Derek Mackel begins his seventh season as an assistant track & field coach at North Texas after a three-year stint at the University of New Mexico.
Mackel works primarily with the pole vaulters, long jumpers, triple jumpers, high jumpers and multi-event athletes.
During his six seasons at North Texas, Mackel has coached one All-American in Shahaf Bareni, 26 all-conference student-athletes, 21 NCAA Preliminary participants and has seen seven school records broken.
In 2016, three of Mackel's athletes advanced to the NCAA preliminary round in senior Eddie Wilcox (HJ), senior Mona Landry (LJ, 4x100), and junior Jazmine Martin (TJ). Wilcox became the C-USA indoor champion clearing 2.17 meters (7-1.50 feet). Wilcox set a North Texas outdoor high jump record by matching his indoor mark of 2.17m.
In pole vault, Mackel saw steady improvement from sophomore Gabe McAdams and freshman Jordan Faughtenberry who both finished top-3 at the outdoor C-USA championships. Freshman Hannah Winn jumped a career-best 3.50 meters for seventh place at the outdoor C-USA championships.
In 2015, Mackel helped coach three student-athletes who qualified for the NCAA West Prelims in Mona Landry (100 meter dash, long jump), Shahaf Bereni (high jump) and Jazmine Martin (triple jump).
Mackel was a part of Bereni’s first-place finish in the high jump at the C-USA Indoor Championship and a third-place finish at the C-USA Outdoor Championship. He also coached eight top-5 finishes and three podium finishes in Derek Richard (pole vault) and Eddie Wilcox (high jump).
Mackel’s guidance of the 2014 jump squad sent three athletes to the NCAA preliminary round. Mona Landry earned third team all-conference honors in the C-USA Outdoor Championship and two other student-athletes earned all-conference status.
During 2013, junior Shahaf Bareni advanced to the NCAA Championship final and became the second jumper from North Texas to earn All-American honors with a seventh-place showing at 1.83 meters (6’0”), a school record.
Chelsea Hermes broke the school record in the heptathlon at the 2013 Sun Belt Outdoor Conference Championships, and Bareni broke the SBC Championships record for the second consecutive year in the high jump.
In his second season at North Texas, Mackel’s athletes brought down two records at the 2012 Sun Belt Outdoor Conference Championship when Bareni won the women’s high jump, qualifying her to the NCAA West Prelims, and Hermes claimed the No. 1 spot in North Texas history during the heptathlon finishing the two-day competition with 5056 points and a silver medal.
The 2012 campaign saw big improvements from the women’s pole vaulters as Sarah Vann took home all-conference honors during both the indoor and outdoor championships. All together, the jumps group would string 42 points up for the team score en route to being crowned team champions.
In his first season at North Texas, Mackel worked with the throwers and jumpers. He quickly made an impact as one school record fell, two vaulters qualified for the NCAA West Preliminary Round and a long jumper would earn a silver medal at the Jr. Pan-Am Championships.
In his time at New Mexico, Mackel coached pole vaulter Kyle Walker to a second-place finish, All-Mountain West Conference honors and a spot in the NCAA West Preliminary Round with a vault of 5.35m (17’4”).
Mackel also worked with Sandy Fortner, the Mountain West Conference Heptathlon Champion (5723) and a qualifier to the NCAA Outdoor Championships in the heptathlon. Fortner was named the Mountain West Female Athlete of the Year in 2010. Mackel mentored pole vaulter Robert Caldwell who would go on to earn All-American honors at the 2008 NCAA outdoor championship with a sixth-place finish.
Mackel, the 2006 NCAA Midwest Regional pole vault champion, also set the Midwest Regional record in that event at 5.51m (18’ 1”) and was one of the great success stories in UNM track & field history. He began as an unrecruited walk-on in 2002, with a best vault of under 12’ out of high school. As a Lobo, Mackel improved by more than six feet during his collegiate career, earning six letters, three All-MWC conference honors and was named MWC Athlete of the Week and Midwest Region Male Athlete of the Year.
He is a 2006 graduate of the University of New Mexico, receiving his bachelor’s degree in university studies and received a master’s degree in exercise science from the University of New Mexico in 2010.