Paige (Knodle) Bohannon was named assistant track and field coach at the University of Iowa in March 2017.
Her primary responsibilities include working with the men’s and women’s multi-event athletes, hurdles, and vertical jumps.
In 2021, Bohannon coached Will Daniels to a school record in decathlon and a first-team All-America honor, the first by a decathlete in school history. Daniels, Jenny Kimbro and Austin West qualified for the NCAA Championships in Eugene, Oregon, following second, third and third-place finishes at the Big Ten Outdoor Championships. Peyton Haack won the Big Ten heptathlon title and West placed third during Iowa’s indoor conference championship run. She also coached Dallyssa Huggins to the Big Ten title in high jump. Bohannon’s athletes contributed 18 points towards Iowa’s school-record 119 points at the indoor championships, and 14.5 points toward their school-record at the outdoor championships.
During the 2020 Indoor season, Bohannon coached senior Will Daniels to silver in the Heptathlon at the Big Ten Indoor Championships. She also coached senior Jenny Kimbro to fifth in the Pentathlon at the conference meet. Both athletes earned second team All-Big Ten and were 2020 NCAA qualifiers. Kimbro and Daniels broke school records in the pentathlon and heptathlon during the 2019-20 season. Knodle’s athletes contributed 32 points at the Big Ten Indoor Championships. Daniels and Kimbro earned All-America honors for the 2020 indoor season. The 2020 NCAA Indoor Championships and outdoor season was cut short due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
During the 2019 season, Bohannon coached senior Tria Simmons to an individual Big Ten title in the Pentathlon and third-place finish in the heptathlon. Junior Jenny Kimbro earned silver medals in the pentathlon and heptathlon at the conference meets. The pair added four All-America honors in the two events, and sophomore Jay Hunt earned his first All-America honor in the high jump. Kimbro and Hunt were also named Big Ten athletes of the Week, on December 12 and March 20, respectively. Knodle’s group tallied 44 total points at Big Ten Championships — 24 indoor and 20 outdoor.
In 2018, Bohannon saw decathlete William Dougherty set a school record while advancing to the NCAA Championships for the third straight time, finishing a career best 13th to earn second team All-America honors. She also helped Dougherty set the school record in heptathlon at the Indoor Big Ten Championships.
Bohannon joined the Hawkeyes after working as an assistant coach at Iowa State. Bohannon graduated from the University of Northern Iowa in 2016 after an illustrious collegiate career. She was a four-time team captain, 18-time All-MVC honoree with six individual conference titles, three MVC Most Valuable Athlete of the Meet honors, two Most Outstanding Field Athletes of the Meet awards, two Most Outstanding Track Athlete of the Meet honors, and a two-time first team All-American (2014, 2016).
Bohannon graduated from Northern Iowa in 2016 with a degree in exercise science. She and her husband, Matt, reside in North Liberty.