Andrea Blackett Position: Assistant Coach

One of the most successful women's track athletes to don the Rice blue and gray, Andrea Blackett is in her fourth year as an assistant coach for the Owls after five years as a volunteer assistant coach at her alma mater.

This past summer, Blackett retired from international competition and served her native country of Barbados as its head track and field coach at the 2008 Beijing Olympics.

In 2007, she was responsible for the development of freshman Shakera Reeece, who set a school-record in the 100 meters (11.34) as well as coaching Chandra Ewing to a C-USA title in the 400-m hurdles, an event that Blackett dominated in her competitive career at Rice from 1994-97. During that time, she set the Rice records in both the 100-m and 400-m hurdles. She joined Melissa Straker, TaNisha Mills and Margaret Fox in the 4x400-m relay to win the first NCAA indoor relay title for the Owls in 1997, setting a school record of 3:34.44.

Blackett finished her collegiate career as a six-time All-America, including back-to-back turns in the 400-m hurdles in 1996 and 1997. She qualified for the NCAA championships all four years.

Eleven years later, she still holds the school record in the 400 m hurdles, an outdoor event, as well as the indoor hurdle mark for the 55m.

She was inducted into the Rice Athletic Hall of Fame individually in 2005 and again in 2007 as a member of the 1997 NCAA champion 4x400 relay.

A veteran Olympic ytcompetitor, Blackett represented Barbados in six IAAF World Championships (1997-07). She qualified for the final four times and placed fourth in 1999. She competed in the 2000 Sydney Olympic Games, qualifying for the semifinal of the 400m hurdles. She also competed in the 400m hurdles at the 2004 Athens Olympics.

Blackett has a personal best of 53.36 in the 400m hurdles, which is also a national record for Barbados. She set the Barbados 100m hurdles record of 13.39 in 2003. Blackett holds an undergraduate degree from Rice and a master's degree in hotel management from the University of Houston.