Multiple technical sessions in every event group will be offered daily with presentations from some of the country’s top coaches.
Click here for 2018 Symposium Materials
Symposium Disciplines |
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| Endurance | Jumps | Sprints/Hurdles/Relays | Throws |
Dee Brown
Iowa Central CC
TOPIC: Managing A Championship Cross Country Program
LOCATION: Nelson Wolff C
TIME: Thursday, December 20 | 9:30 am – 10:30 am
Al Carius
North Central (Ill.)
TOPIC: Inner Strength
LOCATION: Cibolo Canyon 6-11
TIME: Monday, December 17 | 6 pm – 7 pm
Ryan Cole
Air Force
TOPIC: Team First – Distance Program Principles
LOCATION: Nelson Wolff C
TIME: Monday, December 17 | 7:15 pm – 8:15 pm
Ryan Cole was named the head coach of the Air Force cross country programs in 2014.
Since then, the Falcons have soared to new heights. In just his second year (2015), Cole led the men’s team to the Mountain West Conference title and two years later, guided them back to the NCAA meet, a place they hadn’t been since 2013. The previous year was extra special for the Air Force women’s program, as the team punched its first-ever ticket to the NCAA meet.
Prior to coaching at Air Force, Cole was an assistant coach at Arizona State for seven years.
John Foss
Indiana Wesleyan
TOPIC: Building An Annual Plan With Buy-In
LOCATION: Cibolo Canyon 6-11
TIME: Thursday, December 20 | 8:15 am – 9:15 am
John Foss enters his 31st season as the head cross country coach at Indiana Wesleyan University in 2018-19. Foss began his association with Indiana Wesleyan as a student-athlete and earned NAIA All-American status twice in cross country.
During his tenure, Foss has built the Indiana Wesleyan cross country program from a regionally competitive league contender to a consistent national contender. The Wildcats have won 35 league championships including the 2017 men’s title.
Student-athletes under Coach Foss include 18 NAIA All-Americans and 10 team finishes in the top-10 at the NAIA National Championships. The Indiana Wesleyan men placed third at the 2015 national championship and 14th in 2017. The highest women’s finish was in 2000 when the team finished third and Foss was named the NAIA National Coach of the Year. The Wildcats consistently garner a large number of NAIA Scholar-Athletes each season.
Artie Gulden
Utah State
TOPIC: Good To Great – Applied to Distance Running
LOCATION: Cibolo Canyon 6-11
TIME: Wednesday, December 19 | 8:15 am – 9:15 am
Artie Gulden’s programs are on the rise at Utah State.
The Aggies shined under Gulden’s control in 2017 as both of their cross country programs made the NCAA meet for the first time. Utah State’s women ended up finishing 14th as a team, while the men fought valiantly with two-time All-America selection Dillon Maggard pacing the way.
Gulden-coached athletes have earned 18 All-America honors (three cross country, 15 in track & field) and five individual and/or relay championships in the Mountain West Conference.
Gulden is the son of legendary Bucknell cross country and track & field coach Art Gulden.
Eric Heins
Formerly NAU Head Coach
TOPIC: Elements A Coach Controls During A Championship Cross Country Season
LOCATION: Cibolo Canyon 6-11
TIME: Tuesday, December 18 | 8:15 am – 9:15 am
Eric Heins laid the groundwork for Northern Arizona’s dynasty.
From 2007 to 2016, Heins served as head cross country coach (2007 to 2016) and Director of Track & Field and Cross Country (2010 to 2016). After eight top-10 finishes in nine years at the NCAA Cross Country Championships, the Lumberjacks finally broke through in 2016 when Heins led them to the national title. At the conference level, Heins’ teams captured 29 Big Sky titles during his time in Flagstaff.
Heins retired from coaching in 2017 as is currently a Regional Admissions Officer at NAU, based out of Houston.
Pat Tyson
Gonzaga
TOPIC: Building a Program
LOCATION: Cibolo Canyon 6-11
TIME: Wednesday, December 19 | 9:30 am – 10:30 am
Pat Tyson has been successful at both the high school and collegiate ranks.
For the past 13 years, Tyson has built the Gonzaga program into a contender in the difficult West Region. Under Tyson’s watch, the Zags made their first-ever NCAA appearances, had program-best finishes at the conference and regional level and took home an All-American honor.
Before embarking on his career at Gonzaga, Tyson coached distance athletes at the University of Oregon and the University of Kentucky and spent 20 years at Mead High School in Washington. While at Mead High School, Tyson’s teams reached the state cross country championships 18 years in a row and won 12 state titles in that span.
