STANFORD, Calif. – Amin Nikfar, in his first year with the Stanford track and field program, was named West Region Women's Assistant Coach of the Year by the U.S. Track and Field and Cross Country Coaches Association on Friday.
Nikfar coached four to the NCAA Championships in women's events, including three in the javelin – Jenna Gray, Mackenzie Little, and Virginia Miller. This year, Little had the farthest javelin throw and six of the top 71 collegiate marks in NCAA Division I history. She set meet and stadium records in winning the Pac-12 title.
His throwers scored 20 of Stanford's 85 points at the Pac-12 meet.
At the NCAA West Prelims, Jaimi Salone had a 16-foot improvement in the discus to place seventh and advance to the NCAA Championship's after coming in as the No. 38 seed.
Though this award was for performances during the outdoor season, he also coached Lena Giger to a runner-up shot put finish at the NCAA Indoor Championships with a school-record performance.
Nikfar is a native of Santa Clara, who competed for Cal and was a two-time Olympian in the shot put for Iran. While coaching at Southeastern Louisiana in 2017, he coached Alex Young to the U.S. men's hammer and weight throw titles and an NCAA weight throw championship.
Stanford competes at the NCAA Outdoor Championships June 5-8 in Austin, Texas.