Distance

Scott Christensen, Stillwater HS

TOPIC: Lactate Tolerance or Lactate Efficiency: Which Factor
Decides the Mile?

Scott Christensen has been the boys head cross country and head track coach at Stillwater High School in Minnesota since 1981. During that period Stillwater has won eleven state titles and has been ranked by The Harrier five different years in the National Top 10 High School Rankings. In 1997 Stillwater was named the National High School Champions in cross country.

In 2011, his team was a Nike Team Nationals finalist claiming 10th place in that event. Since 1995, five different Stillwater milers have captured Minnesota State 1600 meter titles. Since 2003, four different Stillwater alumni have run sub four minutes for the mile. That list includes: Luke Watson, Sean Graham, Jake Watson, and Ben Blankenship.

Christensen worked 13 years as an instructor in the USATF Level II Endurance Schools from 1997-2010 and is currently serving as the lead instructor of the Specialist Certification Course of the USTFCCCA Track & Field Academy. He is the co-author of the Endurance Curriculum of the Track & Field Academy program. He was USATF Chairman of Endurance Education from 1999-2010. In 2003 he served as the USA Junior Team Leader to the IAAF World Cross Country Championships in Lausanne, Switzerland and in 2008 served as the USA Senior Team Leader to the IAAF Cross Country Championships in Edinburgh, Scotland.

Al Carius, Frank Gramarosso & Chris Wheaton, North Central (Ill.)

TOPIC: Transitioning from Cross Country to Track

Carius has been the head men’s cross country coach for 48 seasons, and is in his fourth season as associate head coach of the men’s track & field program after 44 years as head coach. The Cardinals distance program has been dynastic during his tenure, having won 15 national cross country titles and finished runners-up 14 more; while contributing to six national outdoor track & field titles and four national indoor titles.

Carius and his staff have produced seven individual champions and 105 All-Americans in cross country, and 49 national track & field champions and more than 400 All-America honorees.

His student-athletes still hold a number of national record in track & field, while his cross country program holds national team records for the lowerst championships score (32 in 1993) and the largest winning margin (131 in 2009). His 2009 squad was the first to have all seven runners finish within the top 35 finishers at the NCAA Championships.

His numerous awards include "Coach of the Century" and eight national coach of the year awards. He is also the namesake for the Division III Men’s Program of the Year Award.

At Carius’ side for the last 31 seasons, Gramarosso became head coach of the men’s track & field team in 2010. In his first season in 2011 the Cardinals claimed both the indoor and outdoor NCAA titles behind five individual titles as 19 All-America selections, earning him national coach of the year honors for both seasons.

Gramarosso again lead the squad to an indoor national championship in 2012 with three individual national crowns and 10 All-America honorees. Again he earned national coach of the year honors.

In total he has coached 159 All-Americans and 167 CCIW champions.

Wheaton has been on the Cardinals’ staff since the 2009-10 academic year. He assists with the Cardinals’ freshman team and coaches the steeplechase during the track & field season.

Tim Connelly, Notre Dame

TOPIC: Notre Dame’s Women’s Cross Country Training

Since taking over the Irish women’s cross country program during its infancy in 1988, Tim Connelly has helped Notre Dame reach unprecedented heights, finishing among the top-10 at the NCAA Championship every season from 2002-05. Notre Dame has garnered a trip to the NCAA awards podium twice, finishing in a program-best third place in 2002, followed by a fourth-place showing in 2004.

On the track, the Notre Dame women’s distance program has grown exponentially in recent years. Irish runners have earned 21 All-America certificates since 1994.

In addition, since 1995-96 Notre Dame women’s distance runners have garnered all-conference status 94 times and won 12 BIG EAST individual titles (as well as the 2003 distance medley relay crown), with Rebecca Tracy becoming the most recent champion in the 1,500m at the 2012 outdoor championships. The Irish runners also have played a critical role in a pair of team titles at the BIG EAST Indoor Championship (2002, 2006) and one BIG EAST Outdoor Championship (2007), as well as ten runner-up finishes at conference meets (four indoor, five outdoor).

Among his career awards are Great Lakes Region Coach of the Year in 2002, 2003 and 2009 following team regional titles each of those years.

Ryun Godfrey, North Dakota State

TOPIC: 800 Meter Traning

Entering his 15th season as the head coach of the North Dakota State University women’s track & field and cross country programs, Ryun Godfrey has directed the program to nearly unparalleled success.

Under Godfrey’s leadership, the Bison have won all 10 indoor and outdoor league titles since joining the Division I Summit League in 2007. The Bison have won a combined 25 conference titles in indoor track, outdoor track and cross country since Godfrey became the head coach in 1999.

