The 2024-2025 academic year will mark Robert Tarpley's third year as an assistant coach overseeing the men’s and women’s jumps and sprints at Western Illinois University. In his first two years, Tarpley has led student-athletes to NCAA West Regional Championships qualifying marks on four occasions, broken four WIU school records, and had one individual qualify for the USA U-20 National Championships.
During his first year with the program, Tarpley guided u-20 USA Championship qualifier, Lucas Burmeister, in the 100 meters and 200 meters. Burmeister was one of 18 qualifiers nationally for both events. The freshman walk-on registered a time of 21.34 in the 200 meters, good enough for sixth all-time in school history and nearly a second faster than his high school personal best. Burmeister was an instrumental part in the Leathernecks winning the sprint medley relay at the 2023 Drake Relays as well.
Another freshman walk-on, Toriano Tate, flourished under Tarpley’s development. Tate won the 2023 indoor and outdoor conference championships in the long jump. His personal best of 7.50 meters (24’ 7.25) narrowly missed out on qualifying to the u-20 USA Championships and NCAA West Regional Championships. Tate also finished third in his newly learned event, the triple jump, at the indoor championships. His 16 points at the indoor conference meet led to Tate being selected as the Newcomer of the Meet and Field Event Athlete of the Meet.
On the women’s side, Tapley's squad has seen tremendous success. Aliyah Adams was named Female Athlete of the Championships twice in 2024. At the OVC Indoor Championships she won the triple jump, long jump, and placed second in the 60 meter hurdles. At the Outdoor Championships, Adams won the triple jump, placed second in the long jump, and she finished third in the 100 meter hurdles. At both competitions she scored more points than any other competitor.
Adams broke the indoor school records in the long jump at 6.10 (20' 0.25") and the 60 meter hurdles at 8.61. She also qualified for the NCAA West Regional Championships in the triple jump, where she set a personal best of 13.13 (43' 1"). Adams narrowly missed qualifying for the NCAA National Championships despite only having triple jumped a little over one year.
Tarpley also guided 2024 NCAA West Regional qualifier, Renee Raglin, in the long jump. Raglin's personal best of 6.22 meters (20' 5") was a huge improvement on her lifetime best and ranks as the best wind legal mark in WIU history. Raglin won the long jump at the 2024 Ohio Valley Conference Championships and she led off the school record 4 x 100 meter relay team. Their relay time of 46.58 broke the previous WIU school record set back in 1987.
Tarpley's event group played a major role in the women's team finishing top-3 at the 2024 Indoor and Outdoor OVC Championships. It was the highest WIU team finish in nearly two decades.
Before Western Illinois, Tarpley had successful stints at Southwest Baptist University and Drury University in Missouri. While at Southwest Baptist, Tarpley guided two MIAA conference champions in the women's and men's triple jump. Additionally, he had 10 national qualifiers in the horizontal jumping events. In his last year at Southwest Baptist, Tarpley orchestrated the US Coaches Association's top ranked women's long jump squad in the country, with three women over 20 feet.
In his prep years, Tarpley was a two-sport athlete from Everett High School in Lansing, Michigan. He was a standout wide receiver on the football team and two-time all-state performer in the long jump for track & field. Collegiately, he attended Saginaw Valley State University where he majored in Criminal Justice and qualified to the NCAA Championships in the long jump and triple jump. He holds personal bests of 7.47 meters (24' 6.25") in the long jump and 15.33 meters (50' 3.5") in the triple jump.