Michael Whittlesey, PH.D.
Kansas
TOPIC: Speed Development In Distance Runners
LOCATION: Cibolo Canyon 6-11
TIME: Monday, December 17 | 8:30 pm – 9:30 pm
The Kansas Jayhwaks have rocked under Michael Whittlesey’s watch.
Over nine seasons in Lawrence, Kansas athletes have captured numerous All-America honors and Big 12 Conference titles. Perhaps the biggest moment for the Jayhawks over those years was the rise of Sharon Lokedi, who won the 10,000-meter crown at the 2018 NCAA Division I Outdoor Track & Field Championships in a meet record time of 32:09.20 and earned All-America status as a freshman at both the NCAA Cross Country Championships and the NCAA Outdoor Championships.
Sean Brady
Texas A&M
TOPIC: A Pragmatic Approach To Teaching Long Jump
LOCATION: Nelson Wolff B
TIME: Monday, December 17 | 7:15 pm – 8:15 pm
Success seems to follow Sean Brady wherever he goes. After coaching 19 All-Americans in 17 years at Southeastern Louisiana, Brady moved to Texas A&M, where he helped two athletes win individual NCAA titles in 2018 – Tahar Triki (outdoor triple jump) and Will Williams (indoor long jump). Triki and Williams were two of eight Texas A&M athletes directly coached by Brady who earned All-America honors in 2018.
Kris Grimes
Kentucky
TOPIC: The Common Take-Off – Building One For All
LOCATION: Nelson Wolff C
TIME: Monday, December 17 | 8:30 pm – 9:30 pm
Kris Grimes-coached athletes have earned more than 75 All-America honors in a near 30-year coaching career. Those same athletes also combined for five individual NCAA titles in the multi-events and jumps, and one collegiate record (Lindon Victor in the decathlon).
Grimes, who has coached at Abilene Christian, Missouri, Louisiana-Monroe, Michigan State, Washington State, Nebraska, Texas A&M and now Kentucky, was named USTFCCCA National Men’s Assistant Coach of the Year in 2016.
Shawn Jackson
TCU
TOPIC: Horizontal Jumps 101 – A Non-Scientific Way to Coaching
LOCATION: Cibolo Canyon 1-5
TIME: Monday, December 17 | 6 pm – 7 pm
Shawn Jackson is a proven winner and his current coaching stop at TCU proves just that. Since 2012, Jackson has coached athletes to a pair of individual NCAA titles (Lorraine Ugen in the outdoor long jump in 2013 and the indoor long jump in 2014) and 16 All-America honors. Just this past outdoor season, Chengetayi Mapaya and Scotty Newton became the first set of teammates since 2011 to finish in the top-5 of the outdoor triple jump at the NCAA meet.
Prior to coaching at TCU, Jackson spent 17 years at his alma mater Louisiana Tech, where he helped built the program into a powerhouse in the Western Athletic Conference.
Petros Kyprianou
Georgia
TOPIC: Using A Multi-Dimensional Approach In Developing Elite Triple Jumpers
LOCATION: Cibolo Canyon 6-11
TIME: Wednesday, December 19 | 9:30 am – 10:30 am
Petros Kyprianou has turned the Georgia Bulldogs into a juggernaut. Since 2009, when Kyprianou came to Georgia from Boise State, the Bulldogs’ haul has been otherworldly. Kyprianou-coached athletes have won 29 NCAA individual titles, 46 individual titles in the SEC and earned 103 First-Team All-America honors.
Perhaps his most prized pupil is three-time The Bowerman finalist Keturah Orji. As it stands, Orji owns both the indoor and outdoor collegiate triple jump records and won three NCAA horizontal jump titles in 2018.
Todd Lane
LSU
TOPIC: Troubleshooting The High Jump
LOCATION: Cibolo Canyon 1-5
TIME: Thursday, December 20 | 8:15 am – 9:15 am
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 looks to continue that tradition as he enters his 12th season as a member of LSU’s coaching staff in 2018.
The Tigers and Lady Tigers have flourished in 10 seasons under Lane’s direction as he has coached 11 NCAA scorers to 35 scoring 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 six SEC championships and 36 All-SEC honors over the last eight seasons.
