Barnier named assistant director of athletics

Former ACU national champion will be senior women's administrator

For immediate release 26 June 2002

ABILENE -- Former ACU track and field national champion and current ACU compliance coordinator, Sylvia Barnier, has been named ACU's assistant director of athletics and senior women's athletics administrator.

Barnier, who will still be in charge of NCAA compliance for all of Wildcat athletics, assumed her new duties Wednesday.

"I'm very excited about what Sylvia brings to the position as far as her experience and expertise," ACU director of athletics Shanon Hays said.  "She's been here six years and done a great job for ACU.  She's very well respected throughout the Lone Star Conference as far as compliance issues are concerned, and I feel like she'll be a great asset to me and the entire ACU program in this expanded role."

In May, Barnier (formerly Sylvia Dyer) became just the third former Wildcat to be inducted into the NCAA Division II Track and Field Hall of Fame, joining Cliff Felkins and Marlene Lewis, both of whom were inducted in 1998. The other three athletes who were inducted this year, along with Barnier, were Mike Smierziak and Tranel Hawkins of Angelo State and Dale Drennan of Texas-Arlington.

Barnier was a five-time NCAA Division II national indoor champion and 20-time NCAA Division II all-America performer. Her five indoor national titles are the most ever for any female athlete at the NCAA Division II level. Three people -- including ACU's Yolanda Henry and Delloreen Ennis-London -- have four career individual indoor titles.

Barnier won individual indoor championships in the 55-meter hurdles (1988, 1989 and 1991) and the triple jump (1988 and 1989).

Aside from her five national championships, she was a seven-time runner-up at national meets with second place finishes at the NCAA Division II national outdoor championship meet in the 100 hurdles and triple jump in 1987 and 1988, the 100 hurdles and the 4x100 relay in 1989, and in She finished below fourth place at national meets only twice - sixth in the long jump at the 1988 indoor national championship meet and eighth in the long jump as a freshman in 1986 at the outdoor national championship meet.

The Wildcats won six NCAA Division II national championships (three outdoor and three indoor) while Barnier was competing, including the Wildcats' first two indoor titles in 1988 and 1989.

She was a five-time Lone Star Conference champion, including the 100-meter hurdles in 1987, 1988 and 1989. She also won LSC championships in the 400 hurdles in 1989 and as part of the 4x100 relay in 1989.

At the 1989 LSC track and field championships, Barnier competed in five events, winning three: the 100 hurdles, 400 hurdles and running as the lead leg on ACU's 4x100 relay team. She finished second in the triple jump and fourth in the high jump. She was named Lone Star Conference runner of the year and was also the ACU athlete of the year in 1989.

After graduation from ACU in 1991, Barnier went on to earn a Master's Degree in Public Administration before returning to ACU as a coach.

As a coach at ACU from 1998-2001, she coached ACU's long- and-triple jumpers to nine NCAA Division II national championships and 23 all-America honors. Her national champions were Ayodele Aladefa (indoor and outdoor champion in the long jump 1998); Terrance Woods (indoor champion in the triple jump 1999); Hillerie Shelton (outdoor national champion in the triple jump in 1999 and 2001 and indoor national champion in the triple jump in 2001); Stephen Moore (indoor and outdoor national champion in the long jump in 1999); and Renna Toniste (indoor national champion in the triple jump in 1999)