Coaching Achievements
•
84 All-Conference Honors •
50 Individual Conference Champions •
11 NCAA All-Americans •
Coaching Experience
•
Wichita State: Assistant Coach/Horizontal Jumps (2004-Present) •
Athletic Achievements
• Competed for Wichita State (2000-04) •
5x MVC Champion • 2004 NCAA Regional Qualifier •
Entering the 2022-23 season, Heidi Benton (formerly Heidi Yost) will be in her 17th year as an assistant coach with the Wichita State track and field staff after completing a brilliant career as a Shocker.
She was a five-time Missouri Valley Conference champion, garnering three championships in the long jump and two in the triple jump, and earned multiple all-conference honors in her time as a student-athlete. She was also an NCAA Regional qualifier in the long jump. Her personal bests were 6.00m in the long jump and 12.79m in the triple jump.
Benton’s young group took strides during the 2020 indoor campaign. Jacque Darby improved her long jump mark in her first three competitions of the year and she ended her season with a near All-Conference finish, taking fourth at the AAC Indoor Championships in the long jump.
On the men’s side, Ethan Toy finished seventh in the long jump, scoring team points for the Shockers and also competed in the triple jump at the conference meet.
During the 2019 outdoor campaign, Benton coached Rayvon Allen to a conference title in the long jump. Allen went on to compete at the NCAA West Regional in both the long jump and triple jump.
During the Shockers inaugural season in the American Athletic Conference, Benton’s athletes earned a total of five all-conference honors, including junior Jared Belardo winning the indoor long jump and finishing up the 2018 season with a total of three all-conference honors. Benton coached true freshman Rayvon Allen to a second place finish in the long jump at the USATF Junior Outdoor Championships. Allen advanced to the IAAF U20 World Championships in Tampere, Finland, where he finished 10th in the long jump with a mark of 7.61m/24-11.75.
In 2016 she coached freshman Jared Belardo to four MVC titles and an NCAA Indoor Championship 12th-place finish. Belardo followed his coaches footsteps becoming just the third Shocker athlete in school history to win both the long jump and triple jump conference titles in indoor and outdoor during the same season. Heidi first accomplished the achievement during the 2000-01 season, followed by teammate Ineta Radevica in 2001-02.
Heidi has mentored her student-athletes to 25 individual Conference titles and nine All-Americans in her career as a Shocker assistant coach. In addition, her athletes have earned 70 All-conference honors.
A Wichita State graduate, she earned a B.S. in criminal justice in 2003. In 2004, she added a B.S. in liberal arts with an emphasis in sociology. She also completed her master’s degree in sport administration from Wichita State in May 2007.
After her career at WSU, she became a volunteer coach during the 2004-05 season, and a graduate assistant coach in 2005-06.
Benton hails from Lecompton, Kan., where she graduated from Perry-Lecompton High School. She was also a six-time 4A State Champion with three long jump titles and three triple jump titles. She also holds the Kansas State Record in the Triple Jump at 39’1.
Heidi resides in El Dorado, Kan., with her husband Andy Benton.
