robert gary HEAD COACH fifth Season track/15th season cross country Robert Gary, now in his fifth season as the head men s track and field coach and 15th coaching the cross country team, has elevated both programs to new heights and has established himself as one of the nation s elite coaches. Gary s teams constantly strive for Top 3 finishes at the Big Ten championships in cross country and indoor and outdoor track and field. And for the second time in three years, the Buckeyes did just that during the 2009-10 campaign. Gary led the cross country team to a second-place finish at the Big Ten championships as Jeff See took third overall among individuals. The Buckeyes went onto place third at the NCAA regionals before taking 21st at the NCAA championships behind See s All-America finish. On the track, Gary led the Buckeyes to a second-place finish at the Big Ten indoor championships and a thirdplace showing during the outdoor season. See (mile/1500m) and Matt DeChant (shot put) earned All-America honors during the indoor and outdoor seasons while Thomas Murdaugh earned All-America honors in the 400m during the indoor. In addition, the Buckeyes swept their rival Michigan in The Dual by winning both indoor and outdoor meets. Gary s third track season in 2008-09 was one of the more successful in recent memory. The Buckeyes finished second on their home track at the Big Ten outdoor championships, claimed 13 Big Ten titles, qualified 19 individuals for regional competition and five individuals for the NCAA championships. Freshman Thomas Murdaugh took home All- American honors in the 400m dash, while senior Jeff See was named an All-American in the 1500m for the second year in a row. In addition, the Buckeyes finished fourth at the Big Ten indoor championships and defeated rival Michigan at the Indoor Dual. The Buckeyes enjoyed an historic 2007-2008 season under Gary s leadership as the cross country, indoor and outdoor track teams all finished in the Top 3 at their respective conference meets for the first time in more than 65 years. Gary watched seven of his athletes take home Big Ten titles, while 10 earned All-Big Ten honors. He led the cross country team to its sixth NCAA appearance since 2000 and its 11th overall in program history. In his initial campaign of the leader of the men s track and field team, Gary guided the Buckeyes to a solid fourth-place finish at the 2007 Big Ten Indoor Championships. Ohio State benefited from championship efforts from See (mile), Anthony Cole (200m) and Lenny Jatsek (weight throw). Cole and See advanced to compete at the indoor national meet. During the outdoor season, the Buckeyes sent 14 individuals to the NCAA regional championships, led by sophomore sprinter Elon Simms who was an All-Big Ten performer in the 400m hurdles and anchored the 4x400m relay to a Top Five regional finish. During his ninth season as Ohio State cross country head coach, Gary led the Buckeyes to perhaps the finest season in school history. He was named 2005 Great Lakes Region Cross Country Coach of the Year after he led the men s cross country squad to a runner-up finish at the Big Ten championships, third-place at the Great Lakes meet and an 11th-place finish at the 2005 NCAA Championships. Individually, Brian Olinger was named Great Lakes Runner of the Year and earned his second-consecutive All-America award. The 2004 track and field season saw a pair of Buckeyes score Top 4 finishes in their respective events at the NCAA Championships. Under Gary s tutelage, Rob Myers took fourth in the men s 1500m run before placing third at the 2004 U.S. Olympic Trials in a then career-best time of 3:38.93. In addition, Aaron Fisher clocked a fourth-place time in the men s steeplechase at the NCAA championships, ahead of teammate Brian Olinger, who turned in a Top 20 performance. In 2005, Fisher again claimed All-America honors in the steeple, while Olinger nabbed his first All-American award in the indoor 5000m before redshirting the outdoor campaign. As a redshirt, Olinger posted some of his top times in the steeple in 2005, highlighted by a fourthplace finish and career-best 8:28.44 at the U.S.A. Nationals in June and an 8:19.56 at the European meet in July. It was the second-best time by an American Junior. Gary mentored Olinger to his second-consecutive All-American season on the track in 2006. Gary s student-athletes carry their success into the classroom as well - 20 members of the 2010 track and field team were named Academic All-Big Ten, while 11 members of the cross country team claimed the honor. The cross country team was named 2010 Division 6
