Lucais MacKay enters his sixth season overseeing the throwers for the Nittany Lion Track & Field program in 2022.
In 2021, the Penn State throw's program ranked among the region's best, with MacKay being named the USTFCCA Mid-Atlantic Region Men's Assistant Coach of the Year. He helped steer the Nittany Lion throwers to two Big Ten Championships, with David Lucas winning the discus title and Mark Porter winning the javelin title. Penn Staters placed first, third and fourth in the javelin at the conference meet. Tyler Merkley earned the silver medal in the hammer throw at the Big Ten Championships, earning Second Team All-Big Ten honors. On the women's side, Madison Smith placed second in the javelin throw, claiming Second Team All-Big Ten honors.
In total, Penn State had three throwers qualify for the NCAA Championships (Lucas, Merkley, Porter) and four current throwers qualify for United States Olympic Trials (Lucas, Merkley, Porter, Smith). All three Penn State qualifiers earned Second Team All-America honors at the national meet.
In 2020, MacKay helped David Lucas qualify for the NCAA Indoor Championship in his pursuit of his third All-America honor. Lucas was awarded All-America honors due to the cancellation of the NCAA Indoor Championships due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Under MacKay, Tyler Merkley and Gianna Rao each moved into the top-five all-time at men’s and women’s weight throw events.
2019 saw the Nittany Lion throwers continued growth and success under MacKay’s guidance. Senior Morgan Shigo accomplished something no Nittany Lions has ever done. Shigo won the first Big Ten championship in the men’s hammer throw in program history. Shigo also became the first Nittany Lion to be a two-time, first team All-American in the hammer throw. Six Nittany Lions were Big Ten finalists and four were Big Ten medalists.
Shigo and David Lucas earned first team All-American honors in the weight throw during the indoor season. Shigo and Lucas were both finalists in the weight throw with Shigo earning a silver medal at the Big Ten Indoor Championships. In total, seven Nittany Lions entered the top-10 in the Penn State record book during the indoor and outdoor seasons.
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).
Along with Lucas, Morgan Shigo represented the Blue and White in the weight throw, narrowly missing the final by one spot; Shigo finished 10th in the weight throw (68-5.75/20.87m) garnering him his first NCAA All-American Honor.
During the outdoor season, 12 throwers advanced to the NCAA East Prelims with four Nittany Lions heading to the NCAA Championships. Penn State was represented in three of four event areas in Eugene, Oregon. The NCAA Outdoor Championships were highlighted by Shigo finishing sixth in the hammer throw (237-9/72.47m) and Lucas placing seventh in the discus throw (186-7/56.87m).
At the Big Ten level, Penn State saw three medalists with Michael Biddle (239-7/73.02m) winning gold in the javelin throw. Along with Biddle, Lucas recorded silver in the weight throw (76-5.75/23.31m) and Shigo placed third in the hammer throw (226-6/69.05m).
Penn State capped off the 2018 track & field season with Shigo finishing sixth at the USATF Championships in the hammer throw (235-4/71.75m).
In all, the Nittany Lions closed out 2018 with eight record book performances, which includes school records by Lucas (weight throw – 78-9.75/24.02m) and Shigo (hammer throw – 237-9/72.47m).
In his first season in Happy Valley, MacKay helped Penn State capture two conference championships as the women’s team earned the Big Ten Indoor title followed by the men capturing the first Big Ten Title in program history during the outdoor season.
MacKay’s athletes combined to set four top-10 program marks across three events. Alyssa Robinson recorded the fourth best mark in shot put (53’-5.75”/16.30m) as well as the No. 7 mark in the hammer throw during the outdoor season at (187’-6”/57.15m). Obeng Marfo’s mark of (183’6”/55.94m) sits at No. 9 all-time in the hammer throw while Stephanie Sievers launched the eighth-farthest throw in the javelin at (159’-9”/48.70m).
The Big Ten Championships, that featured a 35-point performance for the men’s event group at the Big Ten Championships, 12 student-athletes advanced to the NCAA East Preliminary meet, as many as any other NCAA program. with Obeng Marfo competing in two events while David Lucas competed in three.
The NCAA Championships featured three Nittany Lions competing in the men’s javelin throw with Michael Shuey earning All-American honors as he launched a school record throw of 250’-9” to finish third. Obeng Marfo, Jon Yohman, and Lucas also competed at the NCAA Championships following their first season under MacKay’s watch.
Michael Shuey and Micahel Biddle advanced to the USATF Championships with Shuey earning a bronze medal and increasing his throw to a distance of 255-8 to wrap up an eventful first year for MacKay and crew.
Prior to his time with the Nittany Lions, MacKay came to Penn State from Oklahoma State University where he was the throws coach during the 2015-16 academic year. During his lone year with the Cowboys, MacKay helped guide Nick Miller to a NCAA Championship in the men’s hammer, as well as Chase Ealey the NCAA runner-up in the women’s shot put while at Oklahoma State.
Prior to his time at Oklahoma State, MacKay served as the throws coach at Southeastern Louisiana where he coached the men’s and women’s throwers for two seasons of indoor and outdoor competition. Just four years removed from international competition, MacKay coached 10 Lions throwers to All-Southland honors at the conference meet, and six athletes to the NCAA preliminary rounds.
Before his days at Southeastern Louisiana, MacKay coached Division-III champion and record-holder Eric Flores to a hammer throw title, as well as the women’s hammer throw runner-up while at California Lutheran University. During his time at CLU, MacKay was awarded the D-III Outdoor Women’s Track and Field Assistant Coach of the Year Award and had 11 throwers win conference titles in just two seasons.
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 originally attending the University of Southern California on a football scholarship, MacKay transferred to Georgia to focus on throwing. 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.
MacKay, the son of a track and field coach, graduated Hughson High in California as the top-ranked discus thrower in the United States.
Penn State Highlights
-2021 Mid-Atlantic Men's Assistant Coach of the Year (Outdoor Track)
-2017 Mid-Atlantic Men’s Assistant Coach of the Year (Outdoor Track)
-2017 Women’s Indoor Big Ten Team Champions
-2017 Second Place Indoor Big Ten Men’s Team
-2017 Men’s Outdoor Big Ten Team Champions
-2017 Third Place Outdoor Big Ten Women’s Team
Coaching Career Highlights
Penn State School Record – David Lucas M Weight Throw (24.02m)
Fourth Best NCAA Meet Performance All Time – Weight Throw
Sixth Best NCAA Weight Throw performer All Time
Twelfth Best Throw All Time NCAA History – Weight Throw
NCAA Facility Record Texas A&M (24.02m)
Penn State School Record – M Hammer Throw (72.47m)
Penn State School Record – M Javelin (79.91m)
Eleven USTFCCCA All-Academic Honorees
Two NCAA Division I Champions
Seven NCAA Division I All-Americans
Thirty-five Big Ten Finalists
Thirteen Big Ten Medalists
Three Big Ten Champions
Twenty-three athletes ranked in Penn State All Time Top 10 Outdoor Performances
Five athletes ranked in Penn State All Time Top 5 Indoor Performances
