MOSCOW, Idaho - Tracy Hellman and Idaho Track & Field is excited to announce the hiring of Julie Taylor as the newest assistant coach for the Vandals.
With decades of experience coaching and developing elite Division I throwers, Taylor is one of the premier coaches in the Pacific Northwest and will be returning to her alma mater after a highly successful 11-year stint at Washington State.
Joining the program in 2014, Taylor coached multiple Cougar throwers to numerous All-Conference and All-American accolades, including Brock Eager, who took home the Pac-12 title in the hammer throw in 2017 and 2019. Eager also earned back-to-back-to-back All-American Honors at the NCAA Championships from 2017-19. Of all the top-10 throwing marks in WSU's record book, thirty-one of them occurred during Taylor's time in Pullman.
Prior to Washington State, the veteran coach held the same position at Idaho, bringing previously unseen levels of success to the Vandals' track and field program. An accomplished thrower for UI herself, Taylor set outdoor records in both the shot put and discus during her career. However, her Vandal athletes were so successful that they broke enough records to knock their coach out of the top-10 entirely, a testament to her development of elite throwers in Moscow.
While coaching at Idaho, Julie's throwers qualified for the NCAA Championships 48 times and won two NCAA championships, 26 WAC titles, eight Big West titles, and nine Big Sky titles while accumulating 28 All-America honors. In her last nine years coaching the Vandal throwers before joining WSU, a school record was broken in eight of them.
The 2008 Vandals, under Taylor, were the only men's NCAA program to have four competitors eclipse the 200-foot mark in the hammer throw, a feat accomplished all in the same meet. The Idaho men won the team title at the 2012 WAC Outdoor Championships, backed by three individual titles and 68 points from the throwers.
Prior to these, Julie Taylor coached the first and only individual NCAA women's champion in school history. Katja Schreiber won the national title in 2001 with a school record heave of 197'11" in the discus.
A standout thrower for the Vandals from 1983-86, Taylor broke both the shot put and discus school records and earned three All-Big Sky honors during her career. She scored points at every conference meet of her career and still ranks 31st in Idaho history in all-time outdoor conference scoring with 28 points.
Julie will be joined in her role by her husband, Tim Taylor. Another All-Big Sky, All-American, and top-10 thrower for the Vandals, Tim served as a volunteer assistant coach for Idaho during Julie's first stint in Moscow, continued the role in Pullman, and will resume this position alongside his wife.
Hellman, Director of the track and field program, is thrilled to have Julie returning to Moscow.
"We are extremely excited to welcome Julie and Tim back to Moscow to lead our throw program. Julie's experience in the throws speaks for itself as she has not only developed elite throwers at the DI level, [but] she understands the type of student-athlete we want to attract here at Idaho."
Hellman knows the standard that Taylor has set with her athletes, and looks forward to seeing that continue in the 25-26 season and beyond.
"Idaho has a rich history in the throws and we are committed to getting back to that championship level. We are excited to elevate our throw program to one of the best in the NCAA. Winning the Big Sky Championships is a goal for our team, and to do that, we need a well-rounded program. The opportunity to bring in a veteran throws coach with proven success is a win-win. Welcome back to Moscow and Idaho, Julie!"
