WISE - - Lorenzo Rodriguez was announced as UVA Wise's first ever full-time assistant coach for track and field and cross country Friday. It will be his second stint with the Cavaliers, having previously served as a part time assistant with the cross country programs from 2014-to-2016.

"I am excited that Lorenzo is joining our staff full-time now, he brings a wealth of knowledge and success over many years of coaching and competing as an athlete," stated UVA Wise Head Coach Andrew Howard. "He has a true passion for the sport and for the student-athletes, Lorenzo is invested in seeing them succeed in the classroom and athletically."

Rodriguez brings more than 25 years of coaching experience to the college ranging from the high school to collegiate ranks. He began his career as the assistant track and field coach at Mt. Pleasant High School in San Jose, Calif. In 1996 where he spent seven years with the school. From there, he landed his first collegiate coaching position at San Jose City College where he was an assistant coach working with the men's and women's pole vaulters for three seasons.

The veteran coach then headed to the Midwest working as a personal trainer and fitness coordinator in Champaign, Ill., before heading back to California to work at Parisi Speed School from 2010-to-2013. At the same time, he returned to high school coaching at Carpinteria High School as an assistant track coach where he specialized in pole vault and jump training. 

Following his two-year stint with UVA Wise, Rodriguez worked as an assistant track and field coach at nearby Union High School for seven years, working with jumpers and throwers while assisting upperclassmen with the collegiate recruiting process.

Away from the track, Rodriguez owns Iron Works Cycling in Big Stone Gap. The coach and his wife Josephine, a professor at UVA Wise, live in Big Stone Gap with their daughter Piper.