HIGH POINT, N.C. — Legendary High Point University Director of Track & Field Mike Esposito announced Monday that the 2025-26 season will be his final campaign as he is set to retire and hand the reins to current HPU Pole Vault Coach Scott Houston, who has been named the HPU Track & Field Director-in-Waiting.
Additionally, other coaching staff moves beginning in 2026-27 are as follows: Dr. Scott Hall will transition from HPU Associate Head Coach to an administrative role as the first NCAA Division I Collegiate General Manager of Track & Field. Collin Post, who will assist Hall and coach the throws in his first season at HPU in 2025-26, is set to take over as the throws coach in 2026-27.
Meanwhile, six-time Big South Women's Cross Country Coach of the Year Remy Tamer will be named the HPU Cross Country Head Coach and lead the men's and women's programs. The Panthers will look hire an assistant distance coach upon the conclusion of the 2025-26 season.
"Mike Esposito's passion for the sport of cross country and track & field is unmatched," HPU Vice President and Athletic Director Dan Hauser said. "Mike has poured his heart and soul into the High Point University team for 20 years. Thank you! Through his outstanding leadership and dedication, Mike transformed the HPU program to achieve both regional and national success. The Championship legacy at HPU will continue thanks to Mike's outstanding efforts. We look forward to celebrating Coach Espo throughout the season and chasing down more championship success this year!"
Under his leadership for two decades since 2005, Esposito — who is better known as "Espo" — has transformed the High Point University Track & Field programs into national contenders.
The 14-time Big South Track & Field Coach of the Year and two-time Big South Cross Country Coach of the Year has won a total of 20 championships. He has coached 113 NCAA First Round Regional Qualifiers, while witnessing 24 student-athletes advance to the NCAA National Championships and 22 Panthers stand on the podium as an All-American.
Dating back to 2021, Esposito has swept five straight Big South Outdoor Track & Field Championships while winning three straight men's and women's Big South Track & Field Indoor Championships from 2023 to 2025. The other two titles came when High Point won its first-ever Big South Indoor Men's and Women's Championships in 2020.
By count, that's 16 consecutive titles won by High Point.
Esposito also coached the women's cross country team to a championship in 2011 and the men's cross country team in 2014. In January 2024, the North Carolina High School Track & Field and Cross Country Hall of Fame named Esposito to its 2024 Hall of Fame Class.
Before coming to High Point, Coach Esposito coached at Mount Tabor High in Winston-Salem for 17 years (1988-2005). He guided the program to 11 state championship titles, developed four individual national champions and was an eight-time North Carolina Coach of the Year.
"Twenty years ago, Dr. Woody Gibson trusted me to become the High Point University Director of Track and Field and I am forever grateful," Esposito said. "After hearing President Dr. Nido Qubein speak in our first staff meeting, I soon got the sense that many positive changes were coming to the university. Little did I know how big and positive these changes would be. I have been blessed to grow as a coach and person at an amazing university, and I am indebted to Dr. Qubein for this opportunity. I get to work with the best track and field staff in America on a daily basis. Their loyalty, concern for the athletes, and commitment to excellence is second to none. I also get to work with exceptional young people each and every day.
"Together, we have built one of the best track and field programs in the country," Esposito continued. "As the director, my overriding goal has been to leave the program in a better place upon departure. Not only do I believe we are in a great position, I also believe that the best is yet to come. It will soon be time to turn things over to our young coaches who will take HPU Track and Field to greater heights. Coach Houston will bring new energy and ideas to the director position. Coach Tamer will elevate the men's distance level while continuing to dominate on the women's side. Throws will be in great hands with coaches Hall and Post, while coach Pruitt will continue her mastery in sprints, hurdles, and horizontal jumps. And finally, coach Holmes will continue to build one of the dominate multi programs in the country. It's not time to put me out to pasture; however, as I have the exciting opportunity to lead this great staff and athletes one more time."
In September of 2015, Houston was hired by HPU and has been the men's and women's pole vault coach ever since.
During his 10 years coaching the Panthers, he has built a pole vault dynasty, coaching four student-athletes to a combined 13 All-American titles at the NCAA Championships. In the Big South alone since Houston joined the staff, the HPU pole vault team has won 25 Men's and Women's Indoor & Outdoor Pole Vault Championship titles combined, five Big South Field Athletes of the Year and two Big South Female Athletes of the Year, which were both won by Sydney Horn.