In the 2011-12 season, NDSU claimed the ‘Triple Crown’ in The Summit League, sweeping the league’s cross country, indoor and outdoor team championships.

The multiple team successes under Godfrey have not been without several outstanding individual accomplishments. Since 2009, five Bison women have combined to claim 10 total Division I All-America citations, and two of those All-Americans were coached directly by Godfrey in the 800 meters.

Karen Harvey, Florida State

TOPIC: Women’s Health Issues

Now in her sixth season, Harvey has guided the `Noles to five consecutive podium finishes at the NCAA Cross Country Championships, including back-to-back runner-up finishes in 2009 and 2010. An incredible run on its own merit, the streak is even more impressive when considering the Seminoles had made just three NCAA appearances prior to her arrival in 2007 and had not finished better that 18th.

Excellence, however, has become the norm at FSU, which has rattled off five consecutive ACC titles and five NCAA South Regional crowns. Beyond developing teams capable of producing championships at the highest level, Harvey’s FSU women have collected 13 All-American honors and four Regional Athletes of the Year, in addition to three individual ACC champions. Not surprisingly, she has won five consecutive ACC as well as NCAA South Region Coach of the Year honors.

In addition to her cross country honors, Harvey has oversight of the Florida State track & field women’s distance team, which has enjoyed similar success. On the track the `Noles have collected 15 All-American honors between the indoor and outdoor seasons, including four at the 2012 NCAA Outdoor Championships. The `Noles have enjoyed similar success within the ACC ranks. Her runners established a new ACC Indoor Championship record in the distance medley relay and also got a title from Amanda Winslow in the 3000m at the 2012 meet. Outdoors, Hannah Brooks added a 5000m title. Since taking over the helm, Harvey’s charges have excelled from 800-10k on the track.

Eric Heins, Northern Arizona

TOPIC: Balancing Speed Development with Aerobic Training

Eric Heins has been the head coach of the cross country teams at Northern Arizona University for six years, and the Director of Track & Field and Cross Country for three. He has won 11 Big Sky Championships and produced six top-10 national finishes in his first three seasons at NAU.

Heins has been named coach of the year by the Big Sky Conference 10 times, including a trio of honors from the 2011-12 seasons thanks to the Lumberjack men’s fourth triple crown in school and Big Sky Conference history. Heins was also honored as the Mountain Region Indoor Track and Field Coach of the Year by the U.S. Track & Field and Cross Country Coaches Association in 2010.

He made an impact on the distance programs from the very beginning of his tenure. In 2007 the men’s team finished fourth and the women’s team took seventh at the 2007 NCAA Cross Country Championships, marking the first time in the storied history of the NAU cross country program that both teams have finished in the top eight nationally.

Damon Martin, Adams State

TOPIC: Training the 5K Runner

Head Coach Damon Martin has built the Adams State University cross country and track programs to the absolute premiere level, not only at Division II, but in all of collegiate athletics. Winner of 30 National Coach of the Year awards, Martin is recognized as one of the best coaches in the country, especially with distance runners, his specialty.

After 24 years in charge of the women’s program and 18 at the helm of the men’s (including an interim year in 1988), Martin has coached a total of 26 National Championship teams (17 women’s cross country, 6 men’s cross country, 1 women’s indoor track & field, 1 men’s indoor track & field, 1 men’s outdoor track & field), including a stretch of nine straight women’s cross country titles from 1991-99, another stretch of seven straight women’s titles from 2003-09 and a stretch of three straight men’s cross country national titles (2008-10). He has also guided athletes to 874 combined all-America honors and 91 individual national championships while coaching seven national championship relay teams.

In 2012, Martin guided the ASU men’s outdoor track & field teams to the NCAA DII title, the first outdoor national title in the history of Adams State. Also during the 2012 season, the women’s squad climbed atop the national rankings for the first time in program history.

Martin guided his men’s XC and track & field teams to four straight USTFCCCA NCAA Division II Program of the Year honors, awarded to the school with the best combined finish at the national championships in cross country, as well as indoor and outdoor track & field.

Dennis Newell, U-Mary

TOPIC: Adapting Coaching to Fit Your Team

Following four straight appearances at the NCAA women’s cross country championships, national assistant coach of the year recipient Dennis Newell was promoted to University of Mary Men’s and Women’s Head Cross Country Coach in July 2013.

Since joining the nationally-ranked Marauders to guide the U-Mary cross country, middle distance and distance athletes in 2006, Newell has coached four NCAA individual/relay championships, 127 Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference All-Conference honors, 43 NSIC champions, five NSIC records, 50 NCAA individual Academic All-Americans, 22 NCAA team Academic All-Americans, four NCAA Women’s Cross Country Championship Qualifying Teams (2009, 2010, 2011, 2012) and 26 NCAA All-Americans in cross country and track events, ranging from the 800 meters to 10,000 meters.

