Vicky Pounds

Vicky Pounds enters into her fourth season with the Tigers’ program, serving as the head coach for the cross country teams and as an assistant coach for the distance events on the track.

Her third season saw Josie Wirtz make huge strides throughout the campaign, including a top-10 mark in the 5k set at Penn Relays.

In her second season working with Clemson’s group of distance athletes, Pounds was able to guide her athletes to great success throughout the course of a challenging season. At the ACC Indoor Championships, John Ward became the tenth-fastest man in program history for the men’s mile after crossing the line during the event’s preliminary heats with a final time of 4:05.76. Ward entered the year with a best of 4:16.21 for the event. During the cross country season, Pounds led the Tigers’ men to their best conference finish since 2015, with the squad finishing 11th overall after earning 335 points. On the women’s side, Pounds helped a young roster register numerous personal bests throughout the year, notably guiding Meredith Finley, Riley Coggin, and Josie Wirtz to each have stellar seasons of improvement.

The 2019-20 season was fruitful for Pounds in her first year working with Clemson’s distance athletes. During the cross country season, Pounds oversaw six, top-5 finishes and 15, top-10 finishes, along with both the men’s and women’s teams coming away from the Carolina Challenge as winners of the meet. Throughout the season, 37 personal bests were earned by the distance crew on the cross country course.

On the track, Pounds used the group’s positive momentum from the fall season to cultivate a flurry of personal bests throughout the indoor campaign. Via the coaching and oversight which Pounds brought to the group, the distance program saw a rapid rise in success on a week-to-week basis. Most notably, Pounds oversaw the continued achievement of Logan Morris, as Morris captured the individual title in her section of the Joe Piane – Notre Dame Invitational over the 5km distance, along with earning two runner-up performances in the 2019 cross country season. Morris made her comeback to the track at the Tiger Paw Invitational and was a crucial piece to the distance team’s impact over the championship portion of the season.

Before joining the Clemson staff, Pounds spent seven seasons with the University of Montana, serving as an assistant coach for the distance events and the men’s cross country program. Ahead of the 2016 season, she gained control of the women’s cross country program in addition to her other roles.

Before entering the coaching ranks, Pounds was a world-class middle-distance runner, representing Canada on the international stage. A native of Leduc, Alberta, Pounds was a 14-time All-American and six-time Southeastern Conference champion while representing the University of Alabama. Pounds has personal bests of 2:02.00 in the 800 meters and 4:11.78 in the 1500 meters. The two-time Canadian 800-meter national champion represented Canada in the 1999 World Championships in Seville, Spain.

Pounds and her husband, Jason, have two daughters, Madison and Morgan, and a son, Teigen.