OSU Hires MacKay as Throws Coach
Men’s Cross Country & Track
Coach Lucas MacKay
Cowboys, Cowgirls welcome former NCAA Champion to Stillwater
STILLWATER – Former NCAA champion Lucais MacKay has been hired by Oklahoma State to take over the position of throws coach, the track and field program announced Tuesday.
MacKay comes to OSU from Southeastern Louisiana, where he coached the men's and women's throwers for three seasons of indoor and outdoor competition.
Just two years removed from international competition, MacKay has coached 14 Southland Conference champions, 77 Lions throwers to All-Southland honors, 18 athletes to the NCAA preliminary rounds and three All-Americans.
"I'm really looking forward to joining the Big 12," MacKay said. " Having been in the PAC-10 originally and then competing in the SEC, it's going to be fun being involved in one of the larger conferences again."
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.
"I knew about the success that coach Dave Smith's distance program has enjoyed," MacKay said. "Besides that, I didn't really have a connection to OSU except for being a track and field coach, but I hope to carry a similar level of success with the throws group."
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.
"I am really excited about the opportunity to work with coach MacKay," Smith said. "He is passionate about track and field and brings incredible positive energy to our throws group. He knows how to win and he is one of the best up-and-coming coaches in all of track and field. I know that the athletes are going to love working with him."
MacKay joins an OSU program that has had recent success in the throws competitions at the conference, NCAA and international levels.
This summer, Cowboy senior and six-time Big 12 Champion Nick Miller won the Sainsbury British Championships title in the hammer throw and finished 11th in the hammer throw at the IAAF World Championships. Chase Ealey earned an All-America honor in the indoor shot put and set a shot put school record at the Big 12 Outdoor Championships where she earned her seventh All-Big 12 honor.
"I'm coming into a pretty small operation, but I'm looking forward to making this group deeper and consistently scoring at the Big 12 Championships," MacKay said. "Obviously all eyes are going to be on Nick after what he did at the World Championships. Chase Ealey has a full season left and we have some great talent in Katie Kehl, Ieva Zarankaite and Hanna Maartensson, that I'm really excited about."
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 is the son of a track and field coach, he graduated Hughson High School in California as the top-ranked discus thrower in the United States.
MacKay is the son of a track and field coach, he graduated Hughson High School in California as the top-ranked discus thrower in the United States.
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