Southern Virginia University

Justice Ricketts is in his second year at Southern Virginia University as Assistant Coach of Cross Country and Track & Field, specializing in the pole vault and horizontal jumps. In his first year with the program, Ricketts guided several student-athletes to successful seasons, highlighted by All-American long jumper, Andre Lucas. Lucas finished in 8th place at the 2024 Division lll Outdoor Track & Field championships and was the top freshman in the country. Lucas was also named to the All-Region team, earned USA South Indoor and Outdoor meet records, Indoor Rookie Field Athlete of the Meet, and several Indoor and Outdoor program records.
 
Other highlights from Rickett's athletes include sweeping the men's podium for the pole vault during the Indoor and Outdoor USA South Championship meets, while earning first and second place in each of the women's championship meets. Senior Parker Arnold excelled and now holds both the Indoor and Outdoor program records in the pole vault. Furthermore, Ricketts helped guide first year long jumpers Elyssa Holman and Jocelyn Baker each to USA South Rookie Field Event Athlete of the Meet during the year.

Prior to arrived in Buena Vista, Ricketts spent two years coaching at the University of North Georgia. Most notably, he coached Journey Gourley to a Division ll National Championship victory in the pole vault, achieving a personal best of 4.33m (14' 2"). He also trained Abigail Kirkland, a Division ll All-American in the 400m / 200m (54.90 / 24.33). While at North Geogia, he coached all sprinters, jumpers, hurdlers, and throwers and gained valuable knowledge through the United States Track & Field and Cross Country Coaches Association (USTFCCCA) coaching education.

Furthermore, Coach Ricketts is well versed in strength training and has credentials as a Certified Strength and Conditioning Specialist (CSCS) through the National Strength and Conditioning Association (NSCA), Performance Enhancement Specialist (PES) through the National Academy of Sports Medicine (NASM), USA Weight Lifting (USAW) Level I certification, and USTFCCCA Strength and Conditioning certification.
 
Ricketts earned both a Bachelor’s and Master’s degrees in Kinesiology. His combined degrees, certifications, and experiences help those he coaches obtain optimized strength training and event-specific technical work in developing student-athletes into their best versions.