Zeb Sion

Zeb Sion's first season at Stanford had spectacular results, with Valarie Allman improving her discus best by nearly 12 feet to become the No. 12 thrower in U.S. history at 212-3 (64.69m) and capturing third at the U.S. Championships to earn a World Championships berth. 

It was the first time a Stanford athlete with eligibility left had made a U.S. Olympic or world championship team in 12 years.

Eight of his throwers advanced to the NCAA West Prelims, with three going on to earn All-America honors.

Mackenzie Little repeated as Pac-12 champion in the javelin and placed a personal-best fourth at the NCAA Championships, and others such as Trevor Danielson, Charles Kerr, Tristen Newman, Michael Painter, Lena Giger, and Jenna Gray all recorded lifetime bests while all climbing the Stanford all-time top-10 lists.

In 2017, Allman broke the school record four times in the weight throw, Newman became Stanford's first 60-foot shot putter in 22 years, and Danielson, who hadn't even competed in three years, improved his javelin best by 17 feet and qualified for the U.S. Championships.

Sion was named Stanford track and field assistant coach for the throws on Aug. 1, 2016. Sion has a strong background of developing elite student-athletes who are committed to success at the highest level both academically and athletically.

Sion arrived from Wake Forest, where he coached for five seasons, directing athletes to three Atlantic Coast Conference titles, four All-America performances, 14 NCAA East Prelims appearances, and 19 All-ACC honors. He's had an athlete compete at the 2012 and 2016 Olympic Trials as well as 2013, 2014, 2015, and 2017 U.S. Championships. He's also coached two U.S. junior champions. 

Among his throwers, Jessie Merckle captured her third ACC javelin title in 2016, and John Maurins set an American junior record for the 6 kg. shot put in 2015, with a distance of 71-10 ¼ (21.90 meters).

Internationally, Sion coached athletes at 2014 World Junior Championships, 2015 Pan Am Junior Championships (Maurins won gold), and 2016 NACAC Under-23 Championships (Merkle won bronze), and next at the 2017 World Championships.

Sion has earned the highest certification from the IAAF and USATF in coaching education, achieving IAAF Level V and USATF Level III. In addition, Sion is recognized as a Certified Strength and Conditioning Specialist and a USA Weightlifting Sports Performance Coach.

Prior to his time at Wake Forest, Sion served as assistant coach before being promoted to associate head coach at the University of Chicago. Sion, the 2010 USTFCCCA Midwest Region Women's Assistant Coach of the Year, developed Chicago's throws group into a force on both the conference and Division III national level, accounting for 11 All-America accolades, 23 conference titles and 52 all-conference performances in four years. His athletes also broke five school and conference records on multiple occasions during his tenure.

Before coaching at Chicago, Sion served a one-year stint as a graduate assistant coach at Idaho State in 2007, where he coached one Big Sky Conference champion, and two NCAA West Prelims qualifiers. The ISU throwers broke three school records including the men's indoor and women's outdoor shot put marks. The men's outdoor shot put record, formally held by Sion himself, was also broken during the season. In addition, 10 athletes -- including his brother Jed -- earned All-Big Sky Conference accolades in the throws or multi-events.

A native of Pocatello, Idaho, Sion competed in the shot put and discus for Georgia Tech from 2001-05 and served as the team's captain in 2005. He attended graduate school at Idaho State where he completed his athletic eligibility. Sion was a two-time NCAA Championships qualifier and two-time all-region shot putter, once at Georgia Tech and once at Idaho State.
 
He won the ACC shot put championship and was named Georgia Tech's Field MVP in 2004. At one point, Sion held the Georgia Tech indoor (18.00m/59-0 3/4) and outdoor (18.11m/59-5), and Idaho State outdoor (18.34m/60-2) records in the shot put. Sion broke a 31-year-old state shot put record with a throw of 64-3, which lasted another 13 years.  
 
In the spring of 2005, Sion was recognized as the recipient of Georgia Tech's prestigious Robert Cup, given annually to Tech's top senior student-athlete. Upon graduation, Sion was one of Georgia Tech's recipients of the ACC Postgraduate Scholarship. Sion graduated with highest honors from Georgia Tech in 2005 with a management degree, and then earned his master's in physical education and athletic administration from Idaho State in 2007.

Sion is married to the former Marcela Tuñón, and they have two sons, Ezekiel and Zachariah.