JACKSONVILLE – Following the retirement of head coach Steve Ray last week, Jacksonville State has announced that assistant track and field coach Matthew Boone will serve as the interim head coach for the Gamecock track and cross country programs.
 
Coach Boone recently completed his third season with JSU track and field after joining former head coach Steve Ray's staff as an assistant in January 2018. Since his arrival, Boone has been instrumental in the program's recruiting and equipment efforts.
 
Boone was a four-year member of Florida State's track and field team from 2011-2015, focusing primarily on the javelin throw. As a Seminole, he was a representative on the student-athlete advisory committee as well as a member of the FSU Athletics Board. Following his collegiate career, he spent the spring of 2016 as an assistant track and field coach at Lawton Chiles High School in the Tallahassee area. His boys team claimed the 3A FHSAA state championship, while he coached the school record holder in both the high jump and long jump on the girls' side.
 
Later that year he joined the staff at Mississippi State as a volunteer assistant, where his duties involved working with jumps and multi-event athletes. His athletes once again set new school marks in the women's high jump and triple jump, as he helped coach three conference scorers and four national qualifiers. Following his time at MSU, Boone was hired at JSU prior to the 2018 track season. Despite not having the 2020 outdoor season, Boone has helped JSU establish two new indoor school records, and six new outdoor standards. The Gamecocks have earned seven All-OVC selections during that time.
 
Boone earned his bachelor's degree in exercise science from Florida State in 2015, and completed his master's in exercise physiology from Mississippi State in 2018.