Men's Track and Field
- Title:
- Associate Head Coach - Sprints, Hurdles and Relays
- Hometown:
- 5th year
- Alma Mater:
- Missouri, ('89)
- Email:
- brownna@missouri.edu
- 8 NCAA Finalists
- 32 conference champions
- 41 school records
- 47 NCAA Qualifiers
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- 1992 Olympian (400m, 4x400m)
- 1992 Olympic Silver Medalist (4x400m)
- 1993 World Championship Silver Medalist (400m)
- 1993 World Championships Gold Medalist (4x400m -- Holds World Championships record of 3:16.71)
- 1994 USA Champion (400m)
- 1996 Olympian
- 16-time National Team member (1989-1998)
- 1989 NCAA Champion (400m)
- Six-time NCAA All-American
- Five-time Conference Champion
- Former NCAA Collegiate Record Holder — 400m
- Mizzou School Record Holder — 400m (indoors, outdoors)
- 2020 SEC Legend
Natasha (Kaiser) Brown, a two-time U.S. Olympian and six-time Mizzou All-American, enters her fifth year with the Mizzou Track and Field program in the role of Associate Head Coach for sprints, hurdles and relays.
Brown returned to Columbia in 2017 following successful careers as a runner on the world stage, becoming one of the most decorated Tigers ever, and as a collegiate head coach for Drake for over 15 years.
In her 25-year coaching career, Brown has coached eight NCAA finalists, 32 conference champions, 41 school record holders and 47 NCAA qualifiers.
Since returning to her alma mater in 2017, the Tigers have reached new heights on the track with Brown coaching Mizzou’s sprinters, hurdlers and relay runners.
While it had been two years since the Tigers had competed in the NCAA West Preliminary, Nylo Clarke once again qualified to sprint for Mizzou on the national stage. Clarke was a steady presence for the Tigers in his final year in Columbia, he started off the indoor season with a pair of second-place finishes in the 200m in the Arkansas Qualifier and the Music City Challenge.
2019 saw another great year for Mizzou’s sprinters. Three runners, Maya Cody, Jayson Ashford and Nylo Clarke qualified for the NCAA West Preliminary under Brown’s guise.
Clarke had a stellar sophomore season for the Tigers. He earned podium finishes in nine races during the 2019 indoor and outdoor seasons, including a victory in the the 400m at the Husker Invitational that set the third-fastest time in program history.
After transitioning to the outdoor season, Clarke topped the podium in the 100m at the Herm Wilson Invitational, Mizzou Spring Open and Tom Botts Invitational, the 200m at the Herm Wilson Invitational, and the 400m at the John McDonnell Invitational.
Brown fostered more success in 2018, a year highlighted by Jerrad Mason earning a NCAA West Preliminary Championships berth in the 400m hurdles. At the event, Mason closed his Mizzou career by setting the third-fastest time in program history at 50.97.
Mason thrived in 2018, setting numerous personal records in the indoor 60m and 600m, along with the outdoor 200m, 400m and 400m hurdles. In setting his 400m personal record, he won the event at the Ole Miss Classic.
Maya Cody also had a successful 2018, setting the second-fastest indoor 60m time in program history with a 7.36 run at the Missouri Collegiate Challenge and winning the event. She also ran a leg on the DMR team that won a conference title at the SEC Indoor Championships.
Brown’s first season returning to Columbia started off strong, as she guided six Mizzou athletes to seven entries at the NCAA West Preliminary Championships. The 4x100m relay team of Farquharson, Jackson, Maya Cody and Tsai-Anne Joseph also qualified for the NCAA Championships in Eugene, Ore. Valerie Thames qualified for the 400m hurdles and competed in the 4x400m relay team that consisted of Thames, Sydney Wells, LaQuisha Jackson and Sandrae Farquharson.
One school record was broken in Brown’s first season back, as Thames set the 60m hurdles record at the Missouri Collegiate Challenge, crossing the finish line at 8.45.
Brown returned to her alma mater after 16 years as the head coach of the Drake University track and field and cross country programs. Brown was named the women’s head coach in 2000 and was named head coach of the men’s team in 2003. Before taking the helm at Drake, Brown was a Mizzou assistant coach from 1993-2000 and a volunteer assistant coach at Northwestern State from 1992-1993.
In 16 seasons as Drake’s Track and Field/Cross Country head coach, Brown guided 39 individual Missouri Valley Conference champions, 60 NCAA Qualifiers and one NCAA All-American. Drake student-athletes set 40 program records under Brown’s reign. In the classroom, both the men’s and women’s teams have earned the All-Academic Team Award from the U.S. Track and Field and Cross Country Coaches Association in each of the past five seasons.
While a member of the Mizzou Track and Field team from 1985-89, Brown, formerly Natasha Kaiser, became one of the most decorated student-athletes in school history. Brown won the 400m dash Indoor National Championship in 1989 with a time of 51.92 seconds, which still stands as a school record and stood as the collegiate record at the time of the race. In all, Brown held eight indoor or outdoor program records. Brown earned NCAA All-American honors in the 400m dash six times while donning the black and gold, placing in the top-eight four times during the outdoor season (1986-89) and twice during the indoor season (1988-89).
Brown also won five individual Big 8 conference titles as a Tiger, capturing the 1986 200m and 400m outdoor titles, the 1988 300-yard dash indoor title, and 1989 200m and 4x400m relay titles. In 1989, Brown was named the Big Eight Female Athlete of the Year. Mizzou’s top team-award, the Natasha Kaiser-Brown Award, is given annually to the most outstanding performer on the women’s team.
Prior to coaching, Brown was a member of 16 U.S. national teams, highlighted by a silver medal performance as a member of the 4x400m relay team at the 1992 Barcelona Summer Olympics. Brown made her second Olympics appearance four years later at the 1996 Atlanta Summer Olympics, also as a member of the U.S. 4x400m relay team.
Following a silver medal performance in the 400m dash at the 1993 World Championships in Stuttgart, Germany, Brown was ranked second in the world in the 400m dash. She was also a member of the 4x400m relay team which won the gold medal at the 1993 World Championships with a Championship record time of 3:16:71, the second-fastest time ever by an American team at the time. At the 1997 World Indoor Championships, Brown ran a leg on the 4x400m relay team which set an American indoor record of 3:27.66 en route to the silver medal.
Brown is joined at Mizzou by her husband, Brian, who is the Deputy Athletics Director for Mizzou Made, Integrated Healthcare and Inclusion. Natasha and Brian have three children, a daughter, Elle, and two sons, Quinton and Kristian.
Development Chart
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*Represents number of times the individual qualified for the NCAA Championships (including preliminary rounds)