gary quick facts Full Name: Robert Gary Born: April 5, 1973 Hometown: Evanston, Ill. High School: Evanston Township Alma Mater: Ohio State, 96 (B.A. in English education) Running Career: Six-event All-American at Ohio State; Big Ten and Ohio State 3000m run record holder; 1996 and 2004 Olympic Games competitor in 3000m steeplechase; competed on three U.S. world championship distance teams; qualified for 12 U.S. world cross country teams. The Student-Athletes: The cross country team posted 11 OSU Scholar-Athletes and 10 Academic All-Big Ten students in 2009. The track and field team had 20 Academic All-Big Ten honorees and 15 OSU Scholar-Athletes in 2010. Academic All-American team award with distinction in cross country - men s and women s teams 2000-10 (3.25 team gradepoint average or better). Post-collegiate athletes training under Gary: Dan Huling (steeplechase), Brian Olinger (steeple), Rob Myers (1500m) and Jeff See (1500m/steeple) Assisted Under: Russ Rogers at Ohio State from 1996-2006 Cross Country and Distance All-Americans: 16 Cross Country and Distance Big Ten Champions: 19 I All-Academic for the eighth straight season. Gary continues to train the best each year for the USA Track and Field championships and Olympic trials. In June 2010, he helped train Dan Huling, who took first place in the 3000m steeplechase at the 2010 USA Outdoor Track and Field Championships. In addition, Huling, along with former Buckeye greats Rob Myers (1500m), Brian Olinger (steeplechase) and Jeff See (1500m) trained under Gary while preparing for the 2008 Olympic Trials in Eugene, Ore. Myers, Huling and Olinger advanced to the finals of their events before coming up short while See - just a sophomore at the time - missed the finals by one spot. Gary was selected to be an assistant coach for Team USA s U23 team in July 2008 at the North America, Central America and Caribbean Athletic Association (NACAC) meet in Toluca, Mexico. Joining him was See, who competed in the 1500m run. Myers and Huling finished the year having run the second-fastest times by an American in their respective events. Gary ended a decorated running career in 2005. In 2004, he became the fifth former Buckeye to gain a bid to two separate U.S. Olympic teams and continued running by making the finals for the 11th-straight year at the 2005 USA Nationals. A 1996 participant at the Atlanta Games, Gary placed second in the men s steeplechase at the Olympic Trials with a career-best 8:19.46. Eight years later, his third-place finish at the trials gained an automatic bid on the U.S. team headed to Athens, Greece for the 2004 Olympic Games. Gary also earned honors as a cross country athlete, winning the 2004 Track and Field News Cross Country Runner of the Year. He qualified for the U.S. team for the second-straight season in both the four-kilometer and 12-kilometer events and finished as the top American at the 2004 World Championships in the 4k. Gary s 2004 qualification to the world championships in two events marked the first time a U.S. runner made both teams in consecutive years and moved his tally to 11 national cross country teams qualified for. In 2003, Gary qualified for his sixth United States World Cross Country team by winning the 2003 U.S. 4-kilometer Cross Country Championship in Houston, Texas. That same year, he claimed a third-place standing in the steeplechase at the USATF championships in June. Gary ended the year by representing the U.S. at the 2003 Outdoor World Championship en route to earning a No. 3 ranking by Track and Field News. During the 2002 outdoor campaign, Gary ran the fourth-fastest time by an American in the 3000m steeplechase. As a result of his performance, Gary was ranked among the Top 10 in the U.S. for the seventh-straight year. As a student-athlete at Ohio State from 1992-1995, Gary was a six-event All-American, winning the Big Ten outdoor 3000m steeplechase title in 1994, where he set the Ohio State and Big Ten record in the event. He was a three-time All-Big Ten selection and member of three Big Ten championship teams (1992 outdoor, and 1993 indoor and outdoor). A 2009 inductee into the Ohio State Athletics Hall of Fame, Gary received a degree in English education from Ohio State in the fall of 1996. He is a graduate of Evanston Township High School (Chicago, Ill.) where he was a state champion in the two-mile and an All-Midwest selection in soccer. He resides in Columbus with his wife, Rita, and infant son, Percy. O h i o S t a t e B u c k e y e s. c o m 7
