Kandice Holamon
Head Cross Country/Track Coach

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 


 

 

kholamon@tlu.edu
(830) 372-6578
Texas Lutheran University Website

In only her third year as a collegiate coach, Kandice Holamon has made history at Texas Lutheran.

Holamon coached the 2002 and 2003 women's cross country teams to the American Southwest Conference Championships, and her team did it in dominant fashion, totaling 22 points and placing 10 runners in the Top 20 in 2002. In 2003 Holamon had two freshmen take the top two places at the conference meet. The team finished with just 30 points to repeat as ASC Champions. The back to back conference titles for the cross country team were the first ASC titles for the program, which joined the conference in 1999.

Five of Holamon's runners were named to the ASC All-Conference squads. ASC Champion Samara Williams was the first ever individual champion and freshman of the year for Texas Lutheran. Williams, Elisa Suarez and Julie Sodolak were named to the ASC First Team, and Tina Gadway was named to the ASC Second Team.

With the conference victory, Holamon was named the ASC's Coach of the Year for the second year in a row. She also received recognition from southregionrunning.com, which named Holamon as an Honorable Mention Coach of the Year in 2002.

Holamon has also brought accomplished students into the cross country fold. Among the sophomores, juniors and seniors eligible for the ASC Fall All-Academic Team, the Bulldogs had six runners on the academic squad - Angie Fuchik, Christalina Avalos, Lynn Shaver, Julie Sodolak, Jill Gregory and Anna Williams.

Success is sure to follow the Bulldogs throughout the 2003-04 athletic years and beyond. This year's cross country team has only three seniors -- Melissa Barrera, Angie Fuchik and Anna Williams -- and eight of the Bulldogs' top runners will be returning next year

The success of 2003 follows rewarding 2001 and 2002 cross country and 2002 and 2003 track and field seasons. Holamon guided the Bulldogs to a third place finish in the 2001 American Southwest Conference Cross Country Championships and to a second place team finish in the 2002 ASC Track and Field Championships.

Holamon, a four-time track All-American at Angelo State University, came to Texas Lutheran from Jarrell, Texas, where she served Jarrell High School as the head cross country and track and field coach for the 2000-01 school year.

While a coach at Jarrell, Holamon coached the boys cross country team to a district championship and led the boys and girls cross country teams to the regional meet. She also guided girls track athletes to the regional meet in four events.

At Angelo State, Holamon was an athletic and academic scholarship recipient. She lettered four years and was a four-time qualifier to the NCAA Division II Track and Field National Championships. She earned All-American honors in all four years as a member of Angelo State's 400 and 1600 relays. She was named to the 1999 Lone Star Conference Commissioner's Honor Roll and was selected to the 1998 Academic All-Conference team. She was an Honorable Mention Academic All-Conference selection in 1997.

Holamon earned a bachelor of science in kinesiology from Angelo State in 1999. She completed her master of science in kinesiology (also at Angelo State) with a perfect 4.0 grade-point average and finished her master's degree in just one year.

Holamon is a native of Zephyr, Texas, where she graduated from Zephyr High School as class valedictorian and was the class president. She won three Texas High School Track and Field championships for Zephyr in 1995 - winning gold medals in the 400-meter dash, the 200 and the high jump. She was also a four-time state qualifier in cross country, a four-year letterwinner in basketball and a three-year member of the varsity tennis team. She was selected to the All-State Academic Team and was given a Presidential Academic Fitness Award.

In addition to her coaching duties at Jarrell, Holamon taught 11th and 12th grade English, coached junior varsity girls' basketball and middle school cross country and track and field, and sponsored the freshman class.

Holamon is the daughter of Larry Holamon and the late Wanda Holamon. She has two older brothers - Kevin and Keith. She is engaged to TLU assistant baseball coach Chris Erwin. The couple is planning a wedding for the summer of 2004.

Fact Box - Kandice Holamon

Education
Master's Degree in Kinesiology, Angelo State University, 2000
Bachelor's Degree in Kinesiology, Angelo State University, 1999

Coaching Experience
Head Track and Field/Cross Country Coach, Texas Lutheran University
Head Track and Field/Cross Country Coach, Jarrell High School, Jarrell, Texas
Head Junior Varsity Basketball Coach, Jarrell High School, Jarrell, Texas
Middle School Track and Field/Cross Country Coach, Jarrell, Texas

Coaching Honors
2003 ASC Coach of the Year (cross country)
2002 ASC Coach of the Year (cross country)
2002 Honorable Mention South Region Coach of the Year (southregionrunning.com)

Athletic/Academic Accomplishments
Four-Time NCAA DII All-American
Four-Time NCAA DII National Championship Qualifier
1999 Lone Star Conference Commissioner's Honor Roll
1998 Academic All-Conference
1997 Academic All-Conference Honorable Mention
Four-Time State High School Qualifier
1995 Texas High School State Champion (200m, 400m and High Jump)
High School cross country state qualifier
Basketball, tennis varsity team member