Cross Country
- Title:
- Head Coach
- Email:
- petrosk@sports.uga.edu
- Phone:
- 706-542-7915
2020 Accomplishments
- Women ranked No. 4, men ranked No. 5 before the 2020 NCAA Indoor Championships were canceled due to COVID-19
- USTFCCCA South Region Women’s Field Athlete of the Year
- Finalist for USTFCCCA National Women’s Field Athlete of the Year
- SEC Men’s Freshman Runner of the Year
- SEC Men’s Freshman Field Athlete of the Year
- SEC Women’s Freshman Field Athlete of the Year
- SEC Women’s Co-Scholar-Athlete of the Year
- CoSIDA Academic Second Team All-American
- CoSIDA Academic Third Team All-American
- 2020-21 Joel Eaves Award winner (top GPA for a female student-athlete entering her senior season)
- Men/women named USTFCCCA All-Academic Teams, 11 Bulldogs earn USTFCCCA All-Academic Individual honors
- Cross country (3.30 GPA) highest UGA GPA for men (track and field third at 3.12) and women’s cross country (3.55) second highest GPA in their category
- 3 SEC titles (indoor women’s triple jump/800m, heptathlon)
- 8th straight SEC men’s heptathlon title, ninth in last 11 years
- 14 Bulldogs declared NCAA All-Americans after meet cancelation
- No. 11 performer on collegiate all-time list in heptathlon with world’s No. 4 performance in 2020
- Finished indoor season with No. 1 (6,114), No. 2 (6,019) and No. 3 (5,994) heptathlon point totals in NCAA during 2020
- 3 UGA records
2019 Accomplishments
- 2 NCAA top-10 team finishes (men T-9th indoors, 4th outdoors)
- 10th top-4 podium finish since 2016
- USTFCCCA South Region Men’s Field Athlete of the Year (x2)
- USTFCCCA South Region Women’s Track Athlete of the Year
- SEC Men’s Co-Freshman Runner of the Year
- NCAA title (outdoor heptathlon)
- 2 CoSIDA Academic All-District recipient
- Men’s cross country (3.44 GPA) and women’s cross country (3.38) – highest GPA for all UGA teams
- First male scorer (Denzel Comenentia) in NCAA history in shot put, hammer throw and discus at the same NCAA outdoor meet
- 2 gold medals, 1 silver medal at the USATF Outdoor Championships – decathlon, women’s triple jump, heptathlon
- 2 gold medals, 1 silver medal at NACAC U-23 Championships – men’s high jump, women’s long jump, women’s 5000m
- Silver medal at the European U-23 Championships – decathlon (8,445 pts., UGA record)
- Silver medal at the USATF U-20 Championships – men’s 10,000m
- 4 SEC titles (indoor/outdoor shot put, indoor heptathlon, indoor 400m)
- 7th straight SEC men’s heptathlon title
- SEC Outdoor Championships Commissioner’s Trophy (second consecutive year)
- 14 NCAA First Team All-America certificates
- 64.5 NCAA combined points (indoor+outdoor, both genders)
- 179.5 SEC combined points (indoor+outdoor, both genders)
- No. 6 performer with No. 10 performance on collegiate all-time list in decathlon
- No. 10 performer on collegiate all-time list in the men’s hammer throw
- Dutch national record in the men’s hammer throw
- Fifth performer in SEC history win 3 conference outdoor men’s shot put titles; first since 1964 to win 3 straight
- 4 UGA records
- Team USA Coach at Thorpe Cup
- Had 7 current/former Bulldogs qualify for IAAF World Championships
- Silver medal (decathlon) IAAF World Championships
- All-time best in 100mH (12.58) at IAAF World Championships
2018 Accomplishments
- 2018 NCAA indoor women’s national champions
- 2018 NCAA outdoor men’s national champions
- USTFCCCA National Indoor Women’s Head Coach of the Year
- USTFCCCA National Outdoor Men’s Head Coach of the Year
- USTFCCCA South Region Women’s Head Coach of the Year
- 4 Top-3 NCAA team finishes, including a one-point runner-up finish for the women outdoors
