Greg Charles has been a member of the UCI coaching staff since 2001 and works primarily with the pole vaulters.
Charles has led the Anteaters to numerous All-Big West honors in the pole vault. He mentored Erin Curtis, who took home the individual title in 2004, and most recently coached Ariel Cheng to back-to-back all-conference awards as she had a runner-up performance in 2014 and a third-place showing in 2015. Stephen Brown added a third-place finish at the 2014 Big West Men's Track & Field Championships.
Charles also helped Erin Curtis, Kristen Loftin and Nick Jennings qualify for the NCAA West Regional meet. In addition, all of the top-10 women's outdoor pole vault marks in program history have been established since Charles' arrival at UCI. Curtis holds the school record at 13-02.25, while Cheng ranks second at 12-10.75.
As a high school and college standout in the pole vault, hurdles, and decathlon, Charles was the California AAU age-group champion and a Junior Olympics finalist in the pole vault. Following a successful junior college and NCAA Division I career, he went on to become a 19-time USATF Masters All-American, and won three USATF National Masters Championships (1997, 1998 and 1999).
His roots in coaching began while he was still in high school as he worked for the City of Torrance, teaching track & field to elementary school students. He assisted at South Torrance High School in 1985 and 1986, coaching the pole vault, high jump, and hurdles. Prior to coming to UC Irvine, Charles coached locally at Woodbridge and University High Schools.
During his tenure with the 'Eaters, Charles has coached over 40 Big West Conference qualifiers, multiple NCAA qualifiers and a school-record holder in the women’s pole vault.
Â
