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Grace Upshaw joins the Stanford Track and Field Program in 2007-08 as a volunteer coach. She is a 2004 Olympian and four-time U.S. National Champion in the long jump. Grace credits much of her success and understanding of the event to Edrick Floreal who helped develop her abilities from 2000-2004. Floreal coached Upshaw, as a post collegiate athlete, from a No. 32 World Ranking to a No. 5 World Ranking in 2003, which was the biggest improvement of any female long jump athlete in the world that year.
Upshaw continues to compete on a World Class level and is training for the 2008 Olympic Games in Beijing. She hopes to bring her experience and understanding of the sport to Stanford's track and field athletes.
Upshaw is a 1997 graduate of UC Berkeley and has a BA in American Studies. She comes from a track and field background...her father, Monte Upshaw, as a high school athlete in 1954 jumped 25 feet 4 1/4 inches breaking Jesse Owens high school record.