- 7 NCAA titles (indoor/outdoor triple jump, indoor/outdoor long jump, outdoor shot put, hammer throw, outdoor 400m)
- CoSIDA First Team Academic All-America recipient
- Finalist for The Bowerman (first female three-time finalist)
- Gold medal at IAAF World Junior Championships - high jump
- Bronze medal at IAAF World Indoor Championships - heptathlon
- 5thplace at IAAF World Indoor Championships – triple jump
- Winner of USATF Outdoor Championships - triple jump
- Winner of USATF Junior Outdoor Championships – long jump
- School Record 14 SEC titles (indoor/outdoor triple jump, outdoor shot put, men's heptathlon, decathlon, outdoor high jump, indoor 200m, 100m, outdoor 200m-x2, hammer throw, indoor/outdoor long jump, weight throw)
- SEC Outdoor Championships Commissioner’s Trophy
- 35 NCAA First Team All-America certificates
- 197 NCAA combined points (indoor+outdoor, both genders)
- 287.5 SEC combined points (indoor+outdoor, both genders)
- American record (indoor triple jump)
- 2 collegiate records (indoor/outdoor triple jump)
- No. 2 performer/performance on collegiate all-time list in outdoor 400m
- First performer in SEC history to win the same event four consecutive years indoors and outdoors
- First 1-2-3 finish in NCAA indoor history in women’s long jump
- 2 NCAA Championships records (outdoor 400m, indoor triple jump)
- Dutch national record (hammer throw)
- American/World Junior record (100mH)
- 2 SEC Championships records (outdoor triple jump, hammer throw)
- 14 UGA records
- SEC Indoor/Outdoor Women's Field Athlete of the Year & Outdoor Men’s Field Athlete of the Year recipient
- SEC Indoor Men’s/Women’s Freshman Field Athlete of the Year recipient
- SEC Indoor/Outdoor Women’s Scholar Athlete of the Year recipient
- USTFCCCA Indoor National Women's Field Athlete of the Year recipient
- USTFCCCA Outdoor National Men’s/Women’s Field Athlete of the Year recipient
- USTFCCCA Indoor/Outdoor South Region Women's/Men’s Field Athlete of the Year recipient
- USTFCCCA Indoor/Outdoor South Region Women’s Track Athlete of the Year recipient
- USTFCCCA National Outdoor Women’s Head Coach of the Year
- USTFCCCA South Region Women’s Head Coach of the Year
- 4 Top-6 NCAA team finishes, including a pair of runner-up finishes
- School Record 8 NCAA titles (pentathlon, indoor/outdoor triple jump, outdoor long jump, indoor/outdoor high jump, heptathlon-indoor/outdoor)
- CoSIDA First Team Academic All-America recipient
- Roy Kramer SEC Women’s Athlete of the Year recipient
- Honda National Track & Field Award recipient
- USTFCCCA National Indoor/Outdoor Women’s Scholar Team of the Year
- USTFCCCA National Indoor/Outdoor Female Scholar Athlete of the Year
- Winner of USATF Championships heptathlon, triple jump
- 7 IAAF World Championships qualifiers
- School Record 13 SEC titles (indoor/outdoor triple jump, indoor/outdoor shot put, pentathlon, men's heptathlon, indoor/outdoor high jump-x2, 110mH, hammer throw-x2)
- 21 NCAA First Team All-America certificates
- 134.7 NCAA combined points (indoor+outdoor, both genders)
- 185 SEC combined points (indoor+outdoor, both genders)
- American record (indoor triple jump)
- 2 collegiate/NCAA Championships records (pentathlon 60m hurdles, indoor triple jump)
- 6 SEC Championships records (indoor triple jump, pentathlon, pentathlon 60m hurdles, pentathlon long jump, heptathlon 60m, heptathlon 60mH)
- 8 UGA records
- SEC Indoor/Outdoor Women's Field Athlete of the Year recipient
- SEC Indoor/Outdoor Women’s Freshman Field Athlete of the Year recipient
- USTFCCCA Indoor National Women's Field Co-Athlete of the Year recipient