In seven years at U-Mary coaching the men’s and women’s cross country teams, Newell has coached seven All-Americans, 15 all-region performers, 38 all-Northern Sun selections, and three conference champions. He was named the 2010 NSIC Coach of the Year.

Jumps

Lou Andreadis, Grand Valley State

TOPIC: Teaching Processes in the Pole Vault

Lou Andreadis is entering his 11th season at Grand Valley as associate head coach for both men’s and women’s track and field. Lou’s main responsibilities are to work with the Laker pole vaulters and handle all multi-event scheduling for the combined events.

At Grand Valley State, Andreadis has developed a solid vault program which has seen 40 All-American honors and six NCAA Division II National Champion pole vault performances in nine years and set both men’s and women’s school records.

Andreadis was named the 2012 USTFCCCA Women’s Assistant Coach of the Year after Kristen Hixson won both the indoor and outdoor pole vault national championship and Jocelyn Kuksa finished second (outdoor) and third (indoor) at the NCAA Division II National Championships.

Kevin Brown, South Carolina

TOPIC: Acceleration and Max Speed Mechanics in the Pole Vault

Kevin Brown is in the fifth year year of his second stint with the Gamecocks following the 2013 season. His primary responsibility is working with the pole vaulters in addition to working with South Carolina’s well-respected relay teams and sprinters.

While in his first stint at Carolina, Brown was named to the Team USA coaching staff for the 2003 Junior Pan American Games and served as an assistant coach during the competition in Barbados. In December 2002, he was voted to the Team USA staff by the USATF Coaches Championship Selection Committee, a group that selects national coaching staffs for International competition including the Pan American Games and Goodwill Games. Brown became the second USC assistant coach to serve as a part of a Team USA staff.

Bryan Compton, Arkansas

TOPIC: Combined Event Training

Joining the Razorbacks in the fall of 1998, Bryan Compton has proven to Arkansas that he was an invaluable addition for its coaching staff. In 15 years of working with the Razorback throwers and vaulters, Compton’s student-athletes have set 14 school records a total of 71 times, not including numerous heptathlon marks.

Arkansas’ resident vault expert was recognized for his contributions during the spring of 2005 when Compton was named the U.S. Track and Field and Cross Country Coaches’ Association’s (USTFCCCA) Mideast Region Assistant Coach of the Year. That season his athletes earned two All-America honors, broke a pair of school records and each of the student-athletes he coached earned a spot at the NCAA Mideast Regional Championships, including four pole vaulters.

In the past 13 years, he has coached nine student-athletes to 26 All-America honors, 11 Southeastern Conference championships and a five of SEC championship records. One of his most recent protégés, Jodi Unger, earned four All-America honors during the 2006 and 2007 seasons and was the NCAA runner-up in the pole vault outdoors as a senior.

Lucky Huber, South Dakota

TOPIC: Power Training for Jumpers

Lucky Huber is in his 20th year as the women’s track and field coach at South Dakota during 2012-13. He has directed the Coyotes to 16 conference championships (10 indoor, six outdoor). He was named both the women’s indoor and outdoor NCC Coach of the Year in 1997, 1998, 1999, 2005 and 2007. He was the NCC Women’s Outdoor Coach of the Year in 2005. He also was selected the North Central Region Coach of the Year in 1997 and 1998, 2006 and 2007.

In 1998, Huber directed the Coyotes to second-place team finish at the NCAA Indoor Nationals, which is the highest finish by a USD indoor or outdoor squad in track and field history. Also in 1998, he coached his team to a fifth-place team finish at the NCAA Outdoor Nationals. In 2008, he coached the Coyotes to sixth place finishes at both the NCAA Division II Indoor Championship and the NCAA Division II Outdoor meet.

In total, he has led USD to 18 top-10 finishes at either national indoor or outdoor meets.

Todd Lane, LSU

TOPIC: Applied Mechanical/Movement Principles

The LSU jumps program boasts one of the proudest traditions in the history of collegiate track and field in the United States, and assistant coach Todd Lane has continued that tradition as he enters his sixth season as a member of LSU’s coaching staff in 2013.

The Tigers and Lady Tigers have flourished under Lane’s direction as he has coached nine NCAA scorers to 29 All-America honors in four different jumping events since joining the LSU coaching staff prior to the 2008 season. His student-athletes have also captured five SEC championships and 29 All-SEC honors over the last five seasons.

That was certainly evident during the 2012 season as the LSU jumpers accounted for 30 points with their performance at the NCAA Championships while earning six All-America honors in such events as the long jump, triple jump and pole vault.

