Pirates Add Two Assistants to Track & Field/Cross Country Staff
September 09, 2025 | Track & Field, Cross Country
GREENVILLE, N.C. – The East Carolina track & field and cross country program has added Luke Cunningham and Johnnie Jackson as assistant coaches, head coach Virgil Givens announced on Monday.
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"I am enthusiastic about the upcoming season as I welcome three new coaches to our team," said Givens. "These additions give our student-athletes coaches who have achieved success at the highest levels both within the NCAA and in international competition. It was important to build a Coaching staff with not just successful individuals but with good people. We spend so much time with our student-athletes, therefore the ability to really connect well and form strong relationships built around trust and respect is key."
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Cunningham, who will be working primarily working with the program's distance group and the ECU cross country program, comes to the Pirates after wrapping up his collegiate career at New Mexico. He began his career at Wagner before transferring to the Lobos where he was a member of the 2025 Mountain West Indoor Champion distance medley relay squad.
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Jackson, who will be leading the program's throws group, comes to ECU after serving as a volunteer assistant at Alabama where he worked with the Crimson Tide throws group. Simultaneously, Jackson, a 2017 LSU graduate, has continued to compete in the hammer throw, including qualifying for the 2021 and 2024 Olympic Trials. He was a finalist in 2021. As a student-athlete, he was a 2017 NCAA Champion in the indoor weight throw before earning a silver medal at the 2017 USATF Outdoor Championships in the hammer.
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Cunningham and Jackson round out Givens' staff, joining fellow new hire Damar Forbes as well as returning sprints coach Chastity Pickett who worked with the Pirates in 2024-25.
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"I am enthusiastic about the upcoming season as I welcome three new coaches to our team," said Givens. "These additions give our student-athletes coaches who have achieved success at the highest levels both within the NCAA and in international competition. It was important to build a Coaching staff with not just successful individuals but with good people. We spend so much time with our student-athletes, therefore the ability to really connect well and form strong relationships built around trust and respect is key."
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Cunningham, who will be working primarily working with the program's distance group and the ECU cross country program, comes to the Pirates after wrapping up his collegiate career at New Mexico. He began his career at Wagner before transferring to the Lobos where he was a member of the 2025 Mountain West Indoor Champion distance medley relay squad.
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Jackson, who will be leading the program's throws group, comes to ECU after serving as a volunteer assistant at Alabama where he worked with the Crimson Tide throws group. Simultaneously, Jackson, a 2017 LSU graduate, has continued to compete in the hammer throw, including qualifying for the 2021 and 2024 Olympic Trials. He was a finalist in 2021. As a student-athlete, he was a 2017 NCAA Champion in the indoor weight throw before earning a silver medal at the 2017 USATF Outdoor Championships in the hammer.
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Cunningham and Jackson round out Givens' staff, joining fellow new hire Damar Forbes as well as returning sprints coach Chastity Pickett who worked with the Pirates in 2024-25.
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