Posted: November 23, 2005

Athletics: Thurmonds added to Washington track staff

Former University of Washington Husky standout Aretha (Hill) Thurmond and her husband, Reedus Thurmond have been added to the UW track and field coaching staff,

Reedus Thurmond will be a full-time assistant working with the Huskies' throwers, while Aretha Thurmond will serve as a volunteer assistant while continuing to train towards the 2008 Olympics.

Washington will be the first full-time coaching position for Reedus Thurmond, 25, who worked as a graduate assistant coach at Auburn in 2005 while training with Tigers' assistant coach Jerry Clayton. Thurmond earned three All-America awards during a distinguished career at Auburn University, and was the Southeastern Conference discus

champion in 2002. Thurmond placed 11th in the discus at the 2005 USA Track and Field Championships, and was the 12th-place finisher in the event at the 2004 U.S. Olympic Trials.

He was married in April to the former Aretha Hill, who moved to Alabama to train with Clayton after graduating from Washington in 1998.

Thurmond will be joined at Washington by his wife, Aretha, a 1994 graduate of Renton (Wash.) High School and 1998 UW alum. Thurmond, then known as Aretha Hill, won back-to-back U.S. discus crowns in 2003 and 2004, and captained the United States' squad at the 2005 World Track and Field Championships in Helsinki, Finland. In addition to her U.S. titles, Thurmond has twice represented the United States at the Olympic

Games, and was the gold medalist at the Pan Am Games in 1999 and 2003.

The former American collegiate record holder while at Washington, Thurmond's lifetime best of 65.86 meters/216 feet, 1 inch ranks third in U.S. history, while her collegiate best of 63.68m/208-11 ranks fifth all-time in the NCAA.

"Reedus and Aretha are a dynamic combination for our program," said head coach Greg Metcalf . "The experience they bring, in terms of being active competitors at the highest levels of their sport, is invaluable to our team and will be an inspiration for our student-athletes. I know the kids on our team who I've spoken to are super-excited to begin working with both of them."

Crawford featured in new book

2004 Olympic 200-meter gold medalist Shawn Crawford is featured in a brand new book by Duane Thomas entitled More Body, More Soul: Beautiful Black Men.

This is the seventh edition of the all pictorial book, and this year's edition is in bookstores now. Other well-known athletes and entertainers featured in the book include Michael Jordan, LL Cool J, Jami Foxx, Nelly, Terrell Owens, Taye Diggs, Jay Z, P Diddy, Vin Diesel, Usher, and musician Lenny Kravitz, who appears on the cover.

Crawford is featured six times in the book, more than anyone else. For more information on the book, or to make a purchase, visit Amazon.com.