INDIANAPOLIS, Indiana — The U.S. Olympic Team Trials - Track & Field will gain a whole new meaning for long time coach Terry Crawford. On June 27, former head coach of Texas, Tennessee and Cal Poly’s collegiate programs will be honored with the USATF Legend Coach Award for 2024. She will be the first woman to win the award in its 10 year history. Before she became a coach, Crawford was a three-time all-American and national champion in the 220-yard dash, 440-yard dash, and 880-yard dash as an athlete at the University of Tennessee. Crawford also competed at the international level and was a finalist in the 400 at the 1968 U.S. Olympic Trials and competed in the 800 at the 1972 Trials. Two years after Title IX was enacted in 1972, Crawford made history at the University of Tennessee as the first head coach of the Lady Vols track and field team, displaying her commitment to advancing women’s influence in athletics. In 1981, the Lady Vols brought home the Association for Intercollegiate Athletics for Women (AIAW) National Championship in track and field - the school's first women’s championship in any sport. Throughout Crawford’s 35-year coaching career she has coached 12 Olympians, over 125 all-Americans, and won the NCAA women’s triple crown title in 1986 (cross country, indoor track and field, and outdoor track and field), a feat never to have been done before. Crawford has also had her fair share of experience coaching international teams for the U.S. She was named the Head Women’s Track and Field Coach for Team USA for the 1988 Olympic Games in Seoul, where the women’s team brought home nine total medals. She also served as the Head Coach for the World University Games, Assistant Coach at the Pan American Games, Head Coach for USA vs. USSR Track and Field Dual Meet Series, and more. Her career accomplishments have been immortalized by the University of Tennessee and the University of Texas, as she has been inducted into both the Tennessee Athletics and Longhorn Women’s Hall of Fame. Additionally, she has been inducted into the USTFCCCA Hall of Fame, and has been honored with multiple namesake awards, including USTFCCCA Terry Crawford NCAA Division I Women’s Program of the Year. She was also honored with the namesake for the USATF Distinguished Female in Coaching Education Award. Her leadership stretches well beyond the oval, as she has held several leadership positions in the world of track and field. Some of these include President of U.S Track Coaches Association and Women’s College Cross Country Association, USATF Board of Directors, USATF Coaches Advisory Committee Chair, and appointed to first Director of Coaching position at the USATF National Office. “A Champion of Breaking the Glass Ceiling”, she became the first female coach to win a National Championship at Tennessee and the Triple Crown at Texas. Additionally, she was the first female president of the USTFCCCA and is one of the first women in NCAA Div. I to be named director of a dual-gender Track and Field/Cross Country team in 1996 at Cal Poly State University-SLO. The USATF Legend Coach Award is now in its tenth year and is selected by the USATF Coaches Advisory Committee. The inaugural award was presented to Hall of Fame Tigerbelle Coach Ed Temple in 2014, followed by Dr. Joe Vigil (2015), Tom Tellez (2016), Clyde Hart (2017), Brooks Johnson (2018), Bob Larsen (2019), Bill Dellinger (2021), George Williams (2022), and Bobby Kersee (2023).