Al Barnes returns to Wake County after almost 20 years away and joins the adidas Raleigh Track Club this fall as team coach.  A former award-winning NCAA head coach and an All-American runner in track and field at the University of North Florida, Barnes brings a multitude of experience with him.

Barnes spent the past five years as head track and cross country coach at High Point University, where his team won conference championships in cross country in 2002, '03 and '04, and was named Big South Coach of the Year all three years. His program also won the North Carolina Collegiate Championships in 2002 and 2003, with runner-up finishes in 2001 and 2004. His Panthers produced 16 all-conference cross country runners and four all-region runners in cross country. In track and field, Barnes' HPU squads produced six Big South individual and relay records,15 NCAA regional qualifiers, 34 conference champions, and 92 All-Big South performances. He has also coached a number of National Qualifiers and a recent All-American (5^th NCAA D-I Indoor Mile). Prior to coaching at High Point, Barnes was the head coach at Radford University from 1994-99 where he had similar successes.