Damion McLean, Appalachian State

TOPIC: Developing Women Triple Jumpers

In the past nine years, McLean has produced 32 SoCon Champions, 82 All-Conference performances, five SoCon MVP’s, 20 Regional standard performances, 13 NCAA qualifiers (five competitors), nine USATF Championship/Olympic Trial Qualifiers, App State record holders in the indoor long jump; Vonteena Knotts, (20’10.50") and triple jump Ronda White, (44’2") and SoCon Indoor and Outdoor record holders, White (43’7") and Danielle Thorpe, (43’2.25"). 

In just these years, McLean’s athletes own 29 of 80 men’s and women’s Top 10 Indoor and Outdoor marks in App State history. The strength program for the sprinters, jumpers and hurdlers has been under the tutelage of McLean as well.

Nic Petersen, Florida

TOPIC: Technical Aspects of the Long Jump

Nic Petersen made a big impression on the Florida program in his first season with the Gators, helping his team to a runner-up national finish indoors and a co-championship outdoors. In charge of jumps, he guided Omar Craddock to his second straight NCAA Division I outdoor triple jump title and Marquis Dendy to the NCAA Division I indoor long jump title. On the women’s side Ciarra Brewer set a program record in the triple jump.

Petersen has spent the last three years on the coaching staff at TCU, serving as the jumps and multi-events coach for the Horned Frogs. Petersen came to TCU from the University of Nebraska, where he served the 2008-09 season as an assistant coach for the Huskers. In Lincoln, Petersen worked in the jumps area learning under legendary head coach Gary Pepin.

In all, Petersen’s impressive resume includes coaching six individual NCAA Champions, 29 All-Americans, five World Championship team members, three SEC Champions, an Olympian and a collegiate record-holder.

Jim Van Hootegem, Oklahoma

TOPIC: Training the Multiple Event Athlete

In 2009 VanHootegem earned the NCAA Division I Men’s National Assistant Coach of the Year honor, awarded by USTFCCCA, and in 2010 he was named South Central Region Men’s Assistant Coach of the Year. VanHootegem also garnered the 2006 Mondo Regional Assistant Coach of the Year honor.

During his 23 years of collegiate coaching, VanHootegem has been successful at every stop. He has been a member of coaching staffs that have won 11 NCAA Championship team titles and 30 conference crowns.

In his eight seasons with the Aggies prior to becoming the head coach at Oklahoma this offseason, the A&M program has achieved six NCAA Outdoor Championships along with claiming 14 Big 12 team titles, four for the men and 10 for the women. A&M athletes competing in VanHootegem’s event areas have achieved 54 All-America honors and have established 13 school records, eight indoors and five outdoors.

Sprints, Hurdles and Relays

Vince Anderson, Texas A&M

TOPIC: Maximal Velocity Mechanics and Cueing

Fresh off a team co-national championship during the 2013 outdoor season, Anderson has been at Texas A&M for nine seasons and has been a collegiate coach for 28 years overall. During his time at Texas A&M he has been an assistant coach on seven national championship teams between men and women.

In his coaching life, Vince Anderson strives to be a teacher first. He tries to train his athletes in a broad range of athletic skills so they can compete effectively in more than one role for the team. He further believes that broadening college athletes’ overall range of ability makes them even better in their specialty event – certainly for collegiate development, but especially for international development.

Anderson’s approach has produced a notable body of work from athletes. Anderson has trained All-American athletes in every sprint, hurdle and relay discipline, as well as the long jump.

Anderson most recently coached Wayne Davis II to the 110 hurdles title at the NCAA Division I Outdoor Track & Field Championships.

Tommy Badon, Westminster Academy (HS)

TOPIC: Acceleration: Mechanics, Drills, Synthesis

Tommy Badon is a former coach at the University of Louisiana Lafayette (ULL) where he helped lead the Ragin’ Cajuns to 14 Indoor and Outdoor Conference Championships. During his time at UL, Badon coached over 20 NCAA All-Americans including Hollis Conway, the world’s No. 1 ranked high jumper in the early 1990‘s and still the United States record holder in the indoor high jump. Badon is a veteran instructor with over 20 years of experience in coaching education programs.

Clyde Hart, Baylor

TOPIC: 400 Training Baylor Style

Hart’s nearly five decades of leadership has seen Baylor track and field reach monumental heights while earning a world-wide reputation as "Quarter-Miler U."

His pupils have won an Olympic gold medal in six straight Olympics (1996-2012) and at least two gold medals in five consecutive Olympic Games (2000-2012). In just the men’s 400-meter event, Jeremy Wariner (2004) and Michael Johnson (1996,2000) captured Olympic gold in three straight. All-told, Hart has coached nine Olympians who have won a total of 13 Olympic gold medals, one silver and three bronze with Johnson claiming five gold medals, Wariner and Sanya Richards-Ross three, and Darold Williamson and Reggie Witherspoon one each.

