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University of North Carolina Ashville Athletics
Track and Field
Kimbrough , JP
JP Kimbrough
- Title:
- Assistant Coach - Jumps
- Email:
- akimbrou@unca.edu
UNCA has steadily improved athletically and academically under Kimbrough’s direction, helping athletes to achieve:
Scholar-Athlete of the Year - 2
Big South All-Conference- 6
All-Time Big South Top Performance - 2
Big South Athletes of the Week - 6
Big South All Academic Team - 5
USTFCCA All Academic - 1
NCAA Championships - 1
NCAA All-American – 1
Academic All-American – 1
The UNCA jumps program has emerged as one of the best and hottest programs in the Big South conference, helped rewrite the track and field record books, and continues to make history as a nationally recognized program in the NCAA. Coach Kimbrough has helped spark this momentum, as he enters his fourth season as a member of UNCA’s coaching staff in 2022.
Claudia Prieto earned All-Big South honors finishing as the runner-up in the long jump with a leap of 6.03-meters. Prieto earned the same honor last year in the long jump with a leap of 6.01-meters. She placed 4th in the triple jump with a jump of 12.20m.
Prieto (long jump) was also selected to compete in the 2022 NCAA Division I Outdoor Track & Field Championship East prelims.
Prieto excelled in suboptimal conditions, finishing 23rd individually after she was originally seeded 48th of 48, registering a mark of 5.92m/19-5.25.
Prieto, with Solomon McDonald, joined an elite group of UNCA Bulldogs that have qualified for an NCAA meet. It marks the first time multiple Bulldogs have advanced to the NCAA Championships in the same season and the first to qualify for the NCAA Championships since 2017.
A native of Madrid, Spain, Prieto is the UNCA Track & Field record holder in the long jump (indoor & outdoor) and triple jump (indoor & outdoor). She ranks second all-time in the 55-meter, 60-meter, and 100-meter dashes and is a multiple-time winner of the Big South Field Athlete of the Week award.
During the indoor season, Prieto earned All-Big South honors in the long jump finishing second with a leap of 6.03-meters. She also set a new personal-best in the 60-meter dash, clocking in at 7.67. She also broke her own school record in the triple jump, extending the historic mark to 12.38m.
On top of those performances, Claudia Prieto earned a spot on the Big South All-Academic Team. Additionally, she was named the BigSouth Scholar-Athlete of the Year for the second time in her career after doing so after the indoor season.
In the heptathlon during the 2022 outdoor season, Mallory Haney made her way up the standings to finish third with 4,328 points. Haney is the first Bulldog to earn All-Big South honors in the heptathlon since 2004’s Laura Lewandowski. She also earned a top five spot in the record books with a fourth best jump of 11.48m outdoors and a fourth best mark of 11.51m indoors.
Grady Rector also earned top five all time marks in the high jump with a mark of 1.85m. As a deca-athlete, he is fourth all time with 5,167 points just above Rob Brenneman who is fifth with 5,010 points.
Azhar Tyson was second all time in the Long Jump with a mark of 6.93m. Kamal Sharpe, also emerged as a top five jumper in the triple jump setting his personal best at the Big South conference championships with a jump of 13.37m.
In his first year as an assistant coach through the indoor season, he helped the Bulldog jumpers explode into the record books, with multiple top five indoor and all-time performances during the abbreviated season.
Claudia Prieto set the school record in the women's long jump with a jump of 5.78 meters, which was set earlier in the year by freshman Kathryn Brown with a jump of 5.71m, who also holds the fourth-place record in the high jump.
In the triple jump, Brown also claimed a second-place spot in the record books with a jump of 11.60m and Prieto set the third place all-time with a jump of 11.55m. Brown and freshman Bree Moore also hold the top two spots in the Indoor Pentathlon as well.
On the men’s team, Isaac Teasley, a freshman sprinter, also earned second place all time in the long jump (6.86m) and third all time in the triple jump (13.66m). At the Big South Indoor Championships, Victor Mathuthu earned a fourth-place finish with a jump of 14.60 meters.
Coach Kimbrough is a passionate, knowledgeable coach, who holds a technical coaching certification from the USTFCCCA as well as Level I certifications with USA Track & Field and USA Weightlifting. He is also a certified strength and conditioning coach and holds multiple Level II certifications from the USTFCCCA including the jumping event specialist certification and the Sprints, Hurdles, Relay event specialist certification.
Prior to joining the UNC Asheville staff, Kimbrough coached multiple sports in western North Carolina for over a decade, helping to achieve state championship appearances in football, as well as multiple conference, regional and state championships in track and field. Kimbrough loves giving back to the community by sharing his experiences through camps, clinics, and training opportunities.
A native of Hendersonville, North Carolina, the 39-year-young Kimbrough graduated from Hendersonville High School, where he competed in multiple sports for the Bearcats. He is a 2005 graduate of Duke University where he helped to end major losing streaks in Division 1 football and the ACC, as well as against cross town rivals UNC-Chapel Hill in 2003. Kimbrough also participated in track and field as a sprinter and jumper.
Off the track, Kimbrough has been involved in several community action, philanthropic, and civil service projects. As a former educator, he loves teaching, lecturing and speaking on training, technique, and philosophy as well as leadership, motivation and confidence. He is also an avid learner and personal development enthusiast, earning several certifications in the realm of neuroscience to help student-athletes win the inner game of college athletics. He lives in Hendersonville, NC with his amazing wife Jessica, (her one cat) and their new baby girl Ariyah Grace.
