Yvonne Harrison
Head Women's Cross Country Coach

Phone: (718) 780-4994
Email: yvonne.harrison@liu.edu

Yvonne Harrison was named the head coach of LIU Brooklyn’s women’s cross country team in the spring of 2018. She will also work as an assistant coach with both the men’s and women’s track & field programs, under head coach Simon Hodnett.

Prior to her arrival at LIU, Harrison spent nine season as an assistant coach for the cross country and track & field teams for St. John's. Her time with the Red Storm was highlighted by five different NCAA national qualifiers, three new program records, two BIG EAST individual champions, two ECAC champions, a Metropolitan Championships team title, and over a dozen first place finishes in individual events and relays at the Metropolitan Championships over the years.

Harrison also coached Olympian Phobay Kutu-Akoi. Kutu-Akoi represented her home country of Liberia at the 2012 London Summer Olympics in the 100 meter dash. Kutu-Akoi, who holds both the St. John's and Liberian 100-meter dash records and served as the flag bearer for her country at the Opening Ceremonies, placed sixth in her preliminary heat, running a time of 11.52 seconds.

Harrison is an accomplished track & field athlete in her own right, and has competed on both national and international levels, representing Puerto Rico in the 400-meter intermediate hurdles. In May of 2006, Harrison captured the bronze medal at the Ibero-American Championships in Ponce, Puerto Rico. In 2004, she competed at the Olympic Games in Athens, Greece, where she was a semifinalist.

In 2003, Harrison set Puerto Rico's national record in the 400-meter intermediate hurdles. She also won the gold medal at the Central American and Caribbean Championships and was a semifinalist at the World Championships in Paris, France. Harrison was also a semifinalist in the World Championships in 2002 in Edmonton, Canada.
 
As an undergrad, Harrison ran for the University of Illinois and graduated in 1998 with a bachelor of arts in sociology. While a member of the Fighting Illini, Harrison was a four-time All-American. She was also the runner-up at the NCAA Championships in the 400-meter intermediate hurdles during her senior campaign.

After graduation, Harrison served as a volunteer assistant coach at her alma mater from 1999-2000.

Harrison is a licensed and ordained minister, and is currently pursuing her master's degree in Divinity at St. John's.

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