USTFCCCA Convention News & Updates
By Kyle Terwillegar, USTFCCCA October 19, 2015   

CONVENTION UPDATE: Throws Symposiums

NEW ORLEANS – The 2015 USTFCCCA Convention from December 15-18 at the JW Marriott San Antonio Hill Country Resort & Spa in San Antonio, Texas, will serve as an opportunity for throws coaches to attend Symposium sessions – presented by Connor Sports – from some of the nation’s premier experts.

As with the other Symposium disciplines—endurance, sprints/hurdles/relays, and jumps—eight prominent throws coaches will give hour-long presentations on specific aspects of their areas of expertise, available to all attendees registered for the convention.

Leading these technical sessions at the convention will be:

  • Don Babbitt, Georgia – Babbitt has coached 12 NCAA Champion throwers during his nearly two decades at Georgia, along with 74 All-America honorees and 47 SEC Champions. Scheduled to share his expertise in coaching the javelin, he’s guided a pair of NCAA women’s javelin champions in Freya Jones (2013) and Vigdis Gudjonsdottir (1999). Internationally, he’s coached 46 throwers who have qualified for the Olympics and/or IAAF World Championships who have combined for 19 medals.
  • Chris Campbell, Navy – Campbell has been the throws coach at Navy for nearly a decade. In that time, he’s guided throwers to All-America honors in three of the past four seasons – including third-place javelin thrower Jay Stell in 2014. His athletes have won 22 Patriot League titles during his tenure. Campbell was a former Naval Academy javelin record holder during his undergraduate career, during which he was coached for USTFCCCA Hall of Famer/international javelin standout Al Cantello.
  • Sandy Fowler, Michigan – A former world-class thrower, Fowler is starting her fifth year as an assistant with the Michigan women’s program. During her competitive career, Fowler was a nine-time All-American, a national champion and an Olympian in the shot put. During her coaching career as an assistant at Florida, the head coach at Alabama, and now as an assistant at Michigan, Fowler has coached nearly 40 All-Americans and several conference champions.
  • Brian Mondschein, Princeton – In only five years as the assistant coach of Princeton’s women’s track & field team, Mondschein has already made a significant impact on the program. He coached hammer thrower Julia Ratcliffe to the program’s first-ever national title in women’s track & field and onto the list of all-time farthest collegiate hammer throwers. Prior to his time at Princeton, he enjoyed successful tenures at Southeastern Louisiana and DII Kutztown. At the latter, he coached his athletes to 18 PSAC team titles and 90 individual titles, as well as 38 All-America certificates.
  • Kyle Pierce, USA Weightlifting –Pierce is an associate professor of kinesiology and health science at Louisiana State University in Shreveport and the director of the LSUS USA Weightlifting Development Center. He is a widely published and sought-after speaker on the international athletics stage to make presentation on sports science, and a recipient of the U.S. Olympic Committee’s Doc Counsilman Science Award. The award honors coaches who conduct and use research along with developing innovative training methods.
  • Mark Rodriguez, UTEP – Mark Rodriguez, currently an assistant throws coach at UTEP, has nearly a three-decade career of coaching spanning stops at Purdue, Miami (Ohio), Indiana State, and on the NCAA Division III level. While at  Purdue, his female throwers routinely outscored the rest of the Big Ten’s throwers and accounted for half of Purdue’s points at the Big Ten Championships – including back-to-back Big Ten weight throw titles by Dani Bunch.

  • April Thomas, Mississippi State – In nearly a decade as the assistant coach in charge of the throws at Mississippi State, Thomas has coached her athletes to national and conference success. She guided Favian Cowards to MSU’s first-ever SEC title in the weight throw and then to another All-America showing in the hammer. She also assisted NCAA champion combined event athlete Erica Bougard in the throws components of her events.
  • Derek Yush, LSU – The LSU throws group has flourished in eight seasons under the direction of Yush. In a short period of time, Yush has guided the Tigers to a national discus title, nearly 20 USTFCCCA All-America honors and no less than ten SEC league titles. Since Yush joined the LSU coaching staff in 2008, the Lady Tigers have taken home six SEC championships and one NCAA championship

Convention-goers can attend one-hour presentations from these coaches beginning Tuesday, December 15, at 1:00 p.m., 2:15 p.m., 3:30 p.m. and 4:45 p.m. Presentations will continue Wednesday at 8:30 a.m. and 9:45 a.m.; and Thursday at 8:30 a.m. and 1:30 p.m. The full schedule is available here.

Registration for the 2015 USTFCCCA Convention is now open.