Associate Head Coach Justin St. Clair has been named the interim head track and field coach for the 2022-23 season, Nebraska Vice Chancellor, Director of Athletics Trev Alberts announced Friday.
St. Clair coached 10 NCAA qualifiers, including a pair of NCAA medalists in his debut season on the Husker coaching staff to earn his 10th USTFCCCA Midwest Region Assistant Coach of the Year honor since 2016. The Nebraska throwers had a combined five first-team All-Americans and two second-team All-Americans, led by Maddie Harris finishing second in the javelin and Axelina Johansson placing third in the shot put at the NCAA Outdoor Championships.
“The opportunity to represent the University of Nebraska and continue building the legacy created by Coach Pepin is a tremendous honor,” St. Clair said. “I am extremely thankful in Trev Alberts‘ belief in me to continue building the success of the Nebraska track and field program moving forward. I believe the University of Nebraska is a world-class university academically and athletically and I am excited to get going.”
“Justin St. Clair has been a valued addition to our track and field coaching staff over the last year,” Alberts said. “His recruiting and coaching abilities were fully evident as both his men’s and women’s throwers had a tremendous season. Justin has also shown he possesses the necessary leadership qualities to lead the Nebraska track and field program through this transition.”
Under St. Clair’s tutelage, the Huskers combined to set four school records and 13 top 10 marks in program history in throwing events last season. Nebraska had the top-ranked men’s shot put and weight throw groups throughout the indoor season, while the men’s shot put was ranked No. 1 for the final seven weeks of the outdoor season.
At the Big Ten Indoor and Outdoor Championships, St. Clair’s throwers garnered five Big Ten titles and totaled 11 top-three finishes. Three Husker throwers earned postseason awards in 2022, with Alex Talley and Maxwell Otterdahl named the Big Ten Field Athlete of the Championships in the indoor and outdoor seasons, respectively. After finishing as the top freshman nationally in any of the NCAA field events, Johansson was crowned the Big Ten Women’s Outdoor Freshman of the Year.
Representing Sweden at the World Athletics Championships in July, Johansson placed 12th in the women’s shot put after becoming the only current collegiate student-athlete to reach the final 12.
Prior to Nebraska, St. Clair spent 10 years as arguably the nation’s best throws coach while at North Dakota State. He was voted the USTFCCCA Midwest Region Assistant Coach of the Year with the Bison nine times since 2016 – five times indoors and four times outdoors. In 2019, St. Clair was voted the National Assistant Coach of the Year for men’s indoor track and field, and he followed that up by being one of three national finalists for the women’s award in 2020. He was promoted to associate director of the Bison track and field program in August of 2020, before joining the Huskers in May of 2021.
