Texas A&M - Kingsville Athletics

Aared Sampson joined the Texas A&M-Kingsville cross country and track and field teams in September 2015 and is entering his sixth season as the Assistant Track & Field/Cross Country Coach.

During his tenure at TAMUK, Sampson coached Aymen Zahafi who was a First Team All-American in the 800m during the 2019 NCAA Track & Field Championship season. In total, he has coached three USTFCCCA All-Americans in the indoor season and another three All-Americans in the outdoor campaign.

Sampson's efforts on the track also helped the program to a 2016 NCAA National Runner-Up finish at the outdoor championships before finally taking home the NCAA Men's National Championship during the 2018 season.

Under his mentoring, six student-athletes have been crowned Lone Star Conference Champions. Three of his runners have set new program records, while seven men and seven women have landed on the program's All-Time Top 10 Performance lists. Overall he has also coached three All-LSC cross country runners.

Sampson arrives in Kingsville after coaching the past three years at Utah Valley University in Orem, Utah. He will be the Javelinas new assistant cross country coach and distance coach of the track and field teams.
 
During his time with the Wolverines, they won the 2014 Western Athletic Conference cross country title and 2015 indoor and outdoor men’s championships. Trac Norris qualified twice (2014-15) for the NCAA Outdoor Championships in the 3,000m steeple chase and Jason Lynch reached in the 2015 for the 10,000m.
 
Sampson spent one year at Southern Utah University in Cedar City, Utah before joining the UVU coaching staff. He also has five years of high school head coaching experience.
 
A distance runner for the Thunderbirds, Sampson held the school record in the mile at 4:13.11 until 2009. His time is currently the third best in SUU history.
 
Sampson received his Master’s degree in exercise physiology from Brigham Young University and his bachelor’s from Southern Utah in physical education. He is Level Two USATF certified coach in distance events.

Sampson is married to his wife, Barbara, and they have seven children together.