Dennis Mitchell
Akron
TOPIC: Pole Vault – High Expectations
LOCATION: Nelson Wolff C
TIME: Tuesday, December 18 | 8:15 am – 9:15 am
Since his coaching career began in 1985, Dennis Mitchell has coached athletes to great heights – both figuratively and literally. Mitchell-coached athletes have earned 125 All-America honors in the past 33 years.
And after arriving at Akron in 1998, Mitchell’s athletes have starred on the national stage as 41 individuals have earned 108 All-America honors. Of those 41 athletes, four have won individual NCAA titles in the jumps discipline: Three-time NCAA pole vault champion Shawn Barber, 2017 outdoor pole vault champion Matt Ludwig, 2000 heptathlon champion Christi Smith and 2014 outdoor pole vault champion Annika Roloff.
Dan Pfaff
ALTIS
TOPIC: My 45 Year Journey On The Importance Of KPI’s & Their Prioritization In A Jumper’s Program
LOCATION: Cibolo Canyon 6-11
TIME: Thursday, December 20 | 9:30 am – 10:30 am
A coach like Dan Pfaff needs no introduction.
Actually, any coaches attending the 2018 USTFCCCA Coaches Hall of Fame Induction Ceremony on Tuesday night will have already seen Pfaff. He is part of the illustrious Class of 2018.
In 30 years as a collegiate coach at UTEP, LSU, Texas and Florida, Pfaff-coached athletes stockpiled championships and All-America honors. Athletes that were directly coached by Pfaff combined for 29 NCAA individual titles, more than 150 All-America honors and a slew of collegiate records. Pfaff has also coached in 10 Olympic Games and 15 World Championships.
Scott Steffan
Air Force
TOPIC: Pole Vault Approach
LOCATION: Nelson Wolff C
TIME: Wednesday, December 19 | 8:15 am – 9:15 am
Scott Steffan enters his 11th year with the Air Force track & field program and has served as the event coach for vertical jumps during each of those years.
Since Steffan’s arrival in 2008, five members of the men’s pole vault team have combined for 15 All-America honors. Nick Frawley had the most success under Steffan, as he captured a pair of top-3 finishes at the NCAA Outdoor Championships (second in 2008, third in 2010). His women vaulters have starred at the conference level, nabbing numerous All-Mountain West honors.
Vince Anderson
Texas A&M
TOPIC: Fundamental Training Applications
LOCATION: Nelson Wolff C
TIME: Monday, December 17 | 6 pm – 7 pm
Vince Anderson is entering his 32nd year of collegiate coaching this season. He is starting his 13th year at Texas A&M, where he has trained men and women hurdlers and women’s sprinters since 2005.
As a coach, Anderson is most proud of his academic influence on the life of his students, which has led to an exceptional graduation and personal achievement rate among his charges. Athletically, Anderson has trained NCAA champions in every sprint, hurdle and relay event – a feat it took him 29 coaching years to accomplish. Anderson is grateful to have assisted nine NCAA Outdoor Championship teams – eight at Texas A&M and one at Tennessee. Anderson also assisted for one NCAA Indoor championship squad at Tennessee in 2002.
Mat Clark
Arkansas
TOPIC: Strength Training For Sprints & Hurdles
LOCATION: Cibolo Canyon 1-5
TIME: Thursday, December 20 | 9:30 am – 10:30 am
Mat Clark has been a key cog in Arkansas’ powerhouse machine.
Clark is the strength and conditioning coach of both of the men’s and women’s cross country and track & field programs. Since joining the Razorbacks in 2011, more than 100 athletes have reached All-America status as a direct result from Clark’s training. Many of those same athletes had great success at both the USATF and Jamaica National Olympic Trials as well.
He is a graduate of the University of Northern Iowa, where he was one of the top decathletes in program history. Clark earned three All-America honors and competed at the 2008 Olympic Trials.
Clyde Hart
Baylor
TOPIC: Speed Development
LOCATION: Cibolo Canyon 6-11
TIME: Monday, December 17 | 7:15 pm – 8:15 pm
After 42 years as Baylor’s head track and field coach, Clyde Hart retired his position June 14, 2005, to become director of track and field. Hart’s nearly five decades of leadership has guided Baylor track and field to monumental heights, while earning a world-wide reputation as “Quarter-Miler U.”
His pupils 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 Games. All-told, Hart has coached nine Olympians who have won a total of 17 Olympic medals.
From the time he took over the program from his mentor, Jack Patterson, in 1963, through the 2016 season, Hart has coached 34 national champions (14 individual and 20 relay) and 556 All-America performances — 429 men’s All-America honorees (133 individual and 296 relay) and 127 women’s All-Americans (45 individual and 82 relay).
