With 22 years of coaching experience, Damion McLean brings a wealth of knowledge about coaching, strengthening and training effective and successful athletes in track & field within the Sun Belt Conference. McLean began his coaching career with App State in 2003 and assumed the role of head track & field coach in June 2018. He earned a contract extension through the 2027-28 season.
The men’s and women’s cross country and track & field programs prospered during the 2024-25 season. Over the course of the year, the Mountaineers reset 18 program records, collected 10 specialty Sun Belt awards and 29 All-SBC accolades, in addition to five SBC Athlete of the Week nods. McLean also continues to champion success in the classroom as the men’s and women’s cross country teams and men’s and women’s track & field teams garnered All-Academic Team honors from the USTFCCCA.
Overcoming the effects of Hurricane Helene, which struck the High Country in the middle of the cross country season, the men’s and women’s distance teams went on to sweep both Sun Belt Cross Country team titles for the first time in the program’s Sun Belt era. The men’s squad successfully defended their 2023 title, while the women secured their first team title since 2018.
The Black and Gold’s success carried to the indoor season, as the women finished third with 82 points at the Sun Belt Indoor Championships, which was the Mountaineers’ best finish at the indoor conference meet since 2016. Jasmine Donohue scored 24 of the Black and Gold’s points, collecting a set of medals along the way. The outdoor season was highlighted by the program’s first NCAA Outdoor Championship women’s pole vault qualifier, Lilly Nichols, who earned an All-American Honorable Mention for her 17th-place finish. The Black and Gold saw six Mountaineers qualify for the NCAA East First Round, which included Kendall Johnson, who McLean coached to a personal best of 11.31 in the women’s 100 meters, which elevated her to second all-time in the program record book. The Mountaineers also made an appearance at the prestigious Penn Relays - the United States’ oldest and largest track and field competition. Three program records fell at Franklin Field and Patrick Freeman was the Penn Relays champion in the men’s pole vault with a clearance of 5.26m (17’ 3”). Additionally, App State saw its first USATF qualifier in the men’s 3,000-meter steeplechase after Calbert Guest shattered the program record with a time of 8:41.01. App State collected both team titles at the Myrtle Beach Invitational, bringing home the coveted surfboards after the men’s squad posted 142 points and the women’s team scored 112.5 points. McLean also coached incoming freshmen Alana Branxton, Ashlynn Wimberly and Kelly MacBride at the USATF U20 Championships, who were three of nine athletes representing App State at the meet.
Under McLean’s direction, the Mountaineers thrived during the 2023-24 season across cross country, indoor track, and outdoor track seasons. Across all three seasons, the Black and Gold shattered eight program records, collected 24 All-SBC honors, and four Mountaineers totaled eight SBC Athlete of the Week honors, including a pair of three-time selections. McLean appointed men’s distance coach and 2023 Sun Belt Coach of the Year Brad Herbster, who led the men’s team to a Sun Belt Cross Country title, the first for the program since 2019. He also appointed women’s distance coach Annie Richards, who fostered great improvement in the women’s distance program.
McLean coached the 2024 Sun Belt Women’s Outdoor Track & Field Newcomer of the Year, Ashlee Osaji, and Taylor Smith, who both surpassed the program’s outdoor long jump record, which was set in 1993 by two-time Olympian Melissa Morrison. He also coached Niejel Wilkins, who moved to fifth in the program record book for the triple jump. Osaji and Wilkins were two of seven athletes to represent App State at the NCAA East Preliminary Round, the most the program has sent to the first round of the NCAA Outdoor Championships. McLean also helped Nicole Wells and Kendall Johnson to appearances in the 2024 USATF U20 Championships.
During the 2022-23 season, McLean coached triple jumper Jada Branch to an appearance at the 2023 NCAA Outdoor Championships. She would be the first Mountaineer since 2005 to make an appearance at the national outdoor meet. Branch and pole vaulter Matthew Gray would later on represent App State at the USATF Elite and U20 Championships. Five Mountaineers collected All-SBC accolades and four athletes advanced to the 2023 NCAA East Preliminary Round under McLean’s direction. McLean would coach Wilkins, who appeared in the NCAA East Preliminary Round, to an appearance at the USATF Indoor Championships.
McLean coached Peighton Simmons to a second-consecutive indoor triple jump conference title in the 2021-22 season. Simmons would also come in second in the long jump, recording a 6.10m in the SBC Indoor Championships. McLean saw seven athletes earn indoor All-SBC accolades and eight athletes earn outdoor All-SBC accolades. McLean also coached four athletes to NCAA East Preliminary Round qualifications at the end of the outdoor season.
The 2020-21 track season saw McLean coach Peighton Simmons to a conference title in the triple jump, becoming the first Mountaineer to win the event indoors since 2010. Simmons followed that with the outdoor Sun Belt title in the triple jump as well, becoming the first female Mountaineer to win the triple jump in both the indoor and outdoor season since 2010. In addition, McLean saw three jumpers in Eric Haddock Jr., Maya Hanks and Simmons qualify for the NCAA East Preliminary Round in the triple jump.
In the 2019-20 indoor season, McLean saw both programs take another step. The men's program saw three school records fall during the season, with De'Shawn Ballard breaking the 200-meter and 300-meter dash records. The women's side saw two school records fall during the season, with Jessica Dixon breaking the program mark in the 400-meter dash on her way to the Sun Belt title.
In his first season as head coach of the Mountaineers, he guided the women's track & field program to seventh place finishes at both the Sun Belt Indoor and Outdoor Championships. On the men's side, the Black and Gold finished sixth at the Sun Belt Indoor Championships and eighth at the Sun Belt Outdoor Championships.
A 2002 graduate of Appalachian State, McLean captured the Southern Conference outdoor long jump titles in 2000 and 2001 and qualified for the NCAA Championships in 2001. He holds the third-highest mark on App State's all-time long jump list with a mark of 25’ 1” (PR - 26’). His collegiate resume was balanced with performances in the triple jump, high jump, 100m dash, and the 4x100 relay. During his fifth season (2002), McLean served as an undergraduate track assistant for sprints, hurdles and jumps. He graduated in May of 2002 and worked in advertising before returning to Boone to become a full-time coach.
McLean is married to Angela McLean (Pryor) and has two daughters: Bry’anna and Kyli.