- USTFCCCA Indoor South Region Women's Field Athlete of the Year
- USTFCCCA Outdoor South Region Women's/Men’s Field Athlete of the Year
- School Record 5 NCAA titles (pentathlon, indoor/outdoor triple jump, outdoor long jump, heptathlon)
- 2 CoSIDA First Team Academic All-America recipients
- SEC Outdoor Women's Scholar Athlete of the Year
- 6 Olympians in Rio de Janeiro
- Winner of Olympic Trials triple jump, 4th in Olympics
- U.S. Olympic qualifier in heptathlon, 17th in Olympics
- 6th-place finish in high jump at Olympics
- 7 SEC titles (indoor/outdoor triple jump, indoor/outdoor shot put, pentathlon, men's heptathlon, outdoor triple jump)
- 17 NCAA First Team All-America certificates
- 102 NCAA combined points (indoor+outdoor, both genders)
- 130 SEC combined points (indoor+outdoor, both genders)
- American record (outdoor triple jump)
- 3 collegiate/NCAA Championships records (pentathlon 60m hurdles, pentathlon, outdoor triple jump)
- 4 SEC Championships records (indoor/outdoor triple jump, heptathlon 60m, heptathlon long jump)
- 8 UGA records
- SEC Indoor/Outdoor Women's Field Athlete of the Year
- USTFCCCA Indoor National Women's Field Athlete of the Year recipient
- USTFCCCA Outdoor National Women's Field Athlete of the Year recipient
- USTFCCCA Indoor South Region Men's Field Athlete of the Year
- USTFCCCA Outdoor South Region Men's Field Athlete of the Year
- 4 NCAA titles (indoor pentathlon, indoor high jump, outdoor decathlon, outdoor triple jump)
- CoSIDA Academic All-America Second Team recipient
- 6 SEC titles (indoor heptathlon, pentathlon, indoor high jump, indoor triple jump, decathlon, outdoor triple jump)
- 3rd in women's triple jump at USATF Outdoor Championships
- 15 NCAA First team All-American certificates
- 93 NCAA combined points (indoor+Outdoor, both genders)
- 133.5 SEC combined points (indoor+outdoor, both genders)
- 2 American Junior Records (indoor triple jump, outdoor triple jump)
- Collegiate/NCAA Championships Record (indoor pentathlon)
- 6 SEC Championships Records (indoor heptathlon, indoor high jump, outdoor triple jump, decathlon, decathlon high jump, outdoor heptathlon shot put)
- 8 UGA Records
- Cyprus national record (indoor high jump)
- SEC Female Freshman Field Athlete of the Year awards (indoor+outdoor)
- SEC Indoor Men's Scholar Athlete of the Year recipient
- USTFCCCA Indoor National Women's Assistant Coach of the Year
- USTFCCCA Indoor National Women's Field Athlete of the Year recipient
- 2 USTFCCCA South Region Assistant Coach of the Year (indoor+outdoor)
- USTFCCCA South Region Women's Field Athlete of the Year recipient
- School record 5 NCAA titles (pentathlon, indoor high jump, decathlon, outdoor heptathlon & outdoor high jump)
- 6 SEC titles (indoor heptathlon, indoor high jump, indoor pole vault, decathlon, outdoor heptathlon & outdoor high jump)
- 100m hurdles title at USATF Junior Championships
- 100m hurdles title at World Junior Championships (record time of 12.89)
- 10 NCAA First team All-American certificates
- 74.5-NCAA combined points (indoor+Outdoor, both genders)
- 95 SEC combined points (indoor+outdoor, both genders)
- World Junior Record, American Junior Record (indoor pentathlon)
- American Junior Record (100m hurdles)
- Collegiate/NCAA Championships Record (indoor pentathlon)
- 2 SEC Championships Records (pentathlon, indoor high jump)
- 4 UGA Records
- Collegiate/NCAA Championships Record (100mH heptathlon)
- Cyprus national record (outdoor high jump)
- 2 SEC Female Field Athlete of the Year awards (indoor+outdoor)
- USTFCCCA Indoor/Outdoor National Female Field Athlete of the Year
- USTFCCCA Indoor National Assistant Coach of the Year award