From the time he took over the program from his mentor, Jack Patterson, in 1963, through the 2012 season, Hart has coached 34 national champions (14 individual and 20 relay) and 537 All-America performances — 411 men’s All-America honorees (131 individual and 280 relay) and 126 women’s All-Americans (45 individual and 81 relay).

His men’s 4×400-meter relay teams have earned outdoor All-America status in 23 of the last 24 years and captured 20 NCAA titles combined in indoors and outdoors. His 2004 4×400-meter relay team set a then-NCAA indoor record with a 3:03.96 clocking and his 1997 unit set a then-World Record at the Big 12 Outdoor Championships. All-told, Hart’s teams have turned in 10 World-record performances (nine individual and one relay) and nine NCAA record efforts.

Dion Miller, Texas Tech

TOPIC: Texas Tech Sprint/Hurdle Training

Miller enters his 10th season as a member of the Texas Tech track and field staff. He was named to the Associate Head Coach position Aug. 13, 2012.

Throughout his tenure at Texas Tech, Miller has emerged as one of the top sprints and hurdles coach in the country producing four national champions two Olympic Medalists and over 100 All-Americans.

Perhaps most notably, Texas Tech has emerged as one of the top hurdle programs in the nation. The Red Raiders have had 25 All-Americans in the hurdles events (60mH, 100mH, 110mH, and 400mH) since 2005.

Calvin Robinson, Louisiana Tech

TOPIC: Balancing Work and Rest in the Competition Season

Prior to joining the Louisiana Tech coaching staff as an assistant coach for the sprints and jumps, he spent four years as an associate head coach at the University of Miami (Fla.) where he guided a high jumper to the 2012 London Olympics.

Prior to his time at Miami (Fla.), Robinson spent four years as an assistant coach at UTEP where he sent a women’s long jumper and men’s high jumper to the 2008 Olympic Games in Beijing, was named the 2008 U.S. Track and Field and Cross Country Coaches Association (USTFCCCA) Mountain Region Women’s Assistant Coach of the Year and coached the 2008 national champion in the men’s high jump.

In all, Robinson brings a resume that boasts 20 All-Americans and 52 various all-conference honors.

Charles Ryan, Academy of Art

TOPIC: Maximizing Hurdle Talent – Be an Artist

Charles Ryan guided Academy of Art to a sweep of the NCAA Division II Indoor and Outdoor Track & Field Championships during the 2012-13 academic year — a feat made even more impressive considering this was the first year the program was eligible for postseason competition.

 Ryan finished off his third year at the helm of Academy of Art with 32 NCAA Division IIAll-Americans across the indoor and outdoor campaigns. The Knights achieved a total of 44 new program records (15 indoor, 29 outdoor) that season, including a historic weekend at the 2013 Drake Relays that saw the ART U women’s team tie the NCAA record in the 4x100m shuttle hurdles (52.50) and break the meet record in the 4x100m (44.19).

Specializing in sprints and hurdles, Ryan guided the ART U hurdlers to national prominence in 2012-13, with four hurdlers — including champion and DII record-holder Vashti Thomas — making the NCAA Division II Outdoor championships 100 hurdles finals. ART U also placed four hurdlers in the final of the 60 hurdles at the NCAA Division II Indoor championships.

Boo Schexnayder, Track & Field Academy

TOPIC: Advanced Uses of Circuit Training

Most noted for the 12 years he spent as a member of the Track and Field coaching staff at LSU, Boo Schexnayder, who coached collegiately at Louisiana-Lafayette and Blinn Junior College prior to arriving at LSU, placed quite an imprint on the collegiate track and field scene. Regarded as one of the world’s premier field event coaches, he was the guiding hand behind 19 NCAA Champions during his collegiate coaching career. He was a key component of 12 NCAA Championship teams and a pair of JUCO National titles, as well as developing a host of conference champions and All-Americans.

Schexnayder has also been a prominent figure on the international scene, having coached triple jumper Walter Davis to multiple World Championships, and long jumper John Moffitt to a silver medal at the 2004 Olympics in Athens. He has coached 10 Olympians, and has served on coaching staffs for Team USA to the 2003 Pan Am Games in Santo Domingo, the 2006 World Junior Championships in Beijing, and was the Jumps Coach for Team USA at the 2008 Olympics in Beijing.

A truly gifted clinician, Schexnayder currently serves as the Chair of the USTFCCCA Track & Field Academy Advisory Board and has been instrumental in the development of the curriculum and instruction of the TFA since its inception in late 2010.

Dennis Shaver, LSU

TOPIC: Teaching 200 Meters Technique and Race Distribution

When Dennis Shaver ascended to the rank of head coach of the LSU track and field program in July 2004, he was given the reigns of a national power recognized worldwide for its dominance at the collegiate level while racking up a total of 30 NCAA team championships in its history.

