Lance Deal begins his eighth year with the Ducks having established himself as one of the nation’s top collegiate throws coaches. Deal brings his tremendous technical expertise and great competitive experience as a four-time Olympic hammer thrower, national record holder, 21-time national champion and 1996 Olympic silver medalist to his work with all of Oregon’s throwers.

In his first seven seasons, he has guided Ducks to a pair of NCAA championships, 19 All-America honors, 11 Pac-10 titles and 25 school records.

The 2009 season saw Oregon throwers rewrite the record books, sweep the Pac-10 javelin competition and win an NCAA title. Rachel Yurkovich won her second straight NCAA javelin title and her fourth straight Pac-10 and NCAA Regional crowns. Cyrus Hostetler won the men’s title, giving the Ducks a sweep of the event for just the third time in school history. Along the way, both throwers set the school and Pac-10 record in the event, with Yurkovich going 195-7 and Hostetler 272-10.

But it was far from a solo act for the men’s and women’s throwers as the Ducks tallied Pac-10 points in the men’s and women’s hammer, women’s discus and women’s shot put, in addition to three others in the javelin, to help Oregon sweep the league titles for the first time in school history. Oregon went on to send nine different throwers to NCAA competition, with Alex Wolff (javelin) joining Hostetler and Yurkovich as All-Americans.

All three javelin throwers qualified for the 2009 USA Track & Field Championships, and Yurkovich earned a spot on Team USA by virtue of her second place finish. She went on to compete at the IAAF World Championships in Berlin where she became the first American in 26 years to make the final of the javelin.

In 2008, Oregon’s throwers produced in impressive fashion. Yurkovich won her first NCAA javelin championship after winning the Pac-10 and NCAA West Regional meets for the third season in a row. Yurkovich also finished third at the 2008 U.S. Olympic Team Trials (185-1).

The Ducks also got All-America performances in the men’s javelin from Wolff and Mike Simmons and from Colin Veldman in the men’s hammer. The Ducks showed their depth at the Pac-10 meet by scoring points for the first-place men and third-place women in the javelin, hammer and discus. In all, Oregon sent an impressive 12 throwers to the NCAA West Regional meet and five to the NCAA Championships, where four became All-Americans.

The 2006-07 season continued the Ducks’ tradition of success as Oregon throwers earned four All-America honors, seven NCAA invitations, five school records, and five top-20 U.S. rankings. In a season full of highlights, one of the most impressive was the Ducks sweep of the men’s and women’s hammer and javelin Pac-10 titles.

Yurkovich reset the Oregon and Pac-10 school javelin records early in the season (189-11) with a mark that ranked her fourth all-time among collegians and fifth all-time in the U.S. She later successfully defended her Pac-10 and West Regional titles - the first Duck to accomplish the feat - and placed fifth in the NCAA Championships and sixth in the USA Championships. After tying her hammer school record, Britney Henry won Oregon’s first Pac-10 hammer title and finished the season as an All-American.

Ryan Brandel moved to third all-time for UO with a personal best of 238-0. In the postseason, he won Oregon’s eighth Pac-10 javelin title and its 24th All-America award with his seventh-place NCAA finish. In the hammer, first-year transfer Brian Richotte became the first Duck to win Pac-10 and West Regional event titles in the same season.

In 2005-06, throwers led the resurgent women’s team charge with All-America honors in the NCAA Championships courtesy of hammer throwers Brittany Hinchcliffe (third) and Henry (sixth) and javelin thrower Yurkovich (seventh), who also added UO’s 10th conference title in the javelin. In 2005, Sarah Malone earned NCAA runner-up javelin honors and threw a seven-foot school record to win her second straight West Regional crown (186-10). She also collected her first Pac-10 title.

As an athlete, Deal ignited the 1996 Atlanta Olympic Stadium crowd with a silver medal in the hammer (266-2), and he also competed in the 1988, 1992 and 2000 Olympic Games and in the IAAF World Championships in 1991, 1993, 1995 and 1999. In world rankings, he stood first in the world in 1996 and was top-10 five other seasons (1992-93-94-95-98).

The U.S. record holder at 270-9, Deal owns 16 of the top 20 throws all-time by Americans. His resume boasts nine U.S. outdoor hammer titles, 12 indoor titles in the weight throw (35-lb.) – including a record nine straight – and nine year-end No. 1 hammer rankings.

Deal also excelled in the discus and shot put. As an undergraduate at Montana State, he earned All-America honors in the discus in 1984 with a personal best of 202-2 and threw a best in the shot put of 60-2.5.

Born in Riverton, Wyo., Deal is a graduate of Montana State University (1984) and Natrona County High School (Casper, Wyo., 1979). He and his wife Nancy have one daughter, Sarah.

Lance Deal Has Guided Athletes to:

2 NCAA Titles
Javelin 2008 (W), 2009 (W)

11 Pac-10 Titles
Hammer 2003 (M), 2007 (M&W)
Javelin 2003 (M), 2005 (W),
2006 (W), 2007 (M&W),
2008 (W), 2009 (M&W)

19 All-America Awards
Hammer 2003 (M), 2006 (2xW),
2007 (W), 2008 (M)
Javelin 2003 (M&W), 2004 (W),
2005 (W), 2006 (W),
2007 (M&W), 2008 (2xM&W),
2009 (2xM&W)
Weight Throw 2007 (W)