Erica McLain enters her third year as a volunteer assistant coach for Stanford. She completed her athletic career at Stanford in the spring of 2008 where she was a three-time national champion in the triple jump for the Cardinal.
"Erica is a tremendous addition to our staff," said Franklin P. Johnson Director of Track and Field Edrick Floreal. "She is one of our own and will be a great source of inspiration for our young men and women."
Last season, she was a part of the staff that helped Arantxa King to a NCAA runner-up finish in the long jump. She also assisted with the women's jumps group that scored 24 points at the Pac-10 Championships in the long and triple jumps alone.
In 2009, the Cardinal jumpers excelled with the help of McLain. The Stanford women's jumpers scored 37 points in the long and triple jumps alone at the Pac-10 Championships. In addition, the Cardinal earned seven regional standards in the long and triple jumps and Arantxa King (long jump) and Whitney Liehr (triple jump) advanced to the NCAA Outdoor Championships.
McLain was coached by Floreal for her entire Stanford career and continues to train under Floreal as a professional. Last summer, she won the U.S. national title in the triple jump.
McLain is one of the most decorated athletes in Stanford track and field history. She is a 14-time All-American, having earned four honors in the indoor triple jump, four in the outdoor triple jump, three in the indoor long jump and three in the outdoor long jump. She is also the first athlete ever to win the long and triple jump at the Pac-10 championships two years in a row. McLain is also the Stanford indoor (46-7 ¼) and outdoor (46-5 ¼) record holder in the triple jump, and second in the indoor (21-4) and outdoor long jump (21-6 ¼).
In the summer of 2008, McLain competed in the U.S. Olympic trials where she finished third in the triple jump to advance to the Olympic Games in Beijing. In 2009, McLain advanced to the IAAF World Championships in Berlin in the triple jump. McLain also qualified for the 2005 World Championships in Helsinki, Finland, when she was just a freshman at Stanford, making her the youngest member of Team USA.