Clarksville, TN – Austin Peay State University (APSU) head track and field coach Asha Gibson-Smith has added three assistant coaches for the upcoming 2024-25 cross country and track and field seasons.
Jacob Patten, Ethen Besier, and Jack Fitzgerald are joining the Governors this season. Patten will oversee the program’s jumpers, Besier will take over as the throws and pole vault coach, while Fitzgerald will assist with the Governors’ distance runners.
“I look forward to the contributions that Jacob, Ethen, and Jack will bring to our program,” said Gibson-Smith. “Their passion for student-athlete development and energy will certainly add to our team culture and advancement. Each of them has demonstrated a natural embodiment of the ‘Total Gov Concept’ and should complement the goals that we have in place as a program.”
A Memphis, Tennessee product, Patten came to Clarksville after three seasons at Cumberland University. He helped the program to their first Mid-South Conference Championships, with the Phoenix claiming the 2023 Men’s Indoor and Outdoor Track & Field titles. Patten coached NAIA national champion Goodness Iredia, who won the 2023 Outdoor Long Jump title, and Sibanda Dumoluhle, the 2022 NAIA Outdoor Triple Jump Champion.
Patten attended Middle Tennessee, where he began his career as a walk-on. He ultimately won the 2018 Conference USA Indoor high jump as a junior. The following season, he capped his career by qualifying for the NCAA Outdoor Track & Field Championship in 2019 after posting a career-best 2.19-meter jump in the East Region Preliminary that season. Patten claimed six podium finishes at the Conference USA Championships during his career.
Besier, a Statesboro, Georgia native, joins the Austin Peay State University staff and will work simultaneously as a strength and conditioning coach with the US Army at Fort Campbell. He competed collegiately at Division II Colorado Mesa, where he was a two-time All-Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference selection in the indoor heptathlon and the outdoor decathlon after finishing sixth and fifth in those events, respectively, at the RMAC championships as a freshman. He transitioned to the throw events solely as a sophomore. While with the Mavericks, Besier was a five-time RMAC All-Academic Honor Roll member.
Fitzgerald, a Waverly, Tennessee product, returns to the Governors after graduating from Austin Peay State University in May 2023. He was a four-year member of the APSU men’s cross country team and finished his career by setting a personal best in the 10K at the NCAA South Regional.
