Gymnastics
- Title:
- Assistant Coach
- Email:
- cwiest2@uw.edu
- Phone:
- (206) 543-6443
Chad Wiest has spent four seasons with the GymDawgs, helping the team to back-to-back NCAA Nationals trips as well as top-20 finishes every season.
In 2020, Wiest was an integral part of a historic season. The GymDawgs finished with their best Pac-12 record ever at 5-1-1, recorded the second-best score in program history with a 197.600 against Utah, and ended the season with five All-American awards, the most for Washington since 1998. Wiest helped Washington finish in the nation's top 20 on vault, with Geneva Thompson earning All-Pac-12 First Team on that event.
Washington finished in the nation's top 25 on vault once again in 2019, helped along by seven individual vault event titles. Washington put up its highest vault score in three years with a 49.300 at one point in 2019 and broke the 49.000 mark as a team five times.
In 2018, Wiest's coaching helped the GymDawgs finish in the nation's top 25 on vault with a team RQS score of 49.105. Washington broke the 49.000 mark six times, earning its way to Nationals for the second time in a row and seventh time in school history.
The GymDawgs finished the regular season ranked eighth in the country in 2018, their highest regular-season finish ever. That season included Washington's first NCAA Regional event championship since 2012 as Kristyn Hoffa, Zoey Schaefer, and Maya Washington combined to take home a floor championship en route to NCAA Nationals. The GymDawgs recorded four scores of 197 or higher in 2018, tying the program record.
In his first year with the Huskies, Wiest helped Washington reach the NCAA Championships, where they finished eighth. That was the second-highest finish ever by the Huskies as the NCAAs and highest since 1998. The second-place finish at the Regional Championships in 2017 was also the highest finish by the Huskies since 1998. Wiest also helped four Huskies make the All-Pac-12 team, with Joslyn Goings making the First Team and Hailey Burleson, Kaitlyn Duranczyk, and Alexandra Yacalis making the Second Team.
Wiest joined the Huskies following three years as an assistant at the University of Illinois where he was focused on coaching the vault and floor lineups. Most recently, Wiest helped freshman Lizzy LeDuc advance to the NCAA Championships after she claimed the floor title at the Salt Lake City Regional with her career-high score of 9.950, which also ranked third in Illinois history. During his time at Illinois, he helped coach vault and floor lineups that ranked in the top 30 nationally along with posting some of the best marks in program history. The Illini's 49.400 performance at the 2015 Big Ten Championships was the second-best vault score at Illinois.
"I want to thank head coach Elise Ray, Senior Associate Athletic Director, Stephanie Rempe, and Athletic Director, Jennifer Cohen, for the opportunity to join the University of Washington staff," said Wiest. "I am beyond grateful and ecstatic to be entering this program at such an exciting time. As a new era of the program begins, I have full confidence in Elise as a leader and the coaching staff's abilities to take this team to the next level."
Wiest, graduated from Illinois in 2011 with a Recreation, Sport and Tourism degree and then headed to Bowling Green where he spent two seasons as the vault and floor exercise coach at Bowling Green prior to joining Illinois in 2013. At Illinois, Wiest was a two-time All-American on floor (2007, 2010), finishing in third place at the NCAA Championships both times. In 2011, the Butler, Pa. native was First-Team All-Big Ten and the floor Big Ten Champion. In addition, Wiest was Academic All-Big Ten in his final two seasons. Wiest will reside in Seattle with his wife Jaclyn.
