Amber Larsen joined High Point University as assistant coach of men's and women's track & field in 2011 after six seasons at Wake Forest University. Larsen assists in all aspects of the Panthers' program and works primarily with HPU's hurdlers and jumpers.
In 2012-13, Larsen coached freshman Dennis Crawford to a runner-up finish in the 110-meter hurdles and a fourth-place finish in the 400-meter hurdles at the Big South Outdoor Championship.
During Larsen's six years at Wake Forest, she coached 14 student-athletes to school-record performances and helped 14 student-athletes qualify for the NCAA Regional Championship. Larsen helped Michelle Loyd qualify for the 2008 NCAA Championship in the 400-meter hurdles after a sixth-place finish in the regional meet. Larsen also coached 400-meter runner Jon Reid, who was Canadian junior national champion and placed fourth at the 2008 Canadian Olympic Trials.
While coaching at Wake Forest, Larsen also coached current HPU associate head coach Eric Dudley to a 10th-place finish in the 400-meter hurdles in the 2008 Olympic Trials.
Before Wake Forest, Larsen spent two years as a volunteer assistant coach with the University of Illinois women's track and field team. With the Illini, Larsen gained experience coaching sprints, hurdles, jumps, multi-events and middle distance. In 2005, Illinois captured the Big Ten Conference Championship.
Larsen also spent two years at the University of Idaho as an assistant track and field and cross country coach. Larsen helped lead the Vandals to the Big West cross country crown in 2002 and to the 2003 track & field conference championship.
As a student-athlete, Larsen was NCAA Div. III national champion in the 400-meter hurdles while competing for Linfield College in 2001. She was honored as NCAA Woman of the Year in Oregon and earned All-America honors three times during her career – twice in the 400-meter hurdles and once in the indoor 400-meter.
Larsen's other 2001 honors include the Western Regional Female Athlete of the Year, the Northwest Conference Female Athlete of the Year and the Linfield College Female Athlete of the Year.
Larsen graduated from Linfield College in 2001 with a B.A. in health education and a minor in Spanish. In 2003, she earned her M.S. in physical education at the University of Idaho, where she majored in sports science with an emphasis in exercise physiology.