- 2 USTFCCCA South Region Assistant Coach of the Year awards (indoor+outdoor)
- USTFCCCA Outdoor South Region Female Field Athlete of the Year award
Petros Kyprianou guided his men’s and women’s track and field teams to national championships in 2018 by scoring in all disciplines (jumps, multi-events, sprints, throws, distance) after becoming the Bulldogs’ 14th head coach in June 2015. Kyprianou led the Lady Bulldogs to a convincing victory at the NCAA Indoor Championships two years ago and then directed the Georgia men to the 2018 NCAA outdoor crown. A native of Limassol, Cyprus/Greece, he coaches pole vault, jumps, decathlon and heptathlon.
The 2020 Bulldog women and men worked themselves up to No. 4 and No. 5 national rankings, respectively, before the indoor season was cut short due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Kyprianou guided 14 individuals to the NCAA Indoor Championships and they were all designated All-Americans following the meet’s cancellation. His teams posted three school records, captured a trio of Southeastern Conference individual titles, including their eighth straight heptathlon championship, and finished the shortened year ranked No. 1 (6,114 points), No. 2 (6,019) and No. 3 (5,994) in the collegiate heptathlon.
Jumper Jasmine Moore experienced her first school year under Kyprianou’s tutelage and was a finalist for the U.S. Track & Field and Cross Country Coaches Association (USTFCCCA) National Women’s Field Athlete of the Year, earned the organization’s South Region Women’s Field Athlete of the Year honor, was named the SEC Women’s Freshman Field Athlete of the Year and finished with the country’s top triple jump (13.90 meters/45 feet, 7 ¼ inches) and nation’s fifth-best long jump (6.47m/21-2.75). Kyprianou, whose teams also featured the 2020 SEC Men’s Freshman Runner of the Year and the Men’s Freshman Field Athlete of the Year, also worked on the development of 2019 NCAA decathlon champion Johannes Erm, who completed 2020 as the No. 11 performer on the collegiate all-time list in the heptathlon with the world’s No. 4 performance of the year (6,114).
During his return to the sport in 2020 following a three-year hiatus, former Bulldog All-American Garrett Scantling, who is one of Georgia’s current volunteer assistants, began working with Kyprianou again and finished with the world’s second-best score in the heptathlon (6,209) in 2020, which is also the eight best all-time U.S. score.
Kyprianou’s teams also continued their stellar showing in the classroom in 2020. In addition to have the SEC Women’s Co-Scholar-Athlete of the Year, there were CoSIDA Second and Third Team Academic All-Americans and Samantha Drop was named the 2020-21 Joel Eaves Award winner for having the top GPA of any female UGA student-athlete entering her senior season. While both squads were named USTFCCCA All-Academic Teams and 11 team members earned All-Academic Individual honors, the cross country team topped all other UGA men’s quads for the academic year with a 3.30 and the women’s cross country squad (3.55) had the second-best GPA in their category at the institution.
In 2019, Kyprianou’s squads registered another pair of top-10 national team finishes, including reaching the podium with a men’s fourth-place finish at the 2019 NCAA Outdoor Championships. Erm secured the decathlon national championship, which was the Bulldogs’ third title of that kind in the last six years, and UGA finished with 14 scoring First Team All-Americans. Kyprianou’s teams also collected four SEC crowns, including Bulldogs’ seventh indoor heptathlon title in as many years.