ed beathea Associate HEAD COACH fifth Season sprints, hurdles and jumps Noted as one of the best sprints/hurdles coaches in the nation, Ed Beathea was hired as Ohio State men s track and field associate head coach Aug. 14, 2006. Beathea is responsible for instructing the Buckeye sprinters and hurdlers, as well as athletes competing in the horizontal jumps. During his four years in Columbus, Beathea has mentored four individual Big Ten champions while also building the Buckeye 4x400- meter relay team into a Midwestern juggernaut that has won five-consecutive Big Ten titles. At the 2010 NCAA East preliminaries, the squad clocked a blistering third-place run of 3:03.97, the third-fastest time in school history. Beathea s greatest accomplish in his time with the Buckeyes, however, has been his work with two-time All-American Thomas Murdaugh. A relative unknown out of high school, Murdaugh has become one of the premier sprinters in the country thanks in large part to his training with Beathea. As a sophomore in 2010, Murdaugh was named the U.S. Track and Field and Cross Country Coaches Association (USTFCCCA) Great Lakes Track Athlete of the Year during both the indoor and outdoor season, as well as the Big Ten Athlete of the Year and Athlete of the Championships for the indoor season. In his first two seasons with the Buckeyes, Murdaugh has won a total of five Big Ten titles to go along with his two A-A honors. Beathea was recognized for his work with Murdaugh and the 4x4 squad in 2010 when he was named Great Lakes Assistant Coach of the Year by USTFCCCA. Prior to joining the Buckeye coaching staff in 2006, Beathea spent 10 seasons coaching sprints and hurdles at Indiana, the last four years as associate head coach. In his decade with the Hoosiers, Beathea coached 32 Big Ten sprint and hurdle champions, 28 All-Americans and two NCAA runner-ups. He gained national attention for his work with sprinters David Neville a bronze medalist at the 2008 Beijing Olympic Games and Rachelle (Boone) Smith, the 2006 USA outdoor champion in the 200, while also building his reputation as an excellent relay coach. Under his leadership, the women s sprint relay squad made conference history by becoming the first Big Ten relay team to win the league title and earn All-America recognition for four consecutive years (2001-05). Coach Beathea spent two years at Northern Arizona University before to his arrival at Indiana, assisting with the sprinters, horizontal jumpers and men s and women s cross country squads. His time in time in Flagstaff came on the heels of a successful collegiate career at Ball State, where he holds school records in the 400-meter (indoor) and 4x400-meter relay. Beathea graduated with a bachelor s degree from BSU in 1992 and earned his master s in sports administration while serving as a graduate assistant for the Cardinals in 1994. A native of Elkhart, Ind., Ed and his wife, Kim, have two daughters, Sarah and Abby. 8
kevin mannon ASSISTANT COACH seventh Season throws Kevin Mannon is entering his seventh season as an assistant coach for the Ohio State men s track and field team. Since joining the Buckeye staff full-time in 2004, coach Mannon has established himself as one of the top-rated throws coaches in the United States, producing five Big Ten champions, eight Big Ten runner-ups, six All-Americans, 13 NCAA championship qualifiers and 27 NCAA regional qualifiers. Ohio State track and field legends Dan Taylor, Lenny Jatsek, Veronica Jatsek, David Ebersole, Bryan Duby, Shelaine Larson, Keturah Lofton and Patrick Whalen all earned national acclaim as collegiate athletes under Mannon s leadership. Over the past year, Mannon s throwers have shown steady improvement, establishing themselves as one of the deepest squads in the country. Matt DeChant set the bar for the Buckeye hurlers in 2010 with a pair of All-American finishes in the shot put at both the NCAA indoor and outdoor championships. At the 2010 Big Ten Outdoor Championships, Buckeye throwers posted 31 points in four events, led by Max Mays and Tom Davis, both of whom posted personal bests in the men s hammer throw on their way to second and fourth, respectively. In the shot put, DeChant and Tyler