Staff Directory
- Title:
- Assistant Coach (Throws/Multi-Events)
- Email:
- Phone:
- (919) 819-3735
Tom Wood enters his 33rd year as an assistant coach for the NC State Track & Field program, working with the multi-event athletes and throwers. Since he has been at NC State, the Wolfpack's throwers have risen to a high level of prominence in the ACC and at the national level.
Wood led Luke Thierfelder and Katie Horne to new program records in javelin throw during the 2025 outdoor season. Thierfelder posted a program best mark of 218’5”, while Horne tossed a distance of 152’8”. Theirfelder went on to finish fifth at the ACC Outdoor Championships and closed out the season in the preliminary round of the NCAA East Regional Championships.
During the 2023 season, Wood guided Makala Wright and Timara Chapman to new program records in hammer throw, outdoor heptathlon and indoor pentathlon. Wright posted a program best mark of 191'0.00' in the hammer throw at the UF Tom Jones Memorial. Chapman recorded program bests with 4,094 points in the indoor pentathlon and 5,746 points in the outdoor heptathlon. Chapman went out to win the heptathlon at the ACC Championship and placed in the top-20 at the NCAA Outdoor Championships.
Wood led his athletes to four all-time NC State records broken during the 2016-17 season. Joshua Davis posted program-best marks of 218’ 9” in the hammer throw and 72’ 3.75” in the weight throw, while Lauren Evans tossed a distance of 190’ 7” in the hammer throw. In the men’s heptathlon, Grant Rivers totaled 5,131 points at the ACC Indoor Championships.
Wood guided Davis to three consecutive NCAA Indoor All-American performances in the weight throw from 2016-18. He also led Lauren Evans to her first NCAA Championships appearance in the shot put in 2018.
Weight thrower Nicole Chavis, who owns the school record with a mark of 71’ 10.75”, earned three-straight All-America nods under Wood from 2014-16. Her three All-American honors are the most for a female thrower in program history.
In the 2014 outdoor season, Wood produced the first woman in program history to earn All-American honors in the discus. SeQuoia Watkins’ 10th place finish at the NCAA Championships was the highest finish ever by an NC State student-athlete in the discus and the first top-10 finish in the event for the Pack at the championship.
During the 2013 indoor season, Wood unleashed two extremely successful young products in the women's throws in Tremanisha Taylor and Nicole Chavis. Taylor claimed the ACC title in the women's shot put with an indoor program-record of 53 feet and seven inches. Chavis earned All-ACC honors in the women's weight throw with a third place showing.
Wood produced NCAA East Regional qualifiers in Nathaniel Williams, Grant Pearce and Jule Rich in the men's discus, Taylor in the women's shot put and SeQuoia Watkins in the women's discus during the 2013 outdoor season. Taylor earned second-team All-America honors in the women's shot put, and Nathaniel Williams also earned second team All-America recognition in the men's discus at the NCAA Championships. Taylor and Watkins also earned All-ACC honors in the women's shot put and discus throws, respectively.
Wood helped Mitchell Pope earn All-America honors in the indoor shot put in 2006 and 2007 and the outdoor shot put in 2007. Even more impressive was Pope's second place finish at the NCAA championships in the outdoor shot put. He also coached James Rowell, who won the 2003 ACC championship in the weight throw and the discus at the 2004 ACC championships.
On the women's side, Wood coached Lawanda Henry to multiple ACC championships in her first three seasons. In 2010, Henry was a two-time ACC champion, winning the weight throw during the indoor season and the shot put during the outdoor season. She also won All-ACC honors in the indoor shot put during an injury-plagued 2011 campaign. Wood's previous top pupil before Henry, Kelly Smoke, broke all the school records in every throw but the javelin.
NC State won four straight ACC championships in the weight throw, beginning in 1997 with John Patterson and John Williamson winning back-to-back conference titles, followed by Isaiah Oglesby capturing the next two in a row. Wood also helped Oglesby earn All-American honors in the hammer throw and an ACC championship in the hammer throw, setting new school records in both the hammer and weights in the process.
Prior to coming to NC State, Wood served two years as a graduate assistant strength coach at the University of Virginia. He also coached track and field at Amelia High School in Amelia, Va., for 10 years, guiding his women's team to three straight state championships. His athletes won 11 national titles.
Wood coached former UNC All-American Sharon Couch in 1992 to a berth on the U.S. Olympic Team and former Wolfpack standout Chris Corcoran in the javelin to a spot on the USA Junior National team.
A former all-star prep performer from Bedford, Va., in both track and football, Wood was an all-conference selection at Ferrum Junior College.
