AZUSA, Calif. -- After a career spanning nearly four decades as a student, Olympic athlete, head coach, and director of the Azusa Pacific track and field program, Mike Barnett has decided to step away.

A member of both the Azusa Pacific Athletics Hall of Fame (1993 inductee) and National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics (NAIA) Hall of Fame (1988 inductee), Barnett was a highly-decorated athlete and coach who arrived at Azusa Pacific in 1979 as a freshman student-athlete. He went on to compete professionally before becoming a seven-time national women's track and field coach of the year, and he oversaw the men's and women's track and field teams as Azusa Pacific's first-ever director of track and field.

"Mike Barnett is an icon of Azusa Pacific," Director of Athletics Gary Pine said. "His name is synonymous with this university, and for nearly four decades he has been a marvelous ambassador for the Cougars and the mission of this university. I had hoped I could convince him to stay on, but it is clear that his heart is being led in another direction. I pray God's blessing on him, Julie, and their children. As I told Mike the other day, he'll always be a Cougar."

Throughout every stage of his athletic career, from athlete to coach to director, Barnett has raised Azusa Pacific to new heights. He is associated with many of the program's most significant milestones as it developed into one of the nation's elite college track and field programs at any level. Most recently, he spent the past five years shaping Azusa Pacific track and field for success in NCAA Division II, guiding the Cougars through the transition from NAIA affiliation to active NCAA membership in 2014.

"It's been a privilege and an honor for me to carry on Azusa Pacific's rich tradition, and I'm grateful for the opportunity I had to help create a part of that legacy," Barnett said. "My goal during my time at Azusa Pacific has been to build relationships, which inspire transformation, to lead students to a life-changing knowledge of Jesus Christ, and I will cherish every memory I've shared throughout this journey. I'm thankful to Azusa Pacific for trusting me the past 18 years with the lives of student-athletes and allowing me the honor of pouring into their lives."

A five-time individual national champion and seven-time NAIA All-American as a collegiate athlete, Barnett helped lead Azusa Pacific to its first NAIA team national championship in 1983, the first of 23 NAIA men's national titles for the Cougars. After a 14-year international career throwing the javelin, which included a seventh-place Olympic finish at the 1992 Barcelona Games, Barnett returned to his alma mater to start his coaching career which spanned another 18 years.

As the women's track and field head coach for 13 seasons (2000-2012), Barnett led Azusa Pacific to seven NAIA national titles, winning the program's first women's team title in 2003 before collecting six more over the next decade. During that time, Barnett was also part of the coaching staff for 2008 Olympic decathlon gold medalist Bryan Clay.

After becoming the first-ever director of track and field at Azusa Pacific, overseeing both the men's and women's coaching staff as one cohesive program, the Cougars burst into Division II as an immediate championship contender. In just three seasons of NCAA championship eligibility, Azusa Pacific produced eight individual national champions and 26 All-Americans in track and field and cross country, along with four top-10 team finishes at NCAA national championship meets.

In addition to his coaching responsibilities, Barnett has served as the meet director for the Bryan Clay Invitational track meet, raising the profile of the mid-April event as it has developed into one of the largest single-day meets hosted by a college campus anywhere in the country. In 2017, over 2,700 athletes competed at Azusa Pacific for the annual meet, which produced 15 meet records and 8 stadium-record performances.

Barnett was also the director for Azusa Pacific's annual Night of Champions youth outreach, which is a very exciting and powerful one-night ministry event held every year at Azusa Pacific University and sponsored by the Fellowship of Christian Athletes.