Houston coached Horn for all five years of her collegiate career, helping her become the most decorated student-athlete to compete at High Point. She was a nine-time All-American, a two-time Big South Wanda Watkins Female Athlete of the Year, a first-ever four-time winner of the Big South Women's Field Athlete of the Year award, a four-time Big South Indoor Pole Vault Champion, and a three-time Big South Outdoor Pole Vault Champion.
On the men's side, Houston coached 2016 graduate Austin Miller for one season at HPU and has continued to coach him post collegiately, helping him transform into one of the top men's pole vaulters in the United States. Most recently, Miller was crowned the USA Men's Pole Vault Champion and will compete at the World Championships in Tokyo this coming September.
"Initially, I want to say thank you to High Point University for being given this opportunity," Houston said. "I have learned so much under the leadership of Mike Esposito in my 10 years here. I am excited to continue the success the HPU Track and Field and Cross Country programs have had under his leadership and hope to take it to the next step. It is an honor working with our current coaching staff and our goal is and will always be to win team championships, and qualifying athletes to the NCAA finals to represent High Point University on a national level. I look forward to this year as a celebration of the legacy and great success of Esposito and what his leadership has brought. I will continue to learn how to lead with his guidance and the guidance of Scott Hall and our entire staff."
As a student-athlete himself at Indiana, Houston was an NCAA Championship Outdoor Qualifier and won the Big Ten Indoor title in 2013. At North Carolina, Houston finished third in the vault at the 2009 ACC Outdoor Championships and still holds the fifth-best vault mark all-time at Chapel Hill.
In his post-collegiate career, Houston impressively jumped a personal best 5.83m and won the USA Indoor Championships in 2018. Impressively, High Point has two USA Pole Vault Champions on staff as Austin Miller is a volunteer assistant for the Panthers.
"This upcoming year will mark the final chapter of an extraordinary era for High Point University Track and Field under the leadership of Director Mike Esposito," HPU Deputy AD and Track & Field Sport Supervisor Drew Sanchez said. "For over two decades, Coach Esposito has built a program defined by excellence, integrity, and a culture where student-athletes thrive. His impact on this university and the countless lives he has touched will be felt for generations. He is an incredible coach, a better person, and one of my dearest friends. I am excited for this upcoming year, and I know Coach Esposito will have HPU Track competing on the national stage. At the same time, we are thrilled to name Scott Houston as Director-in-Waiting. Scott's vision, passion, and championship experience make him the ideal person to carry forward the legacy Coach Esposito has established, and we are excited for the bright future ahead for Panther Track and Field."
Dr. Scott Hall joined the Panthers — during the same season as Houston in 2015 — as he took over the men's and women's throwing events, jumps and combined events.
Hall coached all three events for the first seven years of his career at HPU before transitioning as the Associate Head Coach, specializing in throws during the 2022-23 season, after hiring Dr. Hillary Holmes as the jumps and combined events coach.
Since 2015, HPU has taken three throwers to the NCAA Championships in Eugene, Oregon with Chris Van Niekerk in the shot put in 2024, Christine Rickert Fenwick and Christian Spalding in 2016, both in the javelin.
In his 10 years at HPU, Hall has coached eight Big South shot put champions, seven Big South discus champions, six Big South javelin champions, one Big South hammer throw champion, four Big South decathlon champions, four heptathlon champions, two pentathlon champions, four long jump champions, a high jump champion and a triple jump champion.
Hall's previous coaching stops included Wake Forest (2003-12), North Carolina A&T (2012-13), Salisbury (2013-15), and Northern Colorado (1986-2003). Hall brought four decades of elite track & field experience to the HPU program with an impressive student-athlete alumni list that he's added to which includes 150+ NCAA Championship qualifiers, 98 NCAA All-Americans, 80+ conference champions, 16 NCAA Champions, and three Olympians.
"First of all, it's amazing what Coach Mike Esposito has built in his time at High Point," Dr. Hall said. "I've been thrilled to work alongside him for the past decade as we've built this into a championship program. I'm excited for the next chapter in continuing to fortify our position as one of the top non-Power Four track & field programs in the country. As I shift away from coaching and into this new administrative role, I'm excited to assist our new head coaches however I can."
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