Track & Field | August 08, 2023

The USC track and field program has named John Bolton as assistant coach for sprints, it was announced by USC Director of Track & Field and Cross Country Quincy Watts today (Aug. 8).

"It gives me great pleasure to announce that John Bolton has joined our sprints program," said Watts. "John was born in Compton, Calif., and comes to us from Mt. SAC, where he coached both men's and women's sprint programs. During his coaching tenure, John has been voted Assistant Sprints Coach of the Year an impressive 10 times. We are delighted to welcome John, his wife Stephanie, and his children, Jamari, Skylah and Jamir to the Trojan Family."

"I'm thrilled to be joining the Trojan family, becoming a part of the celebrated tradition of USC's Track and Field program," said Bolton. "My years of coaching at the Juco level have been enriching and inspirational as I've watched aspiring athletes evolve into powerful competitors.  At USC, I'm excited to apply these experiences on a larger scale. I'm deeply grateful to Coach Quincy Watts for this opportunity. We share a clear vision: to bring home National Championships. Victories are essential, but we're also dedicated to building a team that embodies dedication, resilience, and Trojan pride. I'm ecstatic to start this journey and fully commit to giving my all to our athletes and USC.  Fight On!"

Bolton has spent the last three seasons and 10 overall as the sprints and relay coach for Mt. San Antonio College (Mt. SAC) where he helped lead the men's team to the South Coast Conference title for the second consecutive season.  The women's team won the title in 2022.  He helped guide Jake Jensen to the 2023 SCC 100m and 200m titles and the 4x100m and 4x400m relays also took home the gold medals.  Mt. SAC also won its second consecutive men's and women's team titles at the 2023 California Community College Athletic Association state championships.  Bolton coached Jacob Williams to a first-place finish and Jensen to a third-place finish in the 100m and Kerry Smith to the 200m title and Jensen to a runner-up finish in the 200m.  In addition, the men's 4x100m and 4x40m relays won titles.  On the women's side, he guided Amari Weatherford to the 100m and 200m titles.

Bolton spent the 2019 season as the sprints coach at Cerritos College where he led 11 individuals and four relays to state titles and was named CCCAA Assistant Coach of the Year, before returning to Mt. SAC where he had coached the previous five seasons (2013-18)  developing a powerhouse sprint corps.  

During his tenure at Mt. SAC he was named South Coast Conference Assistant Coach of the Year seven times (2014, 2015, 2016, 2017, 2019, 2022, 2023) and the California Community College Athletic Association Assistant Coach of the Year in 2016.  He helped lead teams he coached to 10 CCCAA state titles.  He as successfully placed 61 athletes into NCAA Division I & 2 programs with 52 student-athletes graduating from those programs. He also coached Mexico's national 200m champion.

In 2016, Bolton's sprinters dominated the CCCAA State Championships, with his student-athletes scored an incredible 68 points.  Bolton's athletes captured titles in the 100m, 200m, 400m, 4x100m and 4x400m. For his efforts, Bolton was named the South Coast Conference and 5CTCA State Track and Field Assistant Coach of the Year.

During his time at Mt. SAC he helped lead 15 athletes to the U.S. Trials, coached 44 athletes to state titles, with over 50 athletes advancing to the NCAA ranks.  Bolton is the winningest track and field coach in California Junior College history.  He coached the likes of Kyree King, who went on to win Pac-12 100m and 200m titles at Oregon, Ilias Garcia who ran 9.97w, Gaston Brouchereau who ran 10.15w, Joey Fox who ran 10.16 and Cooper Bibb who ran 10.18.  In addition to coaching 15 individual sprint champions, he also guided 12 relay teams to state titles.

Bolton served as an assistant coach at Fullerton College for two seasons and helped lead them to two Orange Empire Conference titles.  Along with his sprinters, he helped guide jumpers L.V. Johnson and Cheyenne Thompson to CCCAA state titles.  He was named the 2012 and 2013 Orange Empire Conference Assistant Coach of the Year.  

He also worked with Daniel Stokes who was part of NC A&T's NCAA Champion 4x400m relay in 2021.

Prior to Fullerton College, Bolton coached at Los Angeles Southwest College and with his company B.S.D. (Bolton Speed Development).  Bolton's S.H.A.R.K.S ELITE club 4x100m relay team ran a time of 39.21.

Bolton graduated from Dominguez High School, before attending Long Beach City College and Cal State Fullerton.  An outstanding sprinter, he was a California Community College State and Big West Conference finalist.  

Bolton holds a Bachelor's Degree in Kinesiology and is a NASM Certified Personal Trainer.