Raul Sheen begins his third year as an assistant on the SPU track and field coaching staff.
Sheen spent eight seasons in a similar role at the University of Washington. During his time there, his athletes won four Pacific-12 Conference titles and racked up 32 All-America awards. Of the seven sprint events for each gender – 100 to 400 meters, both hurdles races and both relays – Husky competitors made the NCAA outdoor preliminaries in all of them in various years.
Prior to arriving at Washington, Sheen coached during the 2008 season at Long Beach State. One of his athletes there, Brent Gray, won West Regional titles in the 100 and 200, became an All-American by finishing fifth in the 200 at NCAAs, and was named the Big West Conference Track Athlete of the Year.
Altogether, four of his Long Beach sprinters qualified for NCAAs, and his athletes won 10 Big West titles, leading the 49ers to the team championship.
Sheen is from Rupert, Idaho, and competed all four years at Idaho State University. He earned his bachelor’s degree in physical education in 2002, and then a master’s in athletic administration, also at Idaho State, in 2003. He served as a graduate assistant at the school while completing his studies there.
A one-year stint as a volunteer assistant coach at the University of New Mexico followed. Sheen returned to Idaho State from 2005-07 as an assistant coach for sprints and relays. During that time, the men’s team won the Big Sky Conference title in 2006, and the women won it in 2007. His athletes raced to six conference crowns and earned 25 All-Big Sky awards.
Sheen is married to SPU head strength & conditioning coach and track assistant coach Audra Smith. They live in the White Center neighborhood in southwest Seattle.