Brandon Hon
Florida State
TOPIC: Short Sprints & Hurdles – Training Philosophies & Implementation
LOCATION: Nelson Wolff C
TIME: Wednesday, December 19 | 9:30 am – 10:30 am
Brandon Hon enters his six year with Florida State in 2018-19.
Since 2005, Hon-coached athletes have earned 51 All-America honors, won nine individual ACC championships (Each of the past three outdoor 100-meter champs, of which two set conference records) and contributed to nine ACC team championships. Just this past year alone, Hon helped four individuals and two relay teams to appearances in the NCAA finals. Three of his athlete have also gone on to compete at the Olympic Games.
Chris Johnson
Arkansas
TOPIC: 400 Meters
LOCATION: Nelson Wolff C
TIME: Thursday, December 20 | 8:15 am – 9:15 am
For a career that’s younger than talented freshmen he coaches, Chris Johnson has had some incredible success since 2002.
Over the past 16 years, Johnson has tutored athletes to five NCAA event championships (three individual, two relays) and 61 All-America honors. Johnson-coached athletes have also earned 37 individual conference championships in the Big Ten and SEC as well as 16 relay championships.
Chris Parno
Minnesota State
TOPIC: Purpose-Driven Coaching In The Sprint Events
LOCATION: Cibolo Canyon 1-5
TIME: Wednesday, December 19 | 8:15 am – 9:15 am
Chris Parno’s athletes have dominated the NCAA Division II level at Augustana State, where he was from 2010 to 2012 and Minnesota State, where he has been since 2012.
Parno-coached athletes have captured 63 All-America honors, including 49 First-Team nods and five individual NCAA titles, not to mention seven Drake Relays titles. This past track season, Parno’s athletes shattered school records in the indoor and outdoor men’s 4×400 relays and the men’s 400 hurdles.
Gabe Sanders
Stanford
TOPIC: Acceleration & Max Velocity Activities & Progressions
LOCATION: Cibolo Canyon 1-5
TIME: Tuesday, December 18 | 8:15 am – 9:15 am
Gabe Sanders has completed three years as Stanford’s sprints and hurdles coach, having joined the Cardinal staff in October 2015.
In addition to coaching Olivia Baker to six NCAA 800 finals, school records in the outdoor 800 and indoor 400, and a Pac-12 400 title, Sanders coached Cardinal sprinters to unprecedented success.
In 2018, Stanford qualified three of its four relay teams to the NCAA Championships, including both the men’s 4×100 and 4×400 for the first time ever. The men’s 4×400 became the first from Stanford ever to reach an NCAA final. And the 4×100 team was the first to advance to NCAA’s since 2004.
Karim Abdel Wahab
South Carolina
TOPIC: Development Strategies In Sprint Hurdles
LOCATION: Cibolo Canyon 1-5
TIME: Monday, December 17 | 8:30 pm – 9:30 pm
Karim Abdel Wahab has put together an accomplished career at Northern Colorado and Colorado State and is about to embark on his first year at South Carolina.
Over his long coaching career, Abdel Wahab’s athletes have garnered six All-America honors, multiple conference and program records, and competed at the 2016 Rio Olympic Games. He has also published several articles discussing the mechanics and methodologies of the sprints and hurdles disciplines and taught extensively throughout North America.
Scott Cappos
Nebraska
TOPIC: Exercise Inventory & Program Design For Throwing Events
LOCATION: Nelson Wolff B
TIME: Wednesday, December 19 | 9:30 am – 10:30 am
Scott Cappos has coached more than 100 qualifiers for the NCAA Championships (preliminary round and finals) in his 22 years of collegiate coaching. More than 50 athletes that were under his watch have won conference championships and earned All-America honors in the shot put, discus, javelin, hammer, weight throw, long jump, high jump and both multi-events.
Perhaps his most prized pupil was Nick Percy, who won the 2016 NCAA discus title.
Clendon Henderson
Liberty
TOPIC: Hammer Throw
LOCATION: Nelson Wolff B
TIME: Thursday, December 20 | 8:15 am – 9:15 am
Clendon Henderson has helped athletes qualify for the NCAA Division I Outdoor Track & Field Championships in seven of his 10 years as a collegiate coach. Just this past outdoor season, he guided Dasiana Larson (women’s hammer) and Denzel Pratt (men’s javelin) to Eugene, Oregon.
