Uva Throws

Coach MacKay, Throws coach at Penn State, took his time to talk to us about his coaching philosophy, about his path form a top discus thrower and football in high school to becoming an NCAA Champion in hammer, and what he is looking for in recruits as well as coaching philosophy at this point. Under MacKay’s watch in 2018, the Nittany Lion throws program made a substantial impact on the Big Ten and National stage. At the 2018 NCAA Indoor Championships in College Station, Texas, David Lucas did what no other Nittany Lion had done since 1993, capture a NCAA Title. Lucas’ performance set a new school record, Gilliam Facility record, and stands as the fourth-best mark in NCAA meet history. His fifth round effort captured the gold medal with a personal-best effort of (78-9.75/24.02m). He coaches 4 NCAA Champions, 7 All-Americans and much more. In 2003, MacKay took home the NCAA hammer throw title for the University of Georgia. He was a six-time All-American and eight-time All-SEC thrower as a Bulldog. After origi

Coach Saatara, Throws coach at Cal Berkeley, will talk to us about how he got into throwing, the successful path to Cal and lessons he learned along the way in coaching. He shares with us his coaching philosophy and his approach to mentoring athletes. Since Saatara joined the Bears, his student-athletes have notched 23 (10 men, 13 women) appearances on the school's all-time outdoor top-10 list. He has also coached five USTFCCCA All-American performances in his first four years with the Bears. In addition to Johnson's freshman record, Saatara also oversaw four school records; Johnson's (2018, indoor shot put), Chimoa Amaechi's (2014, weight throw), Chrissy Glasmann (2018, javelin) and Camryn Rogers (2018, hammer throw), with Camryn also winning the NCAA title in 2019. Along with NCAA accomplishments, Saatara also has impressive International presence, coaching and consulting several Olympians across the world. Check Mo Saatara at https://www.instagram.com/mohamad.saatara/

John Newell talks to us about his recruiting philosophy; his experience as a high school, college, and s professional athlete; struggles of a young coach and things to pay attention to when starting to coach; and many more lessons he learned over more than 2 decades that he has been involved in this sport we call Field and Track. Coach Newell completed his seventh season as an assistant coach at Tennessee in 2019-20. He works directly with the program’s throwers, and this year he is going into his 14th season as a NCAA coach. Since 2013, Newell has guided Tennessee throwers to 22 All-America honors and seven SEC titles. He has led Tennessee athletes to 12 school records in the throwing events, highlighted by six-time All-American Stamatia Scarvelis who owns the program standards in the weight throw, indoor shot put and hammer throw. Check John Newell at https://www.instagram.com/coachjohnnewell/

Second Part of 2 part interview with Amin Nikfar. He talks about his experience as a high school athlete, collegiate, post-collegiate, and as a college coach. He is highly accomplished college coach who coached at both costs of the country and at the highest levels. He emphasizes importance of dedication in an athlete and how impactful coaches really are in athlete’s life. Check Amin out at www.instagram.com/nikfarthrowfar/?hl=en

Amin talks about his experience as a high school athlete, collegiate, post-collegiate, and as a college coach. He is highly accomplished college coach who coached at both costs of the country and at the highest levels. He emphasizes importance of dedication in an athlete and how impactful coaches really are in athlete’s life. Check Amin out at https://www.instagram.com/nikfarthrowfar/?hl=en

Marija talks about her experience as an international student-athlete, things she wished she knew before coming to USA and how she adjusted to the college life. She talks about the importance of having a clear vision, goal in what you want to do and how important time management in all that is. Follow Marija on https://www.instagram.com/marijabogavac1/?hl=en .

Ryan Singer discusses his transition from high school, things he wish he knew right away that helped him cope with college life. How to balance sport, academics, family and social life. Importance of loving what you do, and importance of putting right amount of time and work into what you are doing. Follow Ryan on Instagram at https://www.instagram.com/ryansinger1/ and Facebook https://www.facebook.com/singerryan .