John Bolton - Track & Field Coach

John Bolton

Title:
Assistant Coach, Sprints
Email:
johnbolt@usc.edu

John Bolton is in his second season as an assistant coach for sprints with the USC track and field program. He was named to the position by USC Director of Track & Field and Cross Country Quincy Watts on Aug. 8, 2023.

In his first season of working with the USC sprint corps, 11 different Trojans posted sprint PRs. Travis Williams earned indoor first-team All-America honors by placing fifth in the 60m dash. During the indoor season, Williams had a 60m time of 6.52 which moved him to second on USC’s all-time list. Williams placed fifth in the 100m at the Pac-12 Championships and was an NCAA quarterfinalist in the event. Max Thomas set his 100m PR of 10.13 to move to tied for 10^th on USC’s all-time list and his 200m PR of 20.28 to tie for ninth on USC’s all-time list. Thomas placed second in both events at the Pac-12 Championships and advanced to the semifinals in both events at the NCAA Championships and the USA Olympic Trials. JC Stevenson placed third in the 100m dash at the Pac-12 Championships with a PR of 10.13 which moved him into a 10^th-place tie on USC’s all-time list. He also posted a 60m personal best of 6.61 which ties him for ninth on USC’s all-time list. Justin Braun also had a 60m dash time of 6.55 which ranks tied for third on USC’s all-time list. The USC men’s 4x100m relay team won the Pac-12 title and reached the NCAA finals by running the second-fastest time in school history of 38.54 in the semifinals, but was disqualified in the final. They also ran the eighth-fastest time of 38.77 earlier in the season.

Bolton came to USC from Mt. SAC where he coached both the men’s and women’s sprint programs. During his coaching tenure, he was voted Assistant Sprints Coach of the Year an impressive 10 times.

Bolton spent the three seasons prior to joining USC and 10 overall as the sprints and relay coach for Mt. San Antonio College (Mt. SAC) where he helped lead the men's team to the South Coast Conference title in 2022 and 2023. The women's team also won the title in 2022. Bolton helped guide Jake Jensen to the 2023 SCC 100m and 200m titles and the 4x100m and 4x400m relays also took home the gold medals. Mt. SAC also won its second consecutive men's and women's team titles at the 2023 California Community College Athletic Association state championships. Bolton coached Jacob Williams to a first-place finish and Jensen to a third-place finish in the 100m and Kerry Smith to the 200m title and Jensen to a runner-up finish in the 200m. In addition, the men's 4x100m and 4x40m relays won titles. On the women's side, he guided Amari Weatherford to the 100m and 200m titles.

Bolton spent the 2019 season as the sprints coach at Cerritos College where he led 11 individuals and four relays to state titles and was named CCCAA Assistant Coach of the Year, before returning to Mt. SAC where he had coached the previous five seasons (2013-18) developing a powerhouse sprint corps.

During his tenure at Mt. SAC he was named South Coast Conference Assistant Coach of the Year seven times (2014, 2015, 2016, 2017, 2019, 2022, 2023) and the California Community College Athletic Association Assistant Coach of the Year in 2016. He helped lead teams he coached to 10 CCCAA state titles. He as successfully placed 61 athletes into NCAA Division I & 2 programs with 52 student-athletes graduating from those programs. He also coached Mexico's national 200m champion.

In 2016, Bolton's sprinters dominated the CCCAA State Championships, with his student-athletes scored an incredible 68 points. Bolton's athletes captured titles in the 100m, 200m, 400m, 4x100m and 4x400m. For his efforts, Bolton was named the South Coast Conference and 5CTCA State Track and Field Assistant Coach of the Year.

During his time at Mt. SAC he helped lead 15 athletes to the U.S. Trials, coached 44 athletes to state titles, with over 50 athletes advancing to the NCAA ranks. Bolton is the winningest track and field coach in California Junior College history. He coached the likes of Kyree King, who went on to win Pac-12 100m and 200m titles at Oregon, Ilias Garcia who ran 9.97w, Gaston Brouchereau who ran 10.15w, Joey Fox who ran 10.16 and Cooper Bibb who ran 10.18. In addition to coaching 15 individual sprint champions, he also guided 12 relay teams to state titles.

Bolton served as an assistant coach at Fullerton College for two seasons and helped lead them to two Orange Empire Conference titles. Along with his sprinters, he helped guide jumpers L.V. Johnson and Cheyenne Thompson to CCCAA state titles. He was named the 2012 and 2013 Orange Empire Conference Assistant Coach of the Year.

He also worked with Daniel Stokes who was part of NC A&T's NCAA Champion 4x400m relay in 2021.

Prior to Fullerton College, Bolton coached at Los Angeles Southwest College and with his company B.S.D. (Bolton Speed Development). Bolton's S.H.A.R.K.S ELITE club 4x100m relay team ran a time of 39.21.

Bolton graduated from Dominguez High School, before attending Long Beach City College and Cal State Fullerton. An outstanding sprinter, he was a California Community College State and Big West Conference finalist.

Bolton holds a Bachelor’s Degree in Kinesiology and is a NASM Certifi ed Personal Trainer. A native of Compton, Bolton currently resides in Chino Hills, with his wife Stephanie and their three children Jamari, Skylah and Jamir.