JOINED - September 2022 (assistant coach), July 2023 (Interim Head Coach)
Ben Hibbert was named the Interim Track and Field / Cross Country on the Lakefront on July 25, 2023 following the departure of Head Coach Brock Moreaux.
The Bakersfield, Calif. native came to the Lakefront in September of 2022 to serve as the Assistant Coach in charge of Jumps, Hurdles and Sprints. That season all five Privateers who qualified for the NCAA’s Outdoor East Regionals were directly coached by him.
Freshman Jorim Bangue qualified in the 110M Hurdles with a time of 13.87 during the Southland Championships – the second best time in both the Southland, and state of Louisiana. Elliott Cummings qualified in the 100M following a mark of 10.13 also set at the Southland Championships. Jayden Sloan’s 51.19 in the 400M Hurdles won the Southland Championship in the event and qualified him for the East Regional as well.
Ellis Cummings, Mason Melancon, Elliott Cummings, and Sloan also qualified for the NCAA East Regional’s 4x100 competition after their time of 39.75 at LSU’s Alumni Gold. The foursome ran well in cold and windy conditions in Jacksonville and ended up one spot short of qualifying for the NCAA National Championships.
Ten school records were broken by student-athletes who were directly under Hibbert’s guidance during 2023. During the indoor campaign Vivette Green set the school record for the 200M, Sloan set the school record for the 400M, Nicholaus Smith set the record for the triple jump, and freshman Alimot Alowonle set the school records for both the triple and long jump.
During the outdoor campaign Sloan set the school record for the 400M Hurdles, Christopher Murphy and Smith set the school records for the Long Jump and Triple Jump respectively, and the women’s 4x100 team consisting of Aisha Johnson, Green, Helen Baumgarten and Alowonle set a new mark in that discipline. Alowonle set a new outdoor long jump record as well – her third school record during an outstanding freshman campaign under Hibbert.
Alowonle was crowned Southland Indoor Champion in the long jump, and Sloan was crowned Southland Outdoor Champion in the 400M Hurdles.
Hibbert was also part of a coaching staff that guided the Privateer women’s team to 98 points and a third place finish at the 2023 Southland Outdoor Championships – the best finish and points total by either a men’s or women’s program at any conference championship in program history. The UNO women’s fourth place finish with 87 points during the Southland Indoor Championships also marks a program best.
Prior to his arrival at UNO, Hibbert was a volunteer coach for the Indiana Hoosiers. He was instrumental in the development of First Team All-American sprinter Rikkoi Brathwaite. During his lone season in Bloomington, Braithwaite finished second in the NCAA Indoor Championships with a 60M time of 6.52 – an Indiana school record.
Hibbert also spent year as a professional track & field team Intern for Hurdle Mechanic from May of 2019 to May of 2020. While at Hurdle Mechanic he oversaw practice setup, training and film breakdown under noted track coach Lawrence “Boogie” Johnson. Ben’s group at Hurdle Mechanic included four Olympic Medalists, four World Medalists, and professional athletes from five different countries.
A former 2019 Big West All-Conference selection in the 4x100, Hibbert ran track at CSUN from 2018-2020. Not just a success on the track, Hibbert was three-time All-Academic Big West honoree (2018, 2019, 2020). During his time as a scholarship student-athlete for CSUN, Hibbert ran the 6th fastest 60 Hurdles time in program history – 8.03 at the 2000 New Mexico Team Open. As a graduate student at Indiana in 2021, Ben won the 60M Hurdles at Big Ten Open.
Hibbert earned his Bachelor of Science in Kinesiology with a Concentration in Sports Studies from CSUN in 2020. He graduated Magna Cum Laude and was on the Dean’s List from 2017-2020. A recipient of the Big Ten’s post graduate scholarship, Ben earned his Master’s of Science in Kinesiology with a Concentration in Sport and Coaching Science from Indiana with 4.0 GPA in May of 2022.
A native of Bakersfield, Calif., Ben now resides in New Orleans. Hibbert has four brothers, including a twin brother – Alex, who also ran track with him at CSUN.
