Andrew Ninow had three successful years at Washington coaching the Husky throwers, with four different school records falling and a total of ten All-America honors with four First Team All-Americans on the NCAA podium.
Including his prior coaching stops at Stanford and Kentucky, Ninow had an NCAA Outdoor Championships qualifier in each of the past 12 seasons up to his final year at Washington in 2021, and multiple qualifiers in 11 of 12 years. In ten of those years, he had at least one athlete score at NCAAs, earning First Team All-America honors.
Nowhere was Ninow's handiwork more apparent than at the 2021 Pac-12 Championships, where the throwers had several big hands in the teams' matching third-place finishes. The men's throws group scored 48 points, twenty points more than the next best men's throws group in the Pac-12, with five top-four finishes, and a second Pac-12 title for Elijah Mason in the discus. Washington was the only men's team to score in every throwing event, and UW scored at least seven points in all four throws.
Mason and Jonah Wilson would both make NCAA Outdoors for the second time in a row, and then go on to the U.S. Olympic Trials a week later. Wilson became the first Husky to score in the shot put at NCAA Outdoors since 1996, when he placed 8th with a season-best of 64-6 1/2. Mason made the NCAA podium for the second time, taking sixth in the discus final. Wilson also made the NCAA Indoor Championships for the first time, taking ninth for All-America Second Team honors.
They were joined at NCAA Outdoors by true freshman Jayden White, who saw his brilliant indoor season carry over to outdoors, where he took fourth in the hammer at Pac-12s with a PR of 218-8 and then advanced through NCAA West Prelims to earn All-America honorable mention.
During the 2021 indoor season, a pair of school records that had stood for a combined 75 years were both finally broken. One was by a freshman, as Jayden White broke the weight throw record that had stood since 1978 with a toss of 71-8 1/4. White was the top freshman in the NCAA, finishing 10th at the NCAA Indoor Championships, and was the first Husky All-American in the event since 1986.
MaKayla Kelby also broke the women's shot put record that had stood since 1988, and broke it by a full foot, going 53-7 3/4. Kelby would go on to have the No. 2 discus throw in school history outdoors, at 183-3, and she would finish fifth in both the shot put and discus at Pac-12s in her first collegiate outdoor season.
In addition to White being the top-ranked weight throw freshman in 2021, Sam Van Peursem was the top men's shot put freshman in the NCAA indoors, as he ranked 19th nationally with a best of 62-10 3/4. Ninow also helped fifth-year senior Connor Jost to a huge breakthrough in the weight and the hammer, as he added seven feet to his weight PR and went to No. 3 in school history at 67-11, and then outdoors he scored at Pac-12s for the first time and made NCAA Prelims, with a 207-8 PR that was 13-feet better than his best entering the season.
The 2020 season was cut short before outdoors due to COVID-19, but Ninow's group was putting the pieces in place for a great year. In her final indoor season, senior Angel Nkwonta shattered the School Record in the weight throw, adding over six feet to her PR, throwing 69-8 1/4 to finish ranked 20th in the NCAA and take runner-up honors at the MPSF Championships. Jonah Wilson was redshirting indoors but competing unattached, and he launched what would have been the new UW record in the shot put, going 65-10 1/2, which also would have been an NCAA Indoor qualifier if done in uniform. In the men's weight throw, Elijah Mason (65-2 1/4) and Connor Jost (61-2 1/4) had the No. 4 and No. 10 marks, respectively, in school history. Redshirt freshman MaKayla Kelby made her collegiate debut and went right to No. 4 in the women's shot with a PR of 51-4 1/4, and Nkwonta also had an indoor PR of 50-11 1/2 to go to No. 5 all-time.
Coach Ninow with UW's 2019 NCAA Outdoor Championships All-Americans
The 2019 year saw numerous Husky throwers enjoy major breakthroughs, including several seniors who made the most of their one year with Ninow. Fifth-year senior Denham Patricelli added nearly 20 feet to his javelin PR over his final few meets, advancing to his first career NCAA Championships and placing eighth to earn First Team All-America honors. Patricelli also was the Pac-12 runner-up with a PR of 241-6. He becomes the seventh javelin thrower, male or female, to score at NCAAs in the past nine years for Ninow.
