Brian Blutreich Assistant Coach Third Season     OU Coaching Staff

Brian Blutreich, 43, a former Olympic discus thrower who has also coached three Olympians, enters his third season at the University of Oklahoma overseeing events in the throws area.

In his first two seasons at Oklahoma, Blutreich (pronounced BLUE-trick) took over a dwindling throws group and laid the foundation for what the program expects to be one of its strongest areas. In his second year in Norman, Blutreich willed a group of athletes to five program records, one Big 12 title and three NCAA Championships entries.

A Blutreich pupil in his first year on the collegiate level, Luke Bryant captured OU's first conference title in the discus since 1988 when he tossed the implement a distance of 189-2 (57.66) before qualifying for the NCAA Championships in the event.

Bryant was one of three Oklahoma throwers to qualify for the NCAA Championships as Amy Backel (shot put) and Mikaela Johansson (hammer throw) did so as well. The two women also earned ESPN The Magazine Academic All-America honors.

Johansson broke program records in both the hammer throw and weight throw while K.P. Singh broke the men's weight throw record during the indoor season. While competing at the U.S. Championships, freshman Karen Shump broke program records in both the indoor and outdoor shot put.

Despite only having three athletes competing for him in 2008, Blutreich still managed to produce headline-grabbing results as all three individuals produced program records in their respective events.

As action in 2008 moved outdoors, Backel, in her first season as a full-time thrower, and junior college transfer Buck Sullivan made their names known in the Oklahoma history books.

Throwing the javelin, Backel took all of one meet under Blutreich to produce a program record. The sophomore continued to best her own record in the event throughout the season, eventually ending with a distance of 171-10 (52.39) and the program's first-ever All-America honor in the event.

The year was not done for Backel as she traveled to Eugene, Ore., for the U.S. Olympic Trials where she finished 10th.

The record-setting action started in the indoor season as Johansson quickly took over the top spot on the women's weight throw performance list at 61-5.00 (18.72).

Joining Johansson in his first season in the Oklahoma program, Sullivan followed Backel's lead in a quick rewriting of the history books. In just his third outdoor meet on the NCAA level, he set a new program record in the hammer throw with a mark of 195-6 (59.60) before improving to 196-11 (60.02).

Blutreich came to OU after 11 years at the University of North Carolina where, most recently, he served as assistant men's head coach.

Under his direction, UNC became one of the nation's premier collegiate throws programs. In 2007, Blutreich helped Justin Ryncavage defend his ACC and NCAA outdoor titles in the men's javelin as part of dual 1-2 sweeps with teammate Adam Montague, the NCAA East Region Champion and Field Athlete of the Year.

He also guided Nick Owens to two All-America honors (NCAA runner up in the hammer and third in the weight throw) and ACC titles in the weight throw and hammer throw. His labors made him a shoo-in for his second National Assistant Coach of the Year honor as voted by the U.S. Track and Field and Cross Country Coaches Association. Owens is currently the UNC program record holder in the hammer throw (229-9/70.02) and second all-time in the weight throw (72-2.75/22.01).

Blutreich's successes envelop a coaching career that has developed seven individual NCAA champions, 30 All-Americans, 45 Atlantic Coast Conference event champions and 112 All-ACC performers. Blutreich-coached athletes set all 12 possible UNC throws events records and helped the Tar Heels to 14 men's and women's ACC team championships.

The 2006 season saw Blutreich-coached athletes win three NCAA outdoor titles, the first time North Carolina produced three national champions at the same meet. Laura Gerraughty (women's shot put), Vikas Gowda (men's discus) and Ryncavage (javelin) reached the top step of the winner's podium becoming only the second program ever to win three or more throws titles in a year with three different athletes. Gerraughty would set the NCAA record in the shot put at the event with a throw of 62-10.00 (19.15) while Gowda established progam records in the shot put, both indoor (64-3.75) and outdoor (64-4.50), and the discus (212-3).

Owens, who later won gold at the NACAC Under-23 Championships, earned third place in the hammer throw to give the Tar Heels four All-America throwers.

In 2005, four UNC throwers earned All-America honors including Gowda, the Penn Relays' Most Outstanding Male Field Athlete and World Championships qualifier, and Jocelyn White, the ACC Freshman of the Year, who won silver at the U.S. Junior National Championships and was fourth at the Pan American Junior Games.

Two Blutreich disciples - Gerraughty (United States) and Gowda (India) - competed at the 2004 Olympics as part of one the greatest campaigns in UNC history. Blutreich was honored as a National Assistant Coach of the Year after guiding Gerraughty to a sweep of NCAA indoor and outdoor national shot put titles and the U.S. Olympic Track and Field Championships title, becoming the first collegiate athlete to win the women's shot put.

Several other Tar Heel throwers thrived under Blutreich in 2004. Owens was named the ACC Outdoor Freshman of the Year after winning the hammer throw. He was also the U.S. Junior National champion in the hammer, establishing a national junior record in the process. Amy Parulis won the ACC title in the hammer; Marija Kurtovic (women's discus) and Karen Wyzykowski (women's javelin) were all-conference honorees.

In 2003, Ryncavage became the U.S. national junior champion in the javelin and was the silver medalist at the Pan American Junior Games. Gerraughty's first NCAA indoor shot put title and Wyzykowski's U.S. national junior record-setting javelin throw also highlighted the season.

In addition to his work at North Carolina, Blutreich was the men's throws coach for Team USA at the 2002 World Junior Championships in Kingston, Jamaica.

Under his direction, Blutreich's wife, Lynda Lipson-Blutreich, became a three-time U.S. champion in the javelin. Lipson-Blutreich competed in the 2000 Olympics, has been on two World Championship and two Pan American teams, and is a former American record holder.

A native of Mission Viejo, Calif., Blutreich attended UCLA from 1986-90, earning All-America honors three times each in the shot put and discus. Blutreich also won back-to-back Pac-10 discus titles in 1989 and 1990.

In Blutreich's four years, the Bruins won two NCAA national outdoor championships and three consecutive Pac-10 titles.

He graduated from UCLA in 1990 with a bachelor's degree in psychology.

In 1991, Blutreich was a discus finalist at the World University Games in Sheffield, England.

The couple have two daughters, Brooke Alexandra and Logan Kate.