Jessica Withrow enters her fourth season as an assistant coach with the UCCS track & field program in 2025-26. In her role, Withrow coaches the hurdlers, high jumpers, and multi event athletes.
During the 2024-25 academic year, Withrow's event groups continued to excel as she coached her student-athletes to 11 All-RMAC First Team accolades and seven All-RMAC Second Team accolades. In addition, the third year assistant coach mentored KJ McInnis to a pair of individual event championships as he secured the indoor and outdoor titles in the men's high jump. At the national level, Withrow oversaw another exceptional season from combined athlete Thorben Hast, who qualified for the indoor national championship meet in the heptathlon with the eighth-best mark in the country at 5,287 points.
The 2023-24 campaign was another strong one for Withrow as she coached the student-athletes within her event groups to a total of 15 All-RMAC First Team accolades and four event titles over the course of the indoor and outdoor seasons. At the national level, Withrow coached senior Melissa Moreni to First Team All-America finishes in the indoor 60mh and outdoor 100mh while Skye Ciccarelli (indoor high jump) and Thorben Hast (outdoor decathlon) also achieved Second Team All-America accolades under her guidance.
In her first season with the Mountain Lions in 2022-23, the student-athletes coached by Withrow saw a great deal of success as they combined for a total of ten All-RMAC First Team honors across the indoor and outdoor seasons, including three that went on to win their individual event titles. Withrow also oversaw a trio of student-athletes that were selected to compete at nationals, with Melissa Moreni qualifying for both the indoor (60mh) and outdoor (100mh) national championship meets, Skye Ciccarelli qualifying for the indoor national meet in the high jump, and Thorben hast being selected for the outdoor national meet in the decathlon.
Across the past three seasons as an assistant coach at Harding University, Withrow coached 13 individual Great American Conference (GAC) champions while helping the women's team earn a GAC conference championship in 2021 and the men's team win the conference title in 2022. In addition, Withrow helped 12 student-athletes reach the NCAA Division II provisional qualifying threshold in their respective event, including four national qualifiers and two All-Americans. A multitude of Bison hurdlers, high jumpers and combined event athletes also saw immense improvement in their marks under the oversight of Withrow as their event coach.
Prior to her stint at Harding, Withrow spent eight years as a high school coach and teacher. She began her career at Sweetwater High School in 2012, where she was the head girls track & field coach, varsity assistant volleyball coach, and freshman basketball coach along with serving as the eighth-grade career investigations teacher. In 2014, Withrow moved on to Coronado High School in Lubbock, Texas, to serve as the varsity assistant coach for the volleyball and track & field teams as well as a 9th-12th grade physical education teacher. After her time at Coronado High School, she joined Marble Falls High School in 2016 to become the head coach of the volleyball team and assistant coach for the track & field program while continuing to teach 9th-12th grade P.E. In her most recent high school position before making the move to the collegiate ranks, Withrow spent one season (2018-19) at Brownwood High School where she was the head track & field and volleyball coach and taught 9th-12th grade health. At the head of the Brownwood track & field program in 2019, she led the Lions to a district championship with a program-record 272 points, an area team championship, and a runner-up finish at the regional team championship while qualifying 11 student-athletes for the UIL Texas State meet.
Withrow completed her Bachelor of Science degree at Abilene Christian University and spent five years as a member of the Wildcats' track & field team. Throughout her collegiate career, she was a highly decorated combined event athlete as she earned an individual heptathlon national championship along with two individual runner-up finishes in the heptathlon and one individual runner-up finish in the women's high jump. At the conclusion of her career at ACU, the nine-time All-American went on to earn her Masters in Sport Administration and Kinesiology from Harding University. Withrow will begin her role with the UCCS men's and women's track & field program on August 1.
