Aug. 8, 2016
UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. - Penn State cross country and track & field head coach John Gondak has announced the hiring of Lucais MacKay to oversee the Nittany Lion throws programs.
"I am thrilled to announce Lucais MacKay will be joining our Track and Field Coaching staff here at Penn State to oversee our throws group," said Gondak. "Through the hiring process Lucais was the name that everyone continued to recommend to us as an outstanding fit at Penn State. After spending time on campus with our staff and with our athletes - it was clear he will be a great leader for our throws group for many years ahead."
"I'm really excited to take over as the coach for the Penn State throws program," said MacKay. "There is a really rich tradition of success in the throws across all events and I really look forward to bringing my experiences to Happy Valley and continuing that tradition and hopefully improving upon it."
2016 saw Penn State senior Rachel Fatherly break the indoor school record in the shot put to go along with her school record outdoor mark in the same event. Six top-10 marks in program history were recorded including the fifth-best mark in the men's discus in program history by David Lucas en route to the NCAA Championships where the freshman finished 15th.
Top-10 Marks In Penn State Program History Set In 2016
- No. 1 all-time indoor women's shot put
- No. 3 all-time outdoor women's discus
- No. 4 all-time outdoor women's shot put
- No. 5 all-time outdoor men's discus
- No. 7 all-time outdoor men's discus
- No. 9 all-time outdoor men's hammer
"Lucais brings great experience to Penn State having grown up around the sport of track & field with his father being a coach as well," Gondak continued. "He personally has thrown all of the implements, which is great experience to have. He was also a NCAA Champion himself in the hammer and last year coached the NCAA Champion in the men's hammer as well as the NCAA runner-up in the women's shot put while at Oklahoma State. Our staff is very excited to work with Lucais and I know our student-athletes are excited as well."
Prior to his time at Oklahoma State, MacKay served stints at Southeastern Louisiana - where he coached the men's and women's throwers for two seasons of indoor and outdoor competition - and Division-III California Lutheran University where he coached Division-III champion and record-holder Eric Flores to a hammer throw title, as well as the women's hammer throw runner-up.
MacKay was awarded the D-III Outdoor Women's Track and Field Assistant Coach of the Year Award during his time at California Lutheran.
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.
He then graduated from Georgia in 2005 with a Bachelor of Science in Sociology and in 2012 received a Master of Arts in Coaching and Athletic Administration from Concordia University, Irvine.
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