In his first three years as head track and field coach at Johnson C. Smith University, Lennox Graham has been busy making a name for himself – and his school.

Earlier this month, he was named CIAA 2010 Women's Indoor Track and Field Coach of the Year. Last year he won the same award in the outdoor category.

Graham and JCSU will be in the spotlight again next week when dozens of teams from around the nation arrive on campus for the NCAA Division II Outdoor Men’s and Women’s Outdoor Track and Field Championships.

Graham, a native of Jamaica, said he wants to use the event to showcase his student-athletes as well as the school.

The Division II championships were last held at JCSU in 2007, so school officials were thrilled to be selected to host it again so quickly.

More than 600 athletes will compete May 27-29 at McGirt Field. Some of the most promising – Jamaican runners like Leford Green, Shermaine Williams and Rosemarie Carty -- will be representing JCSU.

In the Q&A below, Graham talks about his work at JCSU and coaching some of his home country’s top runners. Some answers were edited for brevity and clarity.

Q. You’ve been at JCSU three years, winning CIAA awards in two of those years. That must make you feel good.
Oh, definitely. It’s a testament to the work that we’re doing here as a group. I accept the award and I’m happy for it for my resume, but it’s really a testament to what the team is doing. We have some very good sprinters, hurdlers and jumpers. We’re trying to improve the team, but as far as being recognized by your peers, that’s an honor.

Q. How good is this team?
Right now the team is second in the CIAA indoors and third outdoors for the women. The men, we got our first piece of hardware when we finished second outdoors this year. That was the first time we’ve been in the top three since I’ve been here. We’re trying to improve the team all around. Right now we have mostly sprinters and hurdlers, so we’re trying to get more jumpers and probably some field people. On the national level, we’re eighth on the girls side and tenth on the males side. That’s where I really want the improvement to take place. We’d like to be a top-four or top-five team in the nation.

Q. You’ve got some outstanding Jamaican sprinters. How did they end up at Johnson C. Smith?
Our top sprinter on the male side has been Leford Green. I coached him in high school. The same for Shermaine Williams. The year after that we got Rosemarie Carty. She got second at the nationals, and she and Shermaine got first and second at the Junior Pan Am last year. I also coached Rosemarie in high school. I’m pretty well known in track and field circles in Jamaica, so it’s not that difficult to recruit Jamaicans. The bigger challenge has been to try to get persons from the East Coast. The only way I think I can do that is to build a reputation. As we go forward, I expect it to be a little easier trying to convince people from North Carolina, South Carolina, Virginia and Florida -- anywhere in this region -- to think of Johnson C. Smith.

Q. How good is Leford Green?
I believe that in a couple of years he could go very low 48s in the 400-meter hurdles, which would make him world class. I think he could go 44s in the 400 meters. If things go right, he could be mixing it up with the best in the world.

Q. Do you see him in the Olympics.
He’s already made it to the world championships, and I do see him making it to the Olympics. The target, obviously, is London in 2010. We also have Williams, who is our sprint hurdler. She’s been NCAA champion her freshman and sophomore years. She also has great potential. We also have Rosemarie Carty, who was second at the Pan Am games. I’m hoping we can turn at least those three athletes into very competitive athletes at the top of the world.

Q. What is it like to coach so many talented runners from your home country?
I use coaching to teach, so it’s really not about where you’re from. I really would love to have more people from North and South Carolina on my team. I really would like for it not to be looked at as Johnson C. Smith with all these Jamaicans. I would like for it to be looked at as Johnson C. Smith with all these great athletes. As a coach, though, you really want the best talent, wherever you can get it from.

Q. What does it mean to have the Division II championships back at JCSU?
We’re planning to put on a pretty good show, and I’m not just talking about on the track and in the field. We would like to make this event special for everybody who comes. We would like to have the wow factor -- people looking on saying, “Wow! This has been the best one yet.” We are hoping to really get the support of Charlotte, whether they are high schoolers, middle schoolers or corporate Charlotte. Track and field is not as well supported as basketball or football, but I’m hoping that over the years that I’m here we can get more support. I hoping that at some point soon we can look up into the stands and see a couple thousand people cheering us on. That would mean we’ve really done a great job.
 

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