Former Coyote Derek Miles is in his eighth season as an assistant coach at The University of South Dakota. He works primarily with the pole vault and jumps.

A two-time Olympian, Miles finished fourth in the pole vault at the 2008 Beijing Olympics, after competing in 2004 in Athens, Greece. He won the 2008 U.S. Olympic Trials and was the IAAF 2008 World Athletics Champion. He has also placed highly in several international meets during his illustrious career.

In 2008, he won the pole vault competition at the Drake Relays (18'04), Renoe Vault Summit (19'0.25), and Derek Miles Pole Vault Summit (18'05). He organized the Miles Pole Vault Summit which brought 10 of the top vaulters in the world, including four U.S. Olympians, to Vermillion.

He was inducted into the Henry Heider Memorial Coyote Sports Hall of Fame in fall 2006. Miles earned a bachelor’s degree in history in 1996 and a master’s degree in athletic administration in 1998 from USD.

A Division II All-American in the pole vault, Miles remains one of the top vaulters in the world. He had one of the best jump in the world (19’0.25) during the 2008 season. He finished seventh at the Athens Olympics in 2004, and was ranked fifth in the world at the end of the 2005 season. He has been ranked as one of the top three vaulters in the U.S. by Track and Field News for the last four years.

Miles owns a personal best of 19-2.50 that he set at the DakotaDome in 2005, which was the seventh-best vault in the world that year. In 2003, he was the USA Indoor champion and was fifth at the World Outdoor competition.

He and his wife, Tori (Devericks), live in Tea, S.D. Tori is also a USD graduate.