Women’s track and field coach Tonja Buford-Bailey is leaving Illinois.
She has agreed to take on the associate head coaching position for Texas’ newly combined programs, the school announced Wednesday. She leaves the Illini after spending 10 years with the program, five as the women’s coach. She also coached men’s sprinters for three seasons.
“It was a tough decision to leave my alma mater,” Buford-Bailey said in a statement. “The University of Illinois allowed me to grow as person, athlete and coach. They have been a family to me and I appreciate all the support I’ve received over the years and even during this process.”
Buford-Bailey built the track program at Illinois, starting with sprinters. Andrew Riley won titles in the 100-meter dash and the 110-meter high hurdles in his final season at Illinois in 2012. And Ashley Spencer has recorded back-to-back NCAA titles in 400 meters under the guidance of Buford-Bailey. Both will be competing at the World Championships later this year.
Buford-Bailey coached her athletes to 25 All-America honors, including six NCAA titles.
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The Daily Illini named her the No. 1 female athlete in the last 40 years to forward athletics at Illinois in honor of the 40 year anniversary of Title IX last year.
Buford-Bailey earned the NCAA title in the 400 hurdles, while competing for Illinois in 1992. Since then, she participated in three Olympic games: Barcelona, Atlanta and Sydney.
