Cross Country/Track & Field Coaching Staff

Head Coach
Jessica Carter

E-Mail Coach Carter
ost would consider head coach Jessica Carter a workaholic and quite a bit unique. Beginning her third season in charge of the Florida International University running programs, Carter oversees the entire operation of six FIU teams: men's and women's cross country, men's and women's indoor track and field and men's and women's outdoor track and field.

Head Coach Jessica Carter with husband and volunteer assistant coach Jonathan and the couple's two-year-old daughter Jaysha.

Despite being one of only a handful of women to be coaching men's teams, the Brooklyn, N.Y. native has the competitive talent and experience necessary to move the program among the elite of the Sun Belt Conference, and beyond.

"It doesn't matter if I am coaching a man or a woman. When I see athletes reach their goals, when I have helped them get what they want, it's a feeling of gratification."

A 1992 graduate of the University of Maryland Eastern Shore, Carter was a U.S. Olympic Trials qualifier in the 400-meter run and a member of the North's 4x400-meter relay team during the 1991 Olympic Festival in Los Angeles. Again in 1996, she competed in the Olympic Trials and in February '98, she placed second at the USA Indoor Championships in Atlanta.

As a collegian, she helped UMES to several Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference championships and was that school's 1992 Athlete of the Year. Carter was a semifinalist in the 400m at the '92 NCAA Outdoor Track Championships and was a member of the 4x400m first-place relay team in the college division of the Penn Relay Carnival. Both The Track & Field News and USA Today listed her among the top runners in the nation.

After graduating with her Bachelor's of Science degree in Management, Carter became a student assistant at her alma mater. She then moved to Morgan State University where she served as an assistant coach for two years. In 1994, Carter helped coach Morgan State to the men's team title at the MEAC Indoor Championships.

In 1997, Carter came to FIU as the program's top assistant for the Golden Panthers indoor and outdoor track and field teams.

Working primarily with sprinters and middle-distance runners at FIU, Carter has put her coaching expertise to good use. She helped qualify the Golden Panthers first male All-America track athlete, Rod Davis, in the 1998 400-meter outdoor hurdles, and last year helped Anita Edwards qualify for national competition in the 400-meter dash.

Carter and her husband Jonathan have a two-year-old daughter, Jaysha.

Assistant Coach
Ryan Dall

Assistant Coach Ryan Dall

yan Dall begins his third season on the staff, and second year as the program's full-time assistant. Working closely with head coach Jessica Carter, Dall's involvement includes much of the day-to-day operations of the overall program.

Dall, who has expertise in the areas of throwing, pole vaulting and the jumps, has competed in track and field since he was a youngster. From the age of nine, he honed his skills at many camps and clinics around the country like Bill Falk's Pole Vault Camps, Jan Johnson's Pole Vault Camp, the New England Track and Field Camp and the Florida State Track and Field Camp.

Along the way, he also spent time training in Yaroslavl, Russia with Maksim Tarosov, the 1992 Olympic pole vault champion.

As a collegiate competitor, Dall was captain and a four-year varsity letterwinner at the University of Miami (Fla.). Among his accomplishments were the 1995 Indoor and Outdoor Big East Conference pole vault championship and a fourth-place finish in the 1998 Big East decathlon. His personal best vault was 17'00.75". He also competed in the 110-meter hurdles and the javelin.

Since 1994, Dall has been a pole vault instructor at Bill Falk's Pole Vault Schools and runs his own camps and clinics instructing high school, college and post-college athletes in the proper techniques of that event.

"The program is fortunate to have someone with Ryan's teaching abilities associate with it," said coach Carter. "He's a former decathlete who knows the technical aspects of the vaulters, throwers and hurdlers. He's a teacher who knows what to do to get our athletes better and it's shown by their performances."

Assistant Coach
Carlos Salvat

Assistant Coach Carlos Salvat

ong-time area coach Carlos Salvat is the newest member of the Golden Panthers running staff in charge of the distance runners and the cross country program. For more than a dozen years, Salvat has been a very successful, and well decorated, high school and college head coach.

He came to FIU after a season as the head cross country coach at St. Thomas University in Miami where he led that first-year program to the Florida Sun Conference championship. From 1989-98, Salvat was the head coach of both cross country and track and field at Belen Jesuit Prep, Our Lady of Lourdes and Holy Cross high schools in Miami.

Over that span, he helped numerous student-athletes attain all-state status while he, himself, was recipient of the Catholic Coach of the Year Award.

Among his own athletic accomplishments, Salvat was an all-district cross country runner for four years in high school and was all-state as a senior. In track and field, he was an all-district performer in the 300-meter hurdles, mile relay and the mile run.

"Carlos has made an immediate impact with our distance teams," said head coach Jessica Carter. "He's pulled them together and they've become much more cohesive units."

Salvat, who earned his Bachelor's of Science degree at FIU in 1998, is married. He and his wife Rose reside in Miami and are the parents of one-year-old son, Nicolas.

Assistant Coach
Jonathan Carter

Assistant Coach Jonathan Carter

ssistant coach Jonathan Carter is in his second season as a member of the Golden Panthers track and field staff.

The former collegiate All-American sprinter came from Long Island University's Brooklyn Campus where he was head coach of the men and women's track and cross country teams for several seasons.

His background includes collegiate honors in both the 100-meter dash and 4x100-meter relay while attending Florida State. He earned All-America and All-Atlantic Coast Conference stature throughout his collegiate career and qualified for the 1996 Olympic Trials in the 100 meters.

He is still extremely active in the sport as he finished seventh in the 100m dash at last summer's USA Track & Field Championships and was an alternate on the 4x100m relay team that competed at the World Championships.

With his background and expertise, Carter is expected to pay dividends this season with regards to the Golden Panther sprinters.

"Jonathan is very inspirational to our sprinters," said head coach Jessica Carter. "Since he is still competing, and competing with the world's best, he knows what it takes to be successful and our athletes believe and trust in him."

Carter and his wife Jessica have a two-year old daughter Jaysha.