From Arizona Media Relations releases
Three women on the Arizona track and field team have been named to the United States Track coaches association all-academic first team. They are Rebecca Butt, Tanya Hughes and Brenda Sleeuwenhoek. No other school had more than one person named to the academic team.
Hughes, a four-time NCAA champion in the high jump, graduated in May with a 3.49 grade point average in interdisciplinary studies.
Sleeuwenhoek, the 1994 NCAA indoor champion in the 5,000 meters, also graduated this past May and had a 3.41 GPA in inter-disciplinary studies. She was fourth in the 5,000 at the NCAA outdoor champion-ships and was the Pacific-10 Conference champion at that distance.
Butt was a two-time all-America as a junior this season, in the high jump and the heptathlon and had a 3.95 GPA in accounting.
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John Rembao, a former assistant coach at California State University at San Luis Obispo, has been hired as a restricted earnings coach for the Arizona track and field team. He replaces Jan Wohlschlag, who moved with her husband to Waco, Texas. Rembao will coach the high jump, long and triple jumps.
Most recently, Rembao served as the head men's and assistant women's cross country and assistant track and field coach for men and women at California Polytechnic Institute-San Luis Obispo. During his 10-year tenure at the Division II school, he coached over 70 all-America student-athletes.
The men's track team consistently finished in the top five at the national championships. As the women's coach from 1984-88, the cross country team won four national championships and a track and field national title. Rembao also served as an assistant athletic director for business affairs from 1989-91.
He was the United States Olympic Festival West head coach this summer and was the jumps and throws coach for the festival's West team in 1993. Rembao was NCAA cross country regional coach of the year in 1992 and '93. As an athlete, he ran on the 1979 national championship cross country team for Cal Poly.
Rembao's wife Sue is currently one of the nation's top high jumpers. She was a 1992 Olympian and ranked second in the United States that year. She competed at the 1993 world championships in Stuttgart, Germany and was ranked fifth in the country that season.
"John Rembao will be a tremendous boost to our program this year," said UA coach Dave Murray. "He has coached world-class athletes in several different events and his experience is a bonus for us."
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Sue Parks, women's cross country and assistant track and field coach at Arizona, has been named head women's cross country and track coach at Ball State University in Indiana. This is her first head coaching position.
Parks, who spent four years at the UA, was named District VIII cross country coach of the year after her squad won Arizona's first regional title in 1993. The team also finished second at the Pac-10 championships and 12th at the NCAA championships.
During her tenure, she coached some of the finest middle and distance runners in UA history, including Katie Williams and Bridget Symth. Most recently, she guided Sleeuwenhoek to the NCAA indoor title in the 5,000 and a fourth-place finish at the outdoor championships. Sleeuwenhoek was the 1994 Pac-10 champion at 5,000 and was a double winner in '93 at 3,000 and 5,000.
Murray will take over duties for the women's cross country team this season, until he is able to hire a replacement for Parks. He is entering his 28th year at the university.
"We are extremely sorry to lose Sue Parks from our staff," Murray added. "But we are also excited that she had this opportunity at Ball State. She has done an outstanding job with our program and her expertise will be missed." Read Next Article