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Former University of Alabama All-American and long jump national champion Miguel Pate is in his ninth season as an assistant coach at the Capstone in 2020. Pate serves as the Crimson Tide's jumps coach.
The 2018 season saw Pate pupil Shelby McEwen win the SEC indoor and outdoor high jump titles and finish third and second respectively, in the event at the NCAA indoor and outdoor championships in his first season with the Crimson Tide. McEwen's 7-6 clearance at the NCAA indoor meet made him just the second man to surpass that height in Alabama history and the first to do it in a collegiate meet.
McEwen would cap his season with a fifth-place finish at the USA Track & Field National Championships.
Christian Edwards earned SEC All-Freshman honors with a second-place finish at the conference indoor championships as the Tide jumpers accounted for 18 team points to help the Crimson Tide capture its first league title since 1972.
Edwards followed up his indoor performance with a sixth-place finish in the triple jump at the SEC Outdoor Championships to earn All-Freshman honors for a second time. He would go on to qualify for the NCAA Outdoor Track & Field Championships before winning the triple jump at the USA Track & Field Junior Championships to earn a spot on the U.S. U20 national team that competed in the 2018 IAAF U20 Championships in Tampere, Finland.
On the women's side, junior Stacey Destin once again earned All-America honors in the indoor high jump as well as the pentathlon and turned in third- and fourth-place finishes in the events at the SEC Indoor Championships. Junior Tamara Moncrieffe became just the third woman in school history to surpass 43 feet in the women's triple jump and finished sixth in the event at the SEC indoor meet while Jaimie Robinson earned SEC All-Freshman honors in the triple jump. Senior Filippa Fotopoulou also turned in seventh place finish in the long jump as Pate’s jumpers accounted for 16 points at the conference indoor meet.
In 2017, senior Quanesha Burks won her third SEC outdoor long jump title, becoming just the fourth woman in Alabama history to win three or more conference crowns in one event in program history. She also earned Destin earned All-America honors in the high jump at the NCAA indoor and outdoor championships while Fotopoulou reached the finals of the long jump at the SEC Indoor Championships and qualified for the NCAA Outdoor Championships for the second time in her career.
Pate’s pupils were also a driving force behind the Alabama women posting a third-place finish at the 2017 NCAA Indoor Track & Field Championships as Burks, Destin and Fotopoulou accounted for 18 of UA’s 37 points at the meet.
As a junior in 2016, Burks captured the SEC and NCAA indoor long jump titles and repeated at the SEC outdoor champion in the event and was the runner-up at the NCAA outdoor meet.
Pate was instrumental in developing Burks in the long jump, leading to her winning efforts at the 2015 NCAA Outdoor Championships in Eugene, Ore. and the 2016 NCAA Indoor Championships in Birmingham as well as being one of 10 semifinalists for the Bowerman Trophy as a sophomore. Burks' outdoor title capped an unbeaten outdoor season in 2015, as she also claimed the long jump title at the SEC Championships. Burks also set a new school record several times during the outdoor season, the last coming at the 2015 North American, Central American and Caribbean (NACAC) Senior Championships in San Jose, Costa Rica, where she jumped 22-9 (6.93m) to claim gold.
In 2014, Pate coached Burks to second-team All-America honors in the long jump, as well a second-place finish in the women's long jump at the U.S. Junior National Championships.
Burks ended her career holding the 10 best indoor and outdoor long jump marks in Alabama history. On the track, she was a member of Alabama’s record-setting 4x100-meter relay in 2017 and ended her career with three of UA’s 10 fastest 100-meter times in school annals. The Hartselle, Ala., native was a three-time outdoor All-American in the long jump and 4x100 relay and a 2017 All-American in the 100 meters. Indoors, she twice earned All-America honors in the long jump and was a 60-meters All-American in 2017.
In 2016, men’s triple jumper Jeremiah Green broke Pate’s own 14-year-old school record in the indoor triple jump and went on to earn All-America honors in the event at the NCAA Indoor Championships. In all, Green was a four-time All-American under Pate in the event as well as the 2014 SEC indoor champion and 2014 SEC Freshman Field Athlete of the Year. Green was also a member of the Tide’s All-SEC 4x100-meter relay at the 2016 conference outdoor championships in Tuscaloosa.
The 2016 season also saw high jumper Justin Fondren establish himself as one of the top Tide athletes in the specialty, earning All-America and All-SEC honors for the third time in his career. On the women’s side, Claire Orcel earned All-SEC honors in the high jump with a runner-up finish at the SEC Outdoor Championships in Tuscaloosa.
Pate helped Alabama sprinters make an impact on the SEC and national levels in 2013. Led by SEC outdoor 100-meter champion Diondre Batson, the Alabama sprint corps announced the Tide’s return to national prominence by keying a run to an 11th-place team finish at the NCAA Outdoor Championships. At that meet, Alabama’s 4x100-meter relay crew of Batson, Alex Sanders, Hakeem Haynes and Dushane Farrier posted the two fastest relay performances in Alabama history. In the semi-finals, the quartet broke a 23-year-old record with a time of 38.78. Three days later, the foursome came within a whisker of winning the NCAA title in the event, finishing second in the relay in another school-record time of 38.54.
Both the men's and women's squads built on their success from 2013 as they moved into the 2014 season. Batson captured the 200-meter title at the NCAA indoor meet in a time of 20:32, while simultaneously breaking the Alabama school record. Batson returned to the track the next day to take third in the 60-meter race. Throughout the 2014 indoor season, Batson posted five of the 10 best times in Alabama history, as well as four of the top 10 best 60-meter times.
Remona Burchell set the standard for the women's squad, winning the 60-meter title at the NCAA indoor meet, as well as the 100-meter title at the NCAA outdoor championship. Burchell's 60-meter title was the first indoor title for an Alabama woman in any event since 1989. The junior also broke a 28-year-old Alabama school record in the 100-meters in route to qualify for the national championships at the NCAA East Preliminary meet. The 4x100-meter squad finished sixth at the outdoor championship, anchored by Burchell.
In his first season on staff, Pate coached Kaylon Eppinger to all-conference recognition in the pentathlon at the 2016 SEC indoor meet.
Pate returned to Tuscaloosa after a season as an assistant at Samford, following a successful professional career.
As a student-athlete at Alabama from 1999-2002, Pate captured the NCAA indoor long jump title in 2002 and finished second in the triple jump. That same indoor season, he set the collegiate indoor long jump record with a mark of 28-2 1/4 at the USA Indoor Championships before winning a bronze medal at the World Championships. Pate was a seven-time All-American at Alabama and was ranked in the top five in the United States and the top 10 in the world in the long jump for eight consecutive years. He still owns the Alabama records in both the long jump and triple jump indoors and remains the Tide record holder in the outdoor long jump.
Pate finished third at the 2008 U.S. Olympic Trials to earn his first spot on the Olympic team at the Beijing Games. The West Feliciana, La., native ended the 2008 season ranked number one in the U.S. by Track & Field News and followed that with a fourth-place finish at the USA Outdoor Championships before retiring from competition to begin his coaching career.