Branch each broke the 18-meter mark to move in to the top 10 all-time at Ohio State, while Bryan Bunnell finished third in the javelin, the third-consecutive podium finish for Bunnell at the conference finals. The 2010 season built upon a tremendous two-year run for Mannon and the Buckeye throws team. From 2008-2009, the Scarlet and Gray produced an All-American, three NCAA national qualifiers, two Big Ten champions, two Big Ten runners-up and 10 NCAA regional qualifiers. In 2008, Mannon coached Ebersole -- a former walk-on -- and Jatsek to a pair of NCAA championship appearances in the weight throw, where Jatsek earned the second All-American award of his career. Ebersole captured the Big Ten title that season in the hammer throw with the second-best toss in Ohio State history (64.52m/211-8), while Bunnell -- only a freshman at the time -- shocked the field with a win in the javelin. A year later, Whalen wrapped a stellar collegiate career with a Big Ten runner-up finish in the shot put and earned trip to the NCAA national championships. As a student-athlete, Mannon was a 12-time All-American between two-year stints at South Carolina and Wyoming. He was the recipient of the Southeastern Conference Commissioner s Trophy his sophomore season at South Carolina after winning performances at the 1997 outdoor conference meet. Following his sophomore season at South Carolina, in which Mannon earned five All-America awards, he transferred to Wyoming, where he gained another seven All-America honors in his two seasons with the Cowboys. In addition to the 12-overall All-America accolades, Mannon established the American collegiate record in the weight throw on two occasions during the 1999 indoor season. Mannon set the American standard of 22.76m (74-8.25) on February 13, 1999 in Laramie, Wyo. The mark stood until Jan. 10, 2004, when Taylor heaved a measure of 23.22m (76-2.25) at the indoor season opener in French Field House. Mannon was present that day to witness the record-setting throw and later helped Taylor set the record two more times, the last reaching 24.01m (78-9.25) on Feb. 21, 2004. A native of West Jefferson, Ohio, Mannon earned his bachelor s degree in history from the University of Wyoming, in 1999. He currently resides in West Jefferson with his wife, Joanna and three children. O h i o S t a t e B u c k e y e s. c o m 9
joe green volunteer assistant COACH - track and field third Season jumps Former Olympian Joe Greene returned to his alma mater as a volunteer assistant coach in 2009, working primarily with athletes competing in the jumps. Greene was a bronze medalist at the 1992 and 1996 Olympic Games and was an All-American at Ohio State from 1987-90. One of the most decorated athletes to ever don the scarlet and gray, Greene won eight Big Ten titles in the long and triple jump. He earned All-America laurels on six different occasions (indoor and outdoor) and was the NCAA champion in the triple jump in 1988 and in the long jump in 1989. In 1988, he broke Jesse Owens 54-year-old record in the indoor long jump and still holds the Ohio State records in the indoor triple jump (55 feet, 0.25 inches) and the outdoor triple jump (55 feet, 4.75 inches). He is still second on Ohio State s all-time indoor long jump list (26-3) and is tied for second with Chris Sanders in the outdoor long jump (26-7). As an assistant with the Buckeyes, Green helped freshman Korbin Smith to the 2010 Big Ten outdoor title in the long jump.he has also been instrumental in the development of current Buckeyes Derek Blevins, Steve MacDonald and Cody Westbrook on the track. Greene s sister, Denise, was a Big Ten champion in the hurdles at Michigan State and ran track with current Ohio State women s coach Karen Dennis. His oldest brother, James R. Greene III, is an Ohio State Law School graduate. Greene currently resides in Reynoldsburg, Ohio. jeff see volunteer assistant COACH - Cross Country first Season Jeff See, one of the most decorated distance runners in school history, has returned to Ohio State as a volunteer assistant on Robert Gary s staff. See was a six-time All-American at Ohio State from 2005-2010, claiming five All-America honors on the track and one in cross country. He earned two AA honors in the indoor mile in 2008 and 2010, three in the outdoor 1500m in 2008, 2009 and 2010 and the other during the 2009 cross country season. The Middletown, Ohio, native also claimed four Big Ten titles