During the 2019 summer, former Georgia NCAA champion Devon Williams won his first national crown by finishing first in the decathlon (8,295 points) at the USATF Championships while his younger sister and former Lady Bulldog collegiate record holder, Kendell Williams, was runner-up in the heptathlon at the meet with a personal record of 6,610. In addition, an eight-time NCAA champion while suiting up in the red and black, Keturah Orji, won the triple jump at USAs to become the only woman to win four consecutive U.S. outdoor championships in the event.
Kyprianou also conquered a personal challenge during the 2019 summer with his limited free time. He rode his Indian Chief Darkhorse motorcycle more than 2,500 miles from the start to the finish of Route 66 in honor of eradicating childhood cancer. Kyprianou’s “Ride for a CURE” has raised more than $40,000 with hopes of more support in the near future.
Serving as the squads’ associate head coach for a year prior to his promotion, Kyprianou is entering his 13th year with the program after earning USTFCCCA National Head Coach of the Year for each of his 2018 championship seasons. He won back-to-back National Women’s Assistant Coach of the Year honors indoors in 2014-15 and was the National Women’s Head Coach of the Year outdoors in 2017.
Kyprianou, who has also garnered a combined five regional USTFCCCA Assistant Coach of the Year honors and two regional Head Coach of the Year honors since 2008, has posted an unprecedented seven-year run in Athens. The student-athletes he has coached have locked down 30 NCAA individual titles, including a school record eight in 2017, 49 SEC individual championships, 110 First Team All-America certificates and the 14 All-Americans from the shortened 2020 campaign.
In 2018, the Bulldogs helped propel UGA to finish eighth in the 2017-18 Learfield NACDA Directors’ Cup thanks to the program’s two team national championships, a runner-up national finish (women finished one point behind the victory at the NCAA Outdoor Championships for the second straight year) and a third-place finish. Georgia completed the year with a total of seven NCAA individual titles, a school record 14 SEC championships and another CoSIDA Academic All-American. Also of note, the Lady Bulldog cross country team finished 17th at the NCAA Championships, marking their top finish at the meet since 2006. Samantha and Jessica Drop also became the first teammates to earn All-America honors on the course in the same season.
Internationally, Kyprianou continued to coach former Bulldog SEC and NCAA champion Maicel Uibo as the Estonia native earned a bronze medal in the heptathlon at the 2018 IAAF World Indoor Championships with a personal record of 6,265 points. In addition, Devon Williams scored 8,088 points to finish in the top 10 at the 2017 IAAF World Championships under Kyprianou’s tutelage.
Kyprianou has also continued to fine-tune his techniques and skills in weight lifting, taking second at the 2017 American Masters Weightlifting competition. This performance qualified him for the World Masters Championships.
In 2017, Kyprianou led his women’s team to runner-up finishes at both the NCAA Indoor and Outdoor Championships, including falling short of the NCAA team title by just 1.8 points, and top-six national finishes for the Bulldog men. His squads combined for a school record eight national crowns, 13 SEC championships and his women’s team was named the indoor and outdoor Division I Scholar Team of the Year.
Kyprianou had little down time during the 2017 summer as a Bulldog contingent competed at the USATF Championships. Both Kendell Williams and Orji both left Eugene, Ore., with titles in the heptathlon and triple jump, respectively. That pair of Georgia competitors then joined up with nine other current or former Bulldogs (five that Kyprianou coached) in London for the IAAF World Championships. Devon Williams and Karl Saluri each tallied 8,000+ points in the decathlon to finish in the top 13 while Kendell Williams scored 6,220 points to take 12th in the heptathlon.
During 2016, he guided his crew to four collegiate records (pentathlon, pentathlon 60-meter hurdles, heptathlon 100m hurdles, women’s outdoor triple jump), a school record five NCAA titles, seven SEC championships and two CoSIDA First Team Academic All-America selections.
