June 20, 2012

TUCSON - The University of Arizona Wildcat men's and women's track and field sprints and relays coach, Francesca Green has been named the Head Manager and sprints coach for Team USA at the Championships of the North American, Central American and Caribbean Athletics Association (NACAC) 2012 - Under 23. The 2012 NACAC Under-23 championships will take place from July 6-8 in the City of Irapuato in the Paralympic Stadium, the State of Guanajuato, Mexico. Green will be working with some of the best athletes in the U.S. while competing in Mexico. Among those athletes will be Kimberlyn Duncan (LSU), the 2012 NCAA Champion in the 200 meters, English Gardner (Oregon), the 2012 NCAA Champion in the 100-meter dash and All-American Ashley Collier (Texas A&M). Two student-athletes from the University of Arizona are currently set to compete for the U.S., juniors Alyssa Hasslen and Georganne Moline. Hasslen and Moline will both compete in the Olympic Trials on June 22-July 1. Junior Edgar Rivera-Morales will also compete for Mexico in the NACAC Championships.

During the summer of 2009, Green was an assistant coach for Team USA at the Pan-American Junior Games held in Port of Spain, Trinidad, where she coached the men's sprints and relays. Green helped guide several student-athletes to exceptional results including a 1-2 Team USA finish in the men's 100 meters and runner-up finishes in both the men's 200 meters and 400 meters by American male runners. The Team USA men's 4x100-meter and 4x400-meter relays were Pan-Am Junior Champions, running 39.06 and 3:03.25, respectively.

For the 2012 season, Green had another successful year leading the Wildcat sprinters and relay teams. Senior Echos Blevins was an All-Conference honoree in the 400 meters, earning a fifth-place finish at the meet with a time of 53.80. Her personal-best time of 53.38 came at the 2012 Jim Click Shootout. Sophomore Shapri Romero has made vast improvements under Green's tutelage, improving her personal-best time of 57.09 in high school to 53.48 at the end of her second year. The men's and women's 4x100-meter relay team also earned All-Conference accolades. However, Green's most impressive work this year came with the women's 4x400-meter relay team. They earned first-team All-American honors in the event, taking sixth place at the NCAA Championships. No other women's 4x400-meter relay team has earned first-team All-American honors in school history. The quartet of Romero (52.55), Blevins (52.28), sophomore Tamara Pridgett (54.90) and Moline (51.76) also set the school record with a time of 3:31.06.