Fellow fifth-year senior Onyie Chibuogwu also made her first career NCAA Outdoor meet under Ninow, as she broke her own school record in the hammer throw and went on to take 16th at NCAAs for her first All-America Second Team. Another huge senior success story was Katherine Taylor, who added 15 feet to her javelin PR right at the tail end of her career to earn a surprise fifth-place finish at Pac-12s with a PR of 155-4 and earn her first trip to NCAA Prelims.
All that and there was still a Pac-12 Champion for Ninow in his first year, as well as a two-event NCAA Outdoor qualifier, and both were just in their second seasons. Redshirt freshman Elijah Mason made history in 2019 by winning the Pac-12 discus title, becoming the first Husky to win that event since 1976. Mason went on to make the NCAA podium, finishing seventh in his first official collegiate season for First Team All-America honors. Sophomore Jonah Wilson had a huge breakout season, adding seven feet to his PR in the shot put and 11 feet to his discus PR. He went 64-7 1/4 in the shot put for the best toss by a Husky in 21 years, and would finish top-five at Pac-12s in both events. Wilson would qualify for NCAA Outdoors in both the shot put and discus, the first Husky to do that since 2000, finishing 16th in the shot put and 20th in the discus and setting the stage for things to come.
Seattle is the third stop in the Pac-12 for Ninow, who competed at UCLA for legendary throws coach Art Venegas. He moved quickly up the coaching ranks, spending four successful seasons at Stanford where his athletes won four Pac-12 titles and had a trio of top-three NCAA Outdoor finishes. Ninow then moved to Kentucky where he mentored Wildcats to nine First Team All-America honors over a six-year tenure, including coaching future U.S. Olympian Andrew Evans.
“I am very excited about the opportunity to work under the leadership of Maurica and Andy Powell here at the University of Washington,” said Ninow upon joining the staff in the summer of 2018. “The Powells have assembled a formidable staff to execute their vision for the next chapter of Husky track and field and continue the UW tradition of athletic and academic excellence.”
Over his ten years at Stanford and Kentucky, Ninow had an NCAA Outdoor qualifier every year, and multiple qualifiers in nine of ten years. In eight of those years, he had at least one athlete score at NCAAs, earning First Team All-America honors. His success has come across all event areas, with NCAA qualifiers in all four events outdoors as well as both indoor events. At Kentucky his athletes broke seven school records, two freshman records, and put 40 marks into the UK Top-10.
Ninow was named the Southeast Region Assistant Coach of the Year award by the USTFCCCA in 2014. He also served as the throws coach for the U.S. Men’s National Team at the 2015 NACAC Championships.
In his final season at Kentucky, Ninow had two men finish top-20 at NCAA Outdoors in the shot put along with one in the discus, plus a First Team All-American in the javelin as Elijah Marta placed sixth with a PR at NCAAs of 232-4.
In Ninow’s first two seasons at Kentucky he coached Evans to bronze in the discus at the 2013 NCAA Championships and in 2014 Evans broke into the NCAA all-time top-10 with a PR of 217-feet, 9-inches. Evans would go on to make the 2016 U.S. Olympic Team for the Rio Games, placing 16th in Rio, and he made another U.S. squad for the 2017 World Championships after taking second at USAs.
Other notable athletes for Ninow included Ray Dykstra, who finished in the top-five at NCAAs in the javelin for three straight years, led by a runner-up finish in 2014. Beckie Famurewa earned First Team All-America honors in two different events, taking seventh in the discus in 2015 and then seventh in the indoor weight throw in 2016. Ninow also coached Brad Szypka to two-straight fifth-place finishes at the NCAA Indoor Championships in the shot put in 2014 and 2015.
At Stanford, Ninow had the NCAA women’s javelin runner-up in back-to-back years with two different athletes. In 2011 it was Eda Karesin taking second and in 2012 in his final year at Stanford he coached Brianna Bain to a school record and NCAA runner-up finish as she tossed 180-2. Ninow also coached Daniel Schaerer to bronze in the NCAA discus final in 2009, while Geoffrey Tabor was ninth in the discus in 2012 and Jaynie Goodbody was ninth in the women’s hammer at 2010 NCAAs. Carter Wells also captured an MPSF title in the weight throw for the Cardinal in 2010.
Ninow began his coaching career at the University of San Francisco in 2008 after completing his collegiate career in 2007. At UCLA, he was a Pac-10 scorer and Regional qualifier in the hammer throw with a personal-best of 207-4. He earned his Bachelor’s in Biochemsitry.
Andrew is married to Kristen Ninow, a UCLA graduate, and the two have a daughter, Addison, and a son, Beau.
