Christopher Asher, who has 16 years of college coaching experience, accepted a position as the San Jose State University track and field assistant coach for sprints, relays and hurdles. Kendra Reimer-Gonzales, the university's new director of track and field and cross country, made the announcement.
"Chris is a game changer for our program. He will transform San Jose State into a sprint powerhouse and have an immediate impact on the Mountain West," said Reimer-Gonzales. "This is a huge victory for our men's and women's track and field programs."
His most recent college experience was as an assistant coach focusing on sprints and relays at UCLA during the 2013 season. He spent two more seasons with the Bruins as the director of home meets.
Asher was the head coach of the California State University Los Angeles men's and women's track and field and cross country programs. In 10 seasons (2002-12), his athletes won five (three outdoor, two indoor) NCAA Division II and 85 California Collegiate Athletic Association individual event championships. His teams finished in the top-20 at a NCAA Division II track and field championship 14 times (10 by the women's teams, four by the men's teams). Three Cal State Los Angeles women's cross country teams were NCAA Division II Championships top-20 finishers.
He began his college coaching career as an assistant coach in track and field and cross country at Cal State Fullerton in 1997. In five seasons, his Titan student-athletes set more than 20 school records, earned 19 All-Big West Conference honors and won four individual Big West Conference championships.
Asher has international coaching experience as the sprints/hurdles/relays coach for Team USA at the 2012 World Junior Championships in Barcelona, Spain. His athletes won gold medals in the 400 intermediate hurdles, the 4x100 and the 4x400 meter relays. He also served as the team manager for Team USA at the 2014 IAAF World Relay Championships in the Bahamas.
"I am extremely excited about the future of the sprint, hurdles, and relay program here at San Jose State University. My plan is to successfully identify high-level Division I caliber student-athletes that can compete at the highest level of both the Mountain West and the NCAA. These student-athletes will be a fit for us both academically and athletically with the expectation to be champions," said Asher.
"The student-athletes will achieve these goals by going through a process that will require hard work and proper preparation. I had a great deal of success at each of my previous institutions and my expectation will be to surpass that here at San Jose State."
The 1998 graduate of California State University, Northridge (CSUN) was a member of the Matadors' track and field teams. He earned his master's degree in physical education from Azusa Pacific University in 2001.
His ties to San Jose State date back to the origins of the school's legendary Speed City days. Garfield Finley, an uncle, was a sprinter on the 1957 and 1958 San Jose State track and field teams and a Spartan teammate of world class caliber sprinters Olympian Ray Norton and Bobby Poynter.
Asher holds memberships with the United States Track and Field Cross Country Coaches Association (USTFCCCA), the North American, Central America and Caribbean Track and Field Coaches Association, and USA Track and Field. The two-term NCAA Division II past president and board of directors member of USTFCCCA also was the West Region representative to the NCAA Division II Track and Field and Cross Country Committee for the 2011-12 academic year.
Before returning to college coaching, he was the chief executive officer and owner of a private Southern California personal speed training business. His clients included current National Football League players Ameer Abdullah of the Detroit Lions and Isaiah Johnson of the Los Angeles Rams and former NFL defensive backs Marcus Cromartie and Antonio Cromartie.