Kenyon College Athletics

With more than ten years experience as an assistant at the NCAA Division III level, Julius Higginbotham was selected as the head coach of the Kenyon College men's and women's track and field teams prior to the 2021-22 academic year.

Last season, the 2023-24 campaign, was highlighted with an NCAA appearance by junior Paula Soric, who placed 17th in the triple jump at the NCAA Division III Women's Indoor Track and Field Championship. Soric was one of four Kenyon athletes who, combined, registered seven NCAC Championship event titles. She was also named the NCAC's Indoor and Outdoor Field MVP and, along with Riley Orth on the men's team, was a USTFCCCA All-Region honoree.  

In his second season, Higginbotham coached the Owls to two individual NCAC event championships and one All-Region honoree on the indoor side and four individual NCAC event champions and two All-Region honorees on the outdoor side. Soric was one of the best athletes in the conference, winning the NCAC's Women's Field Athlete of the Year award in both the indoor and outdoor seasons after sweeping all four jumping event championships over the year.

Higginbotham's first year at the helm for Kenyon produced three individual indoor NCAC event champions, two indoor All-Region honorees, two individual outdoor NCAC event champions, and three outdoor All-Region honorees. The team also featured the NCAC's Men's Newcomer of the Year for both indoor and outdoor competition, Tapiwa Gono Phiri. 

Before coming to Kenyon, Higginbotham served as assistant track and field coach at The College of Wooster, a fellow NCAC member institution, from 2012-13 to 2020-21. In his time with the Fighting Scots, he helped coach 16 national qualifiers, eight of whom went on to earn All-America status.

In 2016, he assisted two national indoor qualifiers and was tabbed the NCAA Division III United States Track & Field and Cross Country Coaches Association Great Lakes Assistant Coach of the Year for women's indoor track and field. More recently, he tutored a 2018 national qualifier in the high jump, who also went on to sweep the NCAC's Field Athlete of the Year awards at the 2019 indoor and outdoor championships.

In addition to his track and field position at Wooster, he also served as an assistant football coach for five seasons and followed that up by working as the athletics department's intramural director.

Prior to his work at Wooster, Higginbotham started his collegiate coaching career at his alma mater, Heidelberg University, where he served as assistant track and field coach for two seasons.

While a student-athlete at Heidelberg, Higginbotham was a 20-time all-conference honoree, 12-time national qualifier and 2-time All-America long jumper. He graduated in 2010 with a degree in psychology and later earned his master's degree in education.