Sidney Cartwright
5/31/2002 12:00:00 AM
Sidney Cartwright
Assistant Coach
scartwright@ia.ua.edu
(205) 348-9944
Sidney Cartwright, in his third season with the Crimson Tide, has continued to make the fast even faster at Alabama. Coaching the Tide's sprinters, hurdlers and horizontal jumpers, events where improvement is often measured in hundredths of a second and fractions of an inch, Cartwright has Tide athletes improving by large chunks of time and distance.
During his first season, then senior Judyth Kitson dropped a quarter of a second in the 100-meter dash and earned All-American honors in that event. Kitson went on to earn a spot on the Jamaican World Championship team where she ran in the semi-finals.
Last season, under Cartwright's guidance, juniors Beau Walker and LaTasha Pharr have also made dramatic improvements. Walker dropped nearly a second in the 100m hurdles, grabbing the school record. In the 400m hurdles, she slashed nearly four seconds off her personal best and shattered the NCAA MidEast Region Championship record in the process. She also won the 100 and 400m hurdles at the prestigious Drake Relays. Pharr has continued to shine in the sprints, hurdles and jumps, including a second place SEC finish in the triple jump outdoors. She ranks in Alabama's all-time top-5 in both the indoor and outdoor triple jump.
"Sidney has obviously been a big boost to our program," head coach Sandy Fowler said. "He brings a wealth of international knowledge of recruiting experience to our staff which will continue to allow us to bring in the best student athletes from across the globe, nationally and from the state of Alabama. His coaching experience at both the NCAA and international levels proves his ability to coach and guide our athletes."
And while it may seem strange that a former decathlete would train elite level sprinters, his athletic experience falls right in line with Fowler's ultimate goal of having a well rounded program that is strong in every event area.
Cartwright joined the Crimson Tide after a four-year stint with the University of Minnesota women's team. While with Minnesota, Cartwright's athletes earned seven Big Ten titles and three All-American honors. Under his direction, Tahesia Harrigan, now a Tide junior, finished second in the 60m dash at the 2002 NCAA Indoor Championships. Prior to Minnesota, he spent two years as an assistant coach at Arkansas-Little Rock.
Internationally Cartwright was sprints, jumps and relays coach for his native Bahamas at the 1996 and 2000 Olympic Games. The Bahaman women raced to the gold medal in the 4x100-meter relay in 2000 and the silver medal at the 1996 games. Former Alabama sprinter Pauline Davis was a member of the 2000 gold medal winning relay.
Cartwright was the head coach for the 1995 Bahamas Games and the 1995 Pan American Games in Argentina. He served as assistant coach for the 1995 World Championship in Sweden.
Cartwright spent six years as a high school coach in Nassau, Bahamas, before returning to the United States to begin his collegiate coaching career.
No stranger to international competition himself, Cartwright competed for the Bahamas as a member of the national team from 1978-87 and he held the Bahamian national decathlon record.
A 1990 graduate of Wayland Baptist University in Plainview, Texas, Cartwright earned a bachelor's degree in physical education.
Cartwright and his wife, SandraLee have three children, Cory, Sidneka, and Sydnei.
