Carmelita Jeter

Carmelita Jeter

Carmelita Jeter (JETT-er) was named the new head coach of the track & field and cross country programs at UNLV, Director of Athletics Erick Harper announced on May 24, 2023. 

Jeter, a former Olympic Champion, comes to Las Vegas after serving as assistant coach at USC for the last two years. She has also coached at Alabama, Missouri State and Cal State Dominguez Hills.

The second-year Rebel head coach found success in the indoor season, as Grace Cunningham finished third in the high jump at the Mountain West Indoor Track & Field Championship, reaching a height of 1.74m (5' 8.5"). Kennedi Porter earned silver in the 60m (7.32) and 200m (23.26) at the conference indoor championships. The program earned themselves five medals during the outdoor season, as Porter was named the 2025 MW Women's Track Performer of the Meet after sweeping the MW sprints for the second straight season, picking up personal-best times in the 100m (11.24, 4th-best in program history) and 200m (22.95, 5th-best in program history). Natalia Ruiz rewrote the UNLV record book in the 10,000m on a final time of 34:30.72 at the MW Outdoor Championships with a third-place showing, while Grace Cunningham claimed bronze with a leap of 1.70m (5' 7"). The women's 4x100m relay, the team of Chineyre Okoro, Porter, AnnaKay Maitland and Jaydea Carter teamed to win the event for the first time since the 2011 season with a time of 47.40 seconds.

The Rebels saw even more success at the NCAA West Regionals, where Krishna Jayasankar won her discus throw flight (seventh overall)  with a mark of 55.61m (182' 5"). Moreover, her mark shattered a 26-year-old school record previously held by Jessica Marable (52.27m), set in 1999. Jayasankar also became the first Indian women's thrower to qualify for the NCAA Outdoor Championships. At the NCAA Outdoor Track and Field& Field Championships, Jayasankar placed 18th and was named a USTFCCCA Honorable Mention honoree for her efforts.

Overall during the 2024-25 academic year, Jeter's team broke three program records and placed 11 new top-five results on the UNLV All-Time Performance List.

Academically speaking, the 2024 cross country team tied a program record with a 3.73 GPA, while the 2025 track & field squad broke a program record with a 3.63 team GPA. In total, 41 student-athletes posted 3.0 GPA or higher, 30 were named to the UNLV Dean's List and seven collected perfect 4.0 GPAs.

After the first academic year with Jeter at the helm (2023-24), she helped the lead the program to several accolades both in and out of athletics. During the cross country season, the Rebels featured their first All-Mountain West competitor runner since 2008 after Natalia Ruiz placed 14th at the Mountain West Championships.

The program also collected three medals during the conference indoor championships, Grace Cunningham earning the victory in the women's high jump and Kennedi Porter finding the other two on a win and a runner-up finish. Porter dropped the third-fastest time in MW history in the 200m on her way to a gold medal, also picking up the silver medal in the 60m. The team would find three more medals at the outdoor conference championships, Porter sweeping the sprints with victories in the 100m and 200m while also part of the silver-medal 4x100m relay with Chinyere Okoro, Shakeira Bowra and AnnaKay Maitland.

The Rebels also reached the NCAA Championships in Jeter's first season in the aforementioned relay, that squad along with four individuals (Porter, Okoro, Cunningham and Jaydea Carter) each earning an invite to the NCAA West Regional Championships. The 4x100m relay qualified for the 2024 NCAA Championships after finishing among the top-three spots in their Regionals heat, becoming the first UNLV relay to reach the big dance since the 2021 outdoor season. The relay entered the meet ranked 24th, but picked up a top-20 spot after the conclusion of the championships & the relay would earn a USTFCCCA All-American Honorable Mention nod for the performance.

Overall during the 2023-24 academic year, Jeter's team broke four program records and placed 12 new top-five results on the UNLV All-Time Performance List.

At USC, working with the sprinters, she coached the first men’s 60-meter NCAA Champion in the school’s history. Additionally, the men’s 4x100m relay NCAA Champion set school records under her watch, and one of her student-athletes set the school record in the women’s 60m. In all, 12 student-athletes that she coached at USC have earned All-America honors. 

During her first season with the Trojans, the men’s 4x100m relay team ran three of the top four times in school history. She also coached two athletes who placed No. 2 in the all-time USC record books in both the women’s and men’s 100m dash.

As an athlete herself, Jeter earned one of each Olympic medal at the 2012 London Games, earning a silver in the 100m, a bronze in the 200m and a gold in the 4x100m for the USA in world-record fashion. She is also an eight-time medalist in the sprints and relays at the World Championships. Known as “The Jet,” she is the second-fastest American woman sprinter of all-time with a personal best of 10.64 set in 2009, also ranking fourth in the world.

Prior to her time at USC, she served as the sprints coach at Alabama during the 2021-22 season. Prior to that, she spent two seasons on the Missouri State track & field coaching staff. While at MSU she was promoted from assistant coach to associate head coach.

From 2016 to 2017, Jeter was sprints and hurdles coach at her alma mater, Cal State Dominguez Hills. She has been a certified Level 1 professional track coach since 2017, helping emerging athletes reach their potential with her own company, TeamJet, LLC.

Jeter began her coaching career in 2004 as the track & field coach at Bishop Montgomery High School in Torrance, California, where she also served as assistant athletic director. She graduated from the school in 1998.

She earned her bachelor’s degree in physical education from Cal State Dominguez Hills in 2006 where she earned six All-America honors, set five school records and became the university’s first U.S. Olympic Trials qualifier. She later earned her master’s degree in sports management from Missouri State in 2020.

Jeter was awarded an Honorary Doctor of Humane Letters degree in 2019 by CSUDH and the California State University Board of Trustees in recognition of her incredible athletic achievements, her continued contributions to the sport of track & field, her dedication to her community and her success as a speaker and businesswoman.

Coach Jeter has a daughter, Harper, who was born in September 2024.