Eisenreich Named Princeton CoachEisenreich Named Princeton Coach
David Kiefer

Michelle Eisenreich gives advice to javelin thrower Mackenzie Little at the NCAA Championships. Photo by David Kiefer.

Track & Field

Eisenreich Named Princeton Coach

STANFORD, Calif. -- Michelle Eisenreich, Stanford's associate head coach for track and field, has been named head women's coach at Princeton University, overseeing track and field and cross country, the Ivy League school announced Wednesday.

Eisenreich coached the Cardinal throwers the past four seasons after arriving from another Ivy League program, at Brown University.

"While we are certainly sad to see Michelle leave Stanford, this is an outstanding and very well-deserved opportunity for her at Princeton," said Chris Miltenberg, Stanford's Franklin P. Johnson Director of Track and Field, who brought Eisenreich to The Farm when he arrived in 2012. "I have no doubt she will do a phenomenal job."

Eisenreich coached six Cardinal to All-America honors, spanning all the throws – discus, hammer, javelin and shot put. Stanford throwers won six Pac-12 titles under Eisenreich, including two this year – Valarie Allman in the women's discus and Mackenzie Little in the women's javelin. Each reached the NCAA  podium.

Allman won her second consecutive Pac-12 discus title and captured second in the hammer, and went on to place third in the discus and 11th in the hammer at the NCAA Championships, setting personal records in both, of 201-6 and 200-11, respectively. At the U.S. Olympic Trials this week, Allman placed sixth in the discus.

Little, a freshman, extended a Stanford conference winning streak in the women's javelin to five years. Brianna Bain won the previous four, including three under Eisenreich, and established the school record of 183-10 in 2014. Little placed seventh at the NCAA Championships and advanced to the Olympic Trials, where she will throw Thursday.

Six Stanford throwers -- three men and three women – advanced to the NCAA West Prelims this year, and four were named to the Pac-12 All-Academic team. In all, 12 of her throwers occupy spots on Stanford's all-time top 10 lists.

"Hands down, the best thing about Stanford are the kids we get to work with," Eisenreich said. "What they are accomplishing both on and off the track is amazing. I also appreciated the opportunity to work with and learn from great coaches throughout the department.

"At Princeton, I'm really excited about the opportunity to build a program in a very dynamic department. It will be an awesome challenge."
 
Eisenreich returns to the Ivy League after serving as Director of Track and Field/Cross Country for Brown. She was at Brown for 12 seasons, including 2 ½ years as the director, and coached post-collegiate athletes to the Olympic Trials and the Olympic Games. The Brown throws program defined itself as the premier squad in the Ivy League, as her throwers earned 51 All-Ivy honors, 30 Ivy titles, and eight school records.