SAN JOSE, Calif. – San Jose State track and field has hired Christa Youngern as an assistant coach. She joins the Spartans after a very successful three-year stint at San Francisco State and will be tasked with overseeing the throws at SJSU.
Youngern brings over eight years of coaching experience with her to the South Bay. In her three seasons at San Francisco State, she coached four NCAA provisional qualifiers, three NCAA Div. II Championship competitors and six All-Americans. In 2018, she was promoted to Associate Women's Track and Field Head Coach. In her one season in the role, she helped guide 20 athletes to all-region honors and her team finished fifth in the nation, the highest finish in program history.
"Coach Youngern is an elite throws coach that has a reputation for creating powerhouse throws programs," head coach Kendra Reimer-Gonzalez said. "She has consistently developed national caliber athletes and will do the same here at SJSU. She is the missing piece to our program and will be an immediate impact in helping us win a Mountain West Championship."
Prior to her stint at SFSU, Youngern spent time on the coaching staffs at Claremont-Mudd-Scripps and Whittier College.
"I couldn't be more excited to be here," Youngern said. "San Jose State has a sterling track and field history, and I'm eager to build upon that legacy.
"I can't wait to work with Coach Reimer-Gonzalez," Youngern continued. "Success follows her like a shadow, and that's not a coincidence. She operates with the utmost passion and professionalism, and her competitive drive always inspires me. I'm also very thankful for Marie Tuite for brining me into the Spartan Family. I'm very happy to be here."
Youngern graduated with a bachelor of arts in political science and English from California Lutheran University in 2010. She returned to college in 2013 and earned a master of arts in education from Whittier College in 2013.
Youngern was a collegiate star herself on the field at California Lutheran from 2006-10. A 2015 CLU Athletic Hall of Fame inductee, she was a two-time All-American and three-time NCAA Nationals competitor in the hammer and discus. She was named the 2010 Southern California Intercollegiate Athletic Conference Track and Field Athlete of the Year and still holds three school records in the discus, shot put and hammer throw in addition to the all-time career points record.
Youngern, a native of Southern California, now happily calls the Bay Area her home.