Ashley Cope is in her first year as Furman track and field's assistant coach for sprints, hurdles, and jumps.
A native of Juliette, Ga., Cope spent seven years as an assistant coach with the Samford track and field teams, where she coached four All-Americans, three in indoor track and field and one in outdoor track and field. She trained three NCAA Outdoor East Preliminaries qualifiers, and 13 of her athletes won SoCon indoor track and field titles, while 13 also took home SoCon outdoor track and field championships. During her time on staff, the Bulldogs captured 15 SoCon team titles. In addition to coaching and recruiting, Cope served as assistant director for all Samford home track and field meets and organized community service events for the Bulldog teams.
Cope, a 2025 inductee into the Samford Athletics Hall of Fame, competed for the Bulldogs from 2011 to 2014, winning four league titles in the heptathlon and one each in the pentathlon (2014), 100m hurdles (2013), and pole vault (2013). The 2013 SoCon Women's Outdoor Track & Field Most Outstanding Athlete, she qualified for the NCAA East Preliminaries in the pole vault and set school records in the pentathlon 60m hurdles and the heptathlon 800m hurdles. She also ranks second in school history in pentathlon (3,653 points) and heptathlon (5,000 points).
A four-time CrossFit Games semi-finalist, Cope earned a bachelor's degree in exercise science from Samford in 2014 and went on to complete a Master of Business Administration, also at Samford, in 2017.