Expectations were high, but Shaver had experienced LSU’s success first-hand as he helped coach the Tigers and Lady Tigers to a combined 12 national championships while serving as an assistant coach for nine seasons from 1996-2004. It came as no surprise when he was asked to continue LSU’s championship tradition when the position opened in the wake of the 2004 season.

In eight seasons under Shaver’s coaching, LSU has now captured 21 top-five finishes at the NCAA Championships between the indoor and outdoor seasons.

The Tigers and Lady Tigers were impressive once again at the NCAA Championships while joining for four NCAA event titles and 43 All-America honors during the 2012 campaign. The program also brought home a pair of NCAA team trophies a year ago as the Tigers finished as the national runner-up at the NCAA Outdoor Championships and the Lady Tigers claimed a third-place finish at the NCAA Indoor Championships for the third year in a row.

Throws

Michele Curcio, Lafayette

TOPIC: Working from the Ground Up – Runway Drills and Mechanics for the Javelin

For 14 years Michele Curcio has coached the throws and coordinating the pole vault and combined athletes at Lafayette. In her first thirteen seasons, Curcio coached five NCAA Championships qualifiers, 28 Patriot League Champions, 15 All-East performers, a two-time ECAC Champion, a three-time Penn Relays Champion, and 17 NCAA Regional qualifiers. In addition, Curcio’s athletes have set 24 school records.

Curcio has also been active on the International coaching level having served as Women’s Throws Coach for the United States at the 2012 World Junior Championships and the 2010 USA Under 23 Team competing at the NACAC (North American, Central America, and Caribbean) Championships. 

Steve Lemke, Florida

TOPIC: Specific Strength for the Hammer

Steve Lemke, the 2010 USTFCCCA South Region Women’s Outdoor Assistant Coach of the Year and a 20-plus veteran of the coaching ranks, begins his ninth season at the University of Florida as the team’s associate head coach. Since arriving in Gainesville, Lemke has developed the Gator throwers into an impressive corps that has been successful on the national stage.

Lemke, who was an All-American in the javelin at South Dakota State, has mentored eight Olympians, including 2000 U.S. Olympic pole vault gold medalist Nick Hysong and 14 national champions in his career, including six at Florida. He has coached at the 1996, 2000, 2004 and 2008 Olympics, the 1995, 1997, 2003 and 2009 World Championships and the 2002 Commonwealth Games.

In 2013, Lemke’s men’s athletes garnered four All-America honors and two SEC titles. Newcomer Kyle Strawn claimed the men’s hammer throw title at the SEC Outdoor Championships, tossing 66.90m/219-6 to notch his first conference title after transferring from UCSB. Strawn earned Second Team All-America accolades at the NCAA Outdoor championships. Strawn is now second all-time in Florida history in the hammer and fifth in the weight throw (18.73m/61-5.50).

Kyle Pierce, LSU-Shreveport USA Weightlifing Development Center

TOPIC: Teaching Progressions for the Olympic Lifts

Kyle Pierce is an associate professor of kinesiology and health science at Louisiana State University in Shreveport and thedirector of the LSUS USA Weightlifting Development Center.

In May 2006, Pierce was named as the recipient of the U.S. Olympic Committee’s Doc Counsilman Science Award for 2005. Named for the legendary Indiana University swimming coach and instituted by the USOC in 2003, the Counsilman Award honors coaches who conduct and use research along with developing innovative training methods. Pierce, who is widely published and sought after internationally to make presentations on sports science, was one of three finalists for the 2004 “Doc” Counsilman Award. He received the award on June 23, 2006 in La Jolla, California at the Night of Champions Reception, which opened the U.S. Olympic Assembly.

Lynden Reder, Minnesota

TOPIC: Challenges of a Young Throws Coach

Lynden Reder is entering his sixth season as an assistant coach for the Minnesota men’s track & field team. Reder is charged with coaching the Golden Gopher throwers. Reder has established Minnesota as a top program on the Big Ten and NCAA level. Last season marked a continuation of the success Reder has produced each year since he joined the staff in 2008. One of the deepest and most accomplished throwing event groups in the country, Gopher throwers ranked second statistically in all NCAA throws programs last season.

In 2012 alone Reder coached three All-Americans, two Big Ten Champions and two new school record holders.Micah Hegerle added to his long resume by adding two First Team All-America awards and another Big Ten title. Under Reder’s guidance, Hegerle has become one of the most decorated Gopher throwers of all time. Last season, the four-time NCAA All-American and three-time Big Ten Champion won the Big Ten weight throw and was an All-American in that event. He went on to become an All-American in the hammer throw at the NCAA outdoor championships. Minnesota was the only program in the country to have two hammer throwers earn First Team All-America honors in 2012.