Scholar-Athlete of the Year - 2
Big South All-Conference- 6
All-Time Big South Top Performance - 2
Big South Athletes of the Week - 6
Big South All Academic Team - 5
USTFCCA All Academic - 1
NCAA Championships - 1
NCAA All-American – 1
Academic All-American – 1
The UNCA jumps program has emerged as one of the best and hottest programs in the Big South conference, helped rewrite the track and field record books, and continues to make history as a nationally recognized program in the NCAA. Coach Kimbrough has helped spark this momentum, as he enters his fourth season as a member of UNCA’s coaching staff in 2022.
Claudia Prieto earned All-Big South honors finishing as the runner-up in the long jump with a leap of 6.03-meters. Prieto earned the same honor last year in the long jump with a leap of 6.01-meters. She placed 4th in the triple jump with a jump of 12.20m.
Prieto (long jump) was also selected to compete in the 2022 NCAA Division I Outdoor Track & Field Championship East prelims.
Prieto excelled in suboptimal conditions, finishing 23rd individually after she was originally seeded 48th of 48, registering a mark of 5.92m/19-5.25.
Prieto, with Solomon McDonald, joined an elite group of UNCA Bulldogs that have qualified for an NCAA meet. It marks the first time multiple Bulldogs have advanced to the NCAA Championships in the same season and the first to qualify for the NCAA Championships since 2017.
A native of Madrid, Spain, Prieto is the UNCA Track & Field record holder in the long jump (indoor & outdoor) and triple jump (indoor & outdoor). She ranks second all-time in the 55-meter, 60-meter, and 100-meter dashes and is a multiple-time winner of the Big South Field Athlete of the Week award.
During the indoor season, Prieto earned All-Big South honors in the long jump finishing second with a leap of 6.03-meters. She also set a new personal-best in the 60-meter dash, clocking in at 7.67. She also broke her own school record in the triple jump, extending the historic mark to 12.38m.
On top of those performances, Claudia Prieto earned a spot on the Big South All-Academic Team. Additionally, she was named the BigSouth Scholar-Athlete of the Year for the second time in her career after doing so after the indoor season.
In the heptathlon during the 2022 outdoor season, Mallory Haney made her way up the standings to finish third with 4,328 points. Haney is the first Bulldog to earn All-Big South honors in the heptathlon since 2004’s Laura Lewandowski. She also earned a top five spot in the record books with a fourth best jump of 11.48m outdoors and a fourth best mark of 11.51m indoors.
Grady Rector also earned top five all time marks in the high jump with a mark of 1.85m. As a deca-athlete, he is fourth all time with 5,167 points just above Rob Brenneman who is fifth with 5,010 points.
Azhar Tyson was second all time in the Long Jump with a mark of 6.93m. Kamal Sharpe, also emerged as a top five jumper in the triple jump setting his personal best at the Big South conference championships with a jump of 13.37m.
In his first year as an assistant coach through the indoor season, he helped the Bulldog jumpers explode into the record books, with multiple top five indoor and all-time performances during the abbreviated season.
Claudia Prieto set the school record in the women's long jump with a jump of 5.78 meters, which was set earlier in the year by freshman Kathryn Brown with a jump of 5.71m, who also holds the fourth-place record in the high jump.
In the triple jump, Brown also claimed a second-place spot in the record books with a jump of 11.60m and Prieto set the third place all-time with a jump of 11.55m. Brown and freshman Bree Moore also hold the top two spots in the Indoor Pentathlon as well.
On the men’s team, Isaac Teasley, a freshman sprinter, also earned second place all time in the long jump (6.86m) and third all time in the triple jump (13.66m). At the Big South Indoor Championships, Victor Mathuthu earned a fourth-place finish with a jump of 14.60 meters.
Coach Kimbrough is a passionate, knowledgeable coach, who holds a technical coaching certification from the USTFCCCA as well as Level I certifications with USA Track & Field and USA Weightlifting. He is also a certified strength and conditioning coach and holds multiple Level II certifications from the USTFCCCA including the jumping event specialist certification and the Sprints, Hurdles, Relay event specialist certification.
Prior to joining the UNC Asheville staff, Kimbrough coached multiple sports in western North Carolina for over a decade, helping to achieve state championship appearances in football, as well as multiple conference, regional and state championships in track and field. Kimbrough loves giving back to the community by sharing his experiences through camps, clinics, and training opportunities.
A native of Hendersonville, North Carolina, the 39-year-young Kimbrough graduated from Hendersonville High School, where he competed in multiple sports for the Bearcats. He is a 2005 graduate of Duke University where he helped to end major losing streaks in Division 1 football and the ACC, as well as against cross town rivals UNC-Chapel Hill in 2003. Kimbrough also participated in track and field as a sprinter and jumper.
Off the track, Kimbrough has been involved in several community action, philanthropic, and civil service projects. As a former educator, he loves teaching, lecturing and speaking on training, technique, and philosophy as well as leadership, motivation and confidence. He is also an avid learner and personal development enthusiast, earning several certifications in the realm of neuroscience to help student-athletes win the inner game of college athletics. He lives in Hendersonville, NC with his amazing wife Jessica, (her one cat) and their new baby girl Ariyah Grace.
LJ Thorpe Chalk Talk | Men's Basketball
Wednesday, August 27
Alumni Interview || Clay Edmondson || Baseball
Monday, August 04
Why Asheville || Payton Rolfsen || Volleyball
Thursday, July 24
Why Asheville || Addie Cooper || Women's Soccer
Tuesday, June 17
