Earlier this month, the Lehman College athletic department announced that Jelani Knight has been named head coach for men's and women's sides of cross-country and both indoor/outdoor track and field squads.
Knight joins the Lightning family after being at the helm of the varsity cross country and track/field teams at the Grace Church School in New York City since July 2022.
A certified personal trainer and fitness instructor, Knight was head coach of track and field side at Freire Charter High School from 2017-2020. Coached the Freire Dragons to runners-up in the High Jump during the Meet of Champions in 2019 and a third-place finish in the 110 Hurdles in the D.I.A.A. Championship on the same year.
Knight competed with the Owls of Temple University from 2016-17, competing in 4x100m, 4x400 Penn Relays Qualifiers.
Prior to tenure at Temple, the Queens native qualified for PSAL City Championships in the 100m Dash, before going on to set records with the Lions of Community College of Philadelphia in 300m Dash (38.70), 4x100m (43.60) and 4x400 (3:34.58).
A member of Olympic development team ISAA since 2014, Knight was crowned M30 200m Dash National Champion in USATF Indoor Championships in 2022. That year, he ranked #1 Nationally in 400m Dash and #2 in 200m Dash.
Most recently, Knight achieved bronze in the M30 400m & 200m along with silver in 800m & 1500m run at 2023 USATF Indoor National Championships. This past July, he qualified and competed in 2023 Jamaica National Senior Trials in the 1500m, placing fifth in the nation, clocking 4:24.28.
Knight has a Bachelor of Science in Kinesiology from Temple in 2017.