Mohamad Saatara, California

TOPIC: Technical Variations in Rotational Shot Putting

Mohamad Saatara is entering his fourth season as an assistant coach for the University of Michigan men’s track and field team, where he oversees all field events, specializing in the throwing events.

Saatara spent the previous eight seasons at Northern Arizona University. During that span, he helped guide the Lumberjacks to 12 Big Sky Conference men’s and women’s team championships. He has coached more than 20 Big Sky individual champions and guided more than 30 student-athletes to the NCAA Regional Championships. In his final season at NAU Saatara coached four Big Sky champions — Shelby McCray (women’s discus), Javier Villarreal (men’s shot put), Curtis Durocher (men’s hammer) and Andres Rossini (men’s discus).

In the summer of 2008, three of Saatara’s athletes competed at the Olympic Games in Beijing. Amin Nikfar, a volunteer assistant at Northern Arizona who trained under Saatara for two years, set the Iranian national outdoor record and qualified for the shot put. Former student-athlete Georgina Toth qualified in the hammer throw, and Zara Northover (Jamaica) made it to Beijing to compete in the shot put.

Mike Sergent, South Carolina

TOPIC: Feel the Ball – A Hammer Drill Buffet

Mike Sergent enters his 17th season with the Gamecock track and field program. His primary responsibilities are coaching the throwers and coordinating the strength and conditioning program. Sergent has coached 25 All-Americans, 40 NCAA qualifiers, 14 SEC champions and five NCAA champions at South Carolina.

Sergent has also seen success in coaching his student-athletes on the international stage. In 2003, former Gamecock and NCAA champion Dawn Ellerbe reached the World Championships in Paris under Sergent’s tutelage. He also worked with Ellerbe in 2002 to help her become the USATF national runner-up in both the weight and hammer throws. She finished the year ranked seventh in the world in the hammer, set the American record in the hammer, and finished ranked eighth nationally in the discus throw.

In 2001, two of Sergent’s former student-athletes, Brad Snyder and Lisa Misipeka, along with Ellerbe, traveled to Edmonton, Canada, for the 2001 World Championships. In his third year at South Carolina, Sergent coached Candy Mitchell, Bert Sorin and Ryan Harrison through the U.S. Olympic trials. At the 2000 Olympic Games, Snyder, Misipeka and Michelle Fournier all competed.

April Smith, Appalachian State

TOPIC: Gender Differences in Throws Coaching

April Smith is entering her 12th year as the throws coach at Appalachian State University and is primarily responsible for the throws programs, along with the strength training of the track and field athletes.

Since starting at Appalachian, Smith has coached 23 regional qualifiers, four national qualifiers in the shot put, one national qualifier in the hammer and one athlete that met the Olympic trial standard of 63-1 in the shot put in June of 2007. She has also coached 50 conference champions and 92 all-SoCon athletes in the shot put, discus, hammer, javelin and weight throw events. While at ASU, she has also been a part of the Mountaineers tradition of winning the Southern Conference title in both men’s and women’s indoor and outdoor championships, with the last title coming with the men’s team at the 2010 Southern Conference Outdoor Championships to cap off the 2009-10 Triple Crown.

Derek Yush, LSU

TOPIC: Physical Training Effects in the Throws

After just six seasons as the throws coach at national power LSU, Yush has guided his student-athletes to 14 All-America honors and three individual NCAA championship titles. With his coaching, seven-time All-American Walter Henning became one of the program’s best all-time throwers, earning a pair of NCAA indoor titles in the weight throw and an outdoor NCAA hammer title. While winning those titles, Yush guided Henning to an unbeaten streak of 18 consecutive events between indoor and outdoor competition.

The 2010 men’s South Central Region Indoor Assistant Coach of the Year has guided two SEC championship-winning student athletes to seven titles and eight student-athletes to 14 All-SEC honors. His throwers have recorded three school records.

In addition to his duties at LSU, he served as the men’s throws coach for Team USA at the 2012 North American, Central American & Caribbean Under-23 Championships in Guanajuato, Mexico.

Assistant Coach Seminars

Pat Henry, Texas A&M

TOPIC: Advice for Young Coaches

Pat Henry, now in his 10th season as head coach of the Texas A&M track and field program, became the first coach to lead a school to three consecutive men’s and women’s NCAA Championships when the Aggies accomplished the feat during the 2009-2010-2011 seasons. Most recently his men’s team claim a co-national championship during the 2013 outdoor season.

Twice the Aggie men have placed second the NCAA Indoor (2010 & 2011) while the A&M women have finished fifth three times indoors (2010, 2011 & 2012) after placing second at the NCAA Indoor in 2009.

