritchard took over pole vault coaching duties prior to the 2019 season and has guided four Bison women to personal-bests that rank among the Top 10 in school history, including two freshmen in 2020.
Pritchard came to NDSU after two seasons (2014-16) as a volunteer assistant coach at Nebraska, where he worked with the Huskers’ jumpers and pole vaulters. He served as the head girls’ track & field coach at Leavenworth (Kan.) High School from 2010-14 and also has experience running instructional camps for the jumps and pole vault.
“Clayton has the experience of being at a Big Ten program and recruiting and coaching at a high level,” said NDSU women’s head coach Stevie Keller upon his hire. “You can’t place a value on experiencing success and expecting success. We’re excited to add him to our staff, and for him to bring his energy and knowledge to our program.”
Alongside head coach Gary Pepin, Pritchard coached his athletes to impressive success in his stint at Nebraska, highlighted by women’s jumper Tierra Williams placing fifth at both the 2016 NCAA Indoor Championships and NCAA Outdoor Championships in the triple jump. Williams also swept the Big Ten long jump and triple jump titles indoor and outdoor in 2016, as well as finishing 15th in the triple jump at the U.S. Olympic Trials.
The Huskers had six women’s placewinners in the horizontal jumps at the 2016 Big Ten Conference Outdoor Championships – the most in the conference.
Pritchard earned his bachelor’s degree in physical education from MidAmerica Nazarene University in Olathe, Kan., in 2007 and his master’s degree in health, physical education, and recreation from Emporia State University in 2015. While at MNU, Pritchard was a four-year letterwinner in football as a wide receiver and a three-year letterwinner in track & field as a jumper.
Since graduation, Pritchard has become a USATF Level 1 certified coach and a sponsor in the Fellowship of Christian Athletes. He and his wife, Morgan, have two daughters, Calli and Chloe.