along the way two in the indoor mile (2007, 08), one in the 2006 DMR and the other in 2010 in the indoor 3000m. See capped off his illustrious Ohio State career in May 2010 when he captured the sixth and final All-American award of his career with a fifth-place finish in the 1500m run at the NCAA championships. He also was a member of Ohio State s 4x800m relay team that posted a then-2010 world-best time of 7:17.68 at the Drake Relays, winning Drake s Most Outstanding Male Performer as a result of his efforts. During the indoor season he captured the fifth All-America honor of his career with a sixth-place finish in the mile after winning a Big Ten title in the 3000m. In 2009, See finished 28th at the NCAA championships, where he helped the Buckeyes to a 21st-place finish overall on his way to the first cross country All-America honor of his career. See was named 2009 Great Lakes Athlete of the Year by the USTFCCCA after a first-place finish at the NCAA regional championships and also earned first team All-Big Ten honors after finishing third overall at the Big Ten championships. During the 2009 outdoor season, See finished eighth in the 1500m at the NCAA outdoor championships to become a three-time All-American. However, it was the spring of 2008 when See really made his mark, earning All-America honors in the 1500m run with his fifth-place finish at the NCAA championships and qualifying for the 2008 Olympic Trials with his time of 3:40.86 at the Jesse Owens Track Classic. See would go on to miss the finals of the 1500m by just one spot. A two-time All-American and three-time Big Ten champion in the indoor mile, See earned AA honors in the event and won his second consecutive Big Ten title in 2008, posting the second-best time in Ohio State history at the time with a mark of 4:00.05 the only Buckeye to post back-to-back Big Ten titles in the mile. 10 A four-time academic all-big Ten selection and five-time Ohio State scholar athlete, See graduated from The Ohio State University in spring 2010. He resides in Columbus and continues to train with Gary as a post-collegiate athlete.
tim walters volunteer assistant COACH - track and field third Season multi-events Tim Walters is in his third season as a volunteer assistant for the men s track and field team, working with athletes in the combined events, high jump, and pole vault. A native of Washington Court House, Ohio, Walters has a strong coaching background at the club, middle school, high school and university levels. During his 12-year stint at Washington Senior High School (1996-2007), Walters coach several state champions and over 30 All-Ohio performers. His teams earned seven district titles, numerous conference championships, two regional titles (1999 and 2001) and state runner-up in 1999. While serving as head coach at Cedarville University from 1988-1992, Walters instructed several All-Americans, including national triple jump champion and NAIA Hall of Famer Stephanie Sherman. During his years at Cedarville University, Walters also played a role in coaching Olympian LaVonna Martin, the 100-meter silver medalist at the 1992 Barcelona Olympic Games. Walters also worked with Deon Hemmings (while at Central State University), who went on to win the gold medal in the 400m hurdles at the 1996 Olympic Games in Atlanta. In his first season with Ohio State in 2009, Walters coached Patrick Woods to new heights in the decathlon. Under the tutelage of Walters, Woods won the Big Ten outdoor title in the decathlon and qualified for competition at the NCAA championships. Current Buckeyes Heath Nickles, Cody Westbrook and Alan Dague continue to make strides under his tutelage. Walters, still a competitive USATF Masters athlete, has won several national titles in the hurdles and has competed in three world championships. He set an American and World Record in the 100m hurdles at UNLV in 2004 (13.49) and was the top U.S. Masters long jumper in 2005. Walters has also earned All-American honors in the pentathlon and the decathlon, winning the silver medal in each during the 2005 season. A USA Track and Field level I and II certified coach, Walters lives in Washington Court House with his wife Alana. They have one daughter, Beth Walters Day, a teacher and track coach at Miami Trace High School. Her husband, Ryan Day, is a teacher and head coach of the girls basketball team at Washington Senior High School. O h i o S t a t e B u c k e y e s. c o m 11