With six NCAA Championships in his time at Aggieland, Henry’s total number of national titles has reached 33 on the Division I level. In addition, Henry also claimed a pair of national titles on the NJCAA level while coaching at Blinn College in Brenham.

While Henry is currently third among all-time national team titles as a NCAA head coach. he has achieved the most championships for indoor and outdoor track and field national titles.

In the past seven years, Texas A&M has had an individual or relay claim a NCAA title each season.

After serving as head coach of the U.S. men’s national during the 2006 World Cup in Athens in Athens, Greece, Henry embarked on a larger role as an international coach when he served as head coach of the U.S. men’s national team during the 2007 World Championships in Osaka, Japan.

Overwhelming success from the U.S. men’s team led to a record 10 gold medals, bettering the previous best of nine set during World Championships in 1991 and 2005. In addition the U.S. men’s team totaled 19 medals, the best tally by the United States since the 1991 World Championships.

Mike Holloway, Florida

TOPIC: Progressing in the Coaching Profession

In 12 seasons as the head coach of the Florida track & field and cross country programs, Mike Holloway has now claimed three of the past four NCAA men’s indoor team championships and won or shared the past two NCAA men’s outdoor team titles — including a tie with Texas A&M for the 2013 outdoor title.

Consistent high-level performance has been a hallmark of the Florida program under Holloway, as the Gators have finished top three in 14 of the last 22 national championships meets both indoors and outdoors.

Holloway earned his second straight outdoor national Men’s Coach of the Year honor following the outdoor season, increasing his career total for the award to five.

Holloway served as the head coach of the men’s U.S. team at the 2013 World Championships in Moscow, and was a sprints and relays coach for the U.S. team for the 2012 London Olympics.

Ralph Lindeman, Air Force

TOPIC: Coaching Today’s Generation of Athletes

Lindeman is well-known throughout the international track and field community and holds many distinctions from his long involvement with both the Olympic sport and the Academy’s athletic program. From the very first day he stepped onto the track at the Academy in 1989, the Falcons have benefited from Lindeman’s leadership and his love of coaching.

Over his tenure at the Academy, Lindeman has earned numerous coaching distinctions and honors. He is an 11-time conference Coach of the Year, the 2 001 NCAA Mountain Region Men’s Outdoor Coach of the Year and the 2012 NCAA Mountain Region Men’s Indoor Coach of the Year. He was the 2012 outdoor season, marking the eighth time he has claimed an MW award (indoor: 2012, 2011, 2008, 2004, 2001; outdoor: 2012, 2003, 2001). In addition to earning the 1995 WAC Indoor Coach of the Year and the 1991 WAC Cross Country Coach of the Year at Air Force, Lindeman was named the 1989 Big West Coach of the Year while at Long Beach State.

He served as an assistant coach for the U.S. Men’s Track & Field Team that participated in the 2007 World Championships in Osaka, Japan. Previously, he was the jumps, pole vault and decathlon coach for the U.S. Men’s Track & Field Team at the 2004 Olympic Games in Athens. That team collected 19 medals – including two Gold and five Silver medals from Lindeman-coached athletes – for the squad’s highest medal count since the 1992 Games in Barcelona.

Director of Operations Seminars

Mike Henderson, Princeton

TOPIC: Managing social media and technology to promote your program and engage your alumni

Mike Henderson is in his second year as director or operations at Princeton University. Prior to that he served as a both head cross country/track & field coach and sports information director at St. Catherine University.

Jeff Kent, Arkansas

TOPIC: Coordinating Team Travel

Jeff Kent is the Director of Women’s Cross Country and Track and Field at the University of Arkansas.  He has overseen the Razorbacks travel arrangements, equipment needs, on-campus recruiting efforts, and served as meet host since September 2009.

Jess Riden, Washington

TOPIC: Hosting a Home Competition

Jess Riden was recently named Director of Track and Field/Cross Country Operations at the University of Washington, after a seven-year stint in a similar capacity at Penn State University.  While at Penn State, Riden served as the Meet Director for all home competitions at the world-class Horace Ashenfelter III Indoor Track, and assisted in the running of multiple Big Ten Conference Championships, as well as several NCAA regional cross country events.  She will be the Meet Director for all events at Dempsey Indoor in Seattle for the upcoming track and field season.

Andrea Tepe, LSU

TOPIC: Identifying the Roles and Responsibilities of a Director of Operations

Andrea Tepe serves as the Director of Track and Field Operations for the Louisiana State University.  This is her first season in Baton Rouge.  Previously, Andrea served in the same capacity at the University of Akron.  She recently wrote the article “The Evolving Position of Director of Track & Field Operations” for the August 2013 edition of Techniques Magazine.