Liberty has been quite successful under Henderson’s watch, as the program has won 54 Big South event titles and broke school records in seven different events in the past 10 years. Pratt also set a Bahamian national record in the javelin with a heave of 70.72m (232-0).
Lucais MacKay
Penn State
TOPIC: Training The Weight Unconventionally
LOCATION: Nelson Wolff B
TIME: Tuesday, December 18 | 8:15 am – 9:15 am
After an athletic career that saw him win the NCAA hammer title in 2003 and earn multiple All-America honors in the same event, Lucais MacKay turned to helping athletes win their share. In nine years as a coach, MacKay has guided four athletes to NCAA titles (Eric Flores and Britlyn Garrett at NCAA DIII Cal Lutheran, Nick Miller at Oklahoma State and David Lucas at Penn State) and mentored athletes to 12 total All-America honors (7 NCAA DI, 5 NCAA DIII).
MacKay has coached at NCAA DIII Cal Lutheran, Southeastern Louisiana, Oklahoma State and now Penn State.
Casey Malone
Colorado
TOPIC: Finding Your Style In The Discus Throw
LOCATION: Nelson Wolff B
TIME: Monday, December 17 | 6 pm – 7 pm
Casey Malone enters his 18th season as throws coach at Colorado.
Malone-coached athletes have made eight appearances at the NCAA Championships, 19 trips to the NCAA Preliminary Round and scored a plethora of points at the Big 12, Pac-12 and MPSF Conference Championships. Three of his athletes have won conference titles: James Begley (discus), Hannah Warfield-Ruffatto (javelin) and Brandin Williams (javelin).
Malone won the 1998 NCAA discus title and is a two-time Olympian (2004 and 2008).
Nathan Ott
Kansas State
TOPIC: Designing Effective Hammer Programs
LOCATION: Nelson Wolff B
TIME: Wednesday, December 19 | 8:15 am – 9:15 am
Nathan Ott enters his first year as an assistant coach at Kansas State.
Ott comes to Manhattan, Kansas, after previous stints at Northern Arizona and Texas State. While with the Lumberjacks, Ott coached Brooke Andersen, who is a two-time runner-up at the NCAA Championships in the hammer and sits third in the collegiate outdoor record book in the event at 74.20m (243-5). Andersen also finished third at the USATF Outdoor Championships in 2018 and competed at the 2016 U.S. Olympic Trials. Adam Kennan also starred under Ott’s watch at NAU, capturing two All-America medals.
Mohamad Saatara
Cal
TOPIC: Developing Strategies For Successful Throws Programs
LOCATION: Cibolo Canyon 1-5
TIME: Monday, December 17 | 7:15 pm – 8:15 pm
Mohamad Saatara’s throwers have been a mainstay at both the collegiate and international ranks for quite some time. Saatara has coached numerous All-Americans between his time at California and Michigan and has overseen the development of seven Olympians, namely Amin Nikfar, whom he coached since 2006 and has competed at both the 2008 Beijing Olympic Games and the 2012 London Olympic Games.
This past summer, Saatara coached Camyrn Rogers to the U-20 World Championship in the hammer, which is the first World Championship at any level for the Golden Bears.
April Thomas
Mississippi State
TOPIC: Technical Considerations For The Javelin
LOCATION: Nelson Wolff B
TIME: Monday, December 17 | 8:30 pm – 9:30 pm
April Thomas’ throwers at Mississippi State have left their mark on the national scene and in the collegiate record book.
During her stint with the Bulldogs, Thomas-coached athletes have won two NCAA individual titles in the javelin (Anderson Peters, 2018; Curtis Thompson, 2016) and brought home seven All-America honors to Starkville (six in the javelin, one in the weight). Peters and Favian Cowards (weight throw) also collected SEC individual titles in their respective events.
Eric Werskey
Iowa
TOPIC: Back Of The Ring – Shot Put Balance
LOCATION: Nelson Wolff B
TIME: Thursday, December 20 | 9:30 am – 10:30 am
Eric Werskey turned an All-American collegiate career at Auburn and Indiana into a successful coaching career. Since he entered the coaching ranks at Cal State Northridge three years ago and since moved to Iowa, Werskey-led athletes won several conference titles and took home four All-America honors from the NCAA Championships.
As an athlete, Werskey has trained alongside some of the world’s best throwers, including Joe Kovacs, Tia Brooks, Whitney Ashley and many others that spent time with him at the Olympic Training Center in Chula Vista, California.