Coach Sayers in entering her fifth year as head coach after being promoted to Director of Cross Country and Track & Field on July 31, 2019. Previously, she served as Assistant Coach from the 2015 - 2019 seasons.
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Sayers has been in the New River Valley most of her life as a Blacksburg native and a Roanoke College alumna. In 2016, she was inducted into Blacksburg High School’s Athletics Hall of Fame due to her athletic accomplishments. Sayers has achieved as much success in coaching in addition to racing.
During the 2020-21 and 2021-22 seasons, Sayers saw a resurgence of Radford distance running including back-to-back Big South cross country runner-up finishes and Hannah Moran’s individual championship in 2021. Moran went on to break numerous school records and become the first NCAA East Preliminary qualifier since 2015 for the Highlanders. In addition to the distance squad, several athletes earned podium finishes in the Big South Track & Field Championships in 2022, including Austin Swallow’s second-place javelin performance.
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In the 2019 season, the Highlanders saw further growth and improvement with two Big South champions at the 2019 Big South Outdoor Track and Field Championships in La'Tisha Chambers (200-meter dash) and Taylor Tinsley (high jump). Amidst the shortened 2020 season, Radford's newcomers set countless marks in the top-10 lists. Additionally, veterans continued building on previous seasons by improving personal records and moving up in the record books. The Highlanders have also excelled inside the classroom by during the Spring 2020 semester with 90% of the team earning above a 3.0 GPA.
In 2018, Sayers assisted in leading Radford to the program’s best finish in history at the Big South Indoor Track & Field Championships during a season that saw Amelia Reynolds earn Big South Freshman of the Year honors and several athletes earning places on the podium.
Prior to her time at Radford, Sayers made an impact at the University of Norther Iowa (UNI) and Roanoke College. During her time at Northern Iowa, she was one of the few women in the country to head a combined men's and women's program. Her sprinters and hurdlers established four school records, earned six Missouri Valley all-conference honors, and captured two Missouri Valley Conference Championships in the 4x400 relay.
In 2015, Sayers coached a NCAA Division I qualifier in the 400 meter and two women to All-MVC honors and onto the UNI all-time top five list in the 400m. She also mentored an athlete to set a freshman record in the 60m hurdles (8.63) and earn All-MVC honors (2nd). Her shuttle hurdle relay team finished second at the Drake Relays in 2012 and was ranked No. 6 in the nation by USA Track & Field News.
Prior to UNI, Sayers spent six seasons at Roanoke College as an assistant Track & Field coach. While in Roanoke, she developed a dominant group of sprinters and hurdlers that won nine straight ODAC titles.
In total, Sayers coached eight individual All-Americans, four All-American relay squads, and one national champion; while her event groups established 28 school records and 12 conference records.
Sayers' success was honored, being awarded the South/Southeast Region Assistant Coach of the Year in 2008, 2009 and 2010. She became the first female coach to receive the title.
Sayers is a 2000 graduate of Roanoke College and is USATF Level 2 certified in sprints, hurdles and relays. She resides in the New River Valley with her husband, Andy, and their daughters, Lily and Virginia.
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WHAT THEY'RE SAYING ABOUT SHELLI SAYERS...
"Shelli is a truly extraordinary track and field coach. She cares deeply for all of her athletes and has always displayed a tireless commitment to their success. She's going to make a terrific head coach at Radford and I couldn't be happier for Shelli and the Highlanders" – Dan Steele, Former Associate Head Coach at Iowa State
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"I could not think of a better choice. It has been a pleasure watching Shelli's student-athletes grow under her direction and watching the performance that she gets out of them." – Ben Paxton, Head Cross Country & Track Coach at Winthrop
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"Coach Sayers is a highly respected coach. She has established her legacy of developing successful athletes and will serve Radford well as the head track & field coach. She knows the sport inside and out, but equally as important, she genuinely cares about the well being of her student-athletes." -Â Natasha Kaiser-Brown, Associate Head Track and Field Coach at Missouri
