Men's Track & Field
- Title:
- Assistant Coach
Isabel Wakefield joined the Wolverines’ staff as a full-time assistant coach in August 2026. After serving as a volunteer assistant during the 2024-25 season, Wakefield rejoined the U-M staff to coach Michigan’s sprints, hurdles and multi-events.
Wakefield By The Numbers
• Has coached or assisted in coaching student-athletes to three NCAA All-America honors
• Has coached or assisted in coaching two conference champions and one national champion
• Has coached or assisted in coaching three school record-holders
At Michigan
In her lone season as a volunteer assistant with U-M in 2024-25, Wakefield assisted coach Steven Rajewsky with an elite sprint and hurdles group. She helped guide Savannah Sutherland to her second NCAA 400-meter hurdles championship. Sutherland was named Big Ten and United States Track and Field/Cross Country Coaches Association Outdoor Track Athlete of the Year, and first-team All-America for both indoor and outdoor 400-meter hurdles. Sutherland was also recognized as a finalist for collegiate track and field’s highest honor, The Bowerman. Wakefield also mentored Aasia Larencin, who was named first-team All-America for the 60-meter hurdles.
Before Michigan
Wakefield hails from Barnstaple, England. She most recently competed in the England Athletics Senior Performance Program, where she was one of 30 athletes selected with realistic potential to progress to the Olympics and World Championships. In 2023, she captured a pair of medals for the 100-meter hurdles, earning gold at the England Athletics National Championships and silver at the British Athletics National Championships. Wakefield posted marks in the all-time top 25 of British Athletics in the 60-meter hurdles, 100-meter hurdles, pentathlon and heptathlon.
As a student-athlete at Duke (2018-23), Wakefield was a two-time All-American, earning citations for Pentathlon (2022) and long jump (2023). She earned 11 All ACC Team selections and etched her name in the top four of the Duke record books in seven different events. She led the Blue Devils to three ACC team championships, including as a captain in her senior season where the team took the championship by the largest margin in conference history.
At Duke, Wakefield earned her Bachelor of Arts in Psychology with a minor in Neuroscience in 2022 and a Master’s in Biosciences, Bioethics and Science Policy in 2023. She is currently completing a Master’s in Movement Science from U-M’s School of Kinesiology.