The Rio Olympics also came in 2016 and Kyprianou coached six different athletes at the Games, which according the IAAF is the most from a single training group (excluding relays). Highlights included Orji winning the U.S. Trials and then topping her own American record for a fourth-place finish, teammate Kendell Williams setting a school record in the heptathlon at the U.S. Trials and finishing 17th at the Games and Levern Spencer taking sixth to give her native St. Lucia its best finals finish in history.
Kyprianou’s arrival has made seismic differences for the Bulldogs, in the SEC and across the nation. In addition to his national and league champions, Kyprianou crew has scored 628.7 combined points scored at the NCAA indoor and outdoor meets and 951.5 points at the SEC Championships in 2014-20. Thanks in large part to his corps, Georgia has finished with 17 top-10 and 20 top-20 national finishes in the team races over the last six years, including UGA’s best combined indoor finish in history (women – 1st, men – 3rd) and outdoor finale in history (men – 1st, women – 2nd) in 2018.
Individually, his student-athletes have tallied a jaw-dropping list of accolades:
- First time three heptathletes from the same school have finished ranked 1-2-3 at season’s end (following the COVID-19 shortened 2020 indoor season)
- American record in the outdoor triple jump (14.71m, 48 feet, 3 ¼ inches) and American record in the indoor triple jump (14.53m, 47-8)
- American Junior records in both the indoor TJ (13.98m, 45-10.50) and outdoor TJ (14.15m, 46-5.25)
- an American/World Junior Record in the pentathlon (4,635 points)
- an American/World Junior Record in the 60mH (7.98)
- American Junior records in the heptathlon (6,018) and 100m hurdles (12.87)
- back-to-back-to-back collegiate/NCAA Championships records in the pentathlon (4,635, 4,678 4,703-first collegiate over 4,700 pts.)
- the first time that one NCAA competitor has won the same event four times indoors (pentathlon – 2014-17)
- the first time that one SEC competitor has won the same event four times both indoors and outdoors (triple jump – 2015-18)
- the first time in NCAA history that a competitor (Denzel Comenentia) has scored in the men’s shot put, hammer throw and discus at the same NCAA Championships
- two collegiate/NCAA Championships records in the heptathlon 100m hurdles (12.99, 12.83)
- three collegiate/NCAA Championships record in the pentathlon 60m hurdles (8.10, 8.09, 8.03)
- a Dutch national record in the hammer throw (76.41m, 250-8) in 2018; revision to record in 2019 with a mark of 76.90m/252-0 (No. 10 all-time collegiate performer)
- a Cypress national record in the outdoor high jump (1.93m, 6-4)
- matching SEC Championship records in the indoor high jump (1.89m, 6-2.75) in consecutive years
- three SEC Championships outdoor records in the triple jump (14.15m, 46-5.25; 14.59m, 47-10.75; 14.62m, 47-11.75)
- an SEC Championships hammer throw record (75.92m, 249-1)
- two SEC Championships records in the indoor heptathlon (6,036, 6,047)
- an SEC Championships decathlon high jump record (2.17m, 7-1.75)
- an SEC Championships decathlon record (8,326)
- two SEC Championships indoor triple jump records (14.08m, 46-2.50; 14.32m, 46-11.75)
- two SEC Championships heptathlon 60m records (6.87, 6.80)
- an SEC Championships heptathlon long jump record (7.70m, 25-3.25)
- an SEC Championships pentathlon record (4,686)
- an SEC Championships pentathlon long jump record (6.49m, 21-3.50)
- an NCAA Championships indoor heptathlon long jump record (7.83m, 25-8.25)
- an NCAA Championships heptathlon 60-meter hurdle record (7.75)
- an NCAA Championships outdoor 400m record (49.80, No. 2 performer/performance in collegiate history)
- an NCAA Championships indoor triple jump record (14.27m, 46-10)
- an SEC Championships outdoor heptathlon shot put record (14.48m, 47-6.25).
In addition Kyprianou’s crew has captured 26 school records (not counting individuals who have topped their own records): 110m hurdles, decathlon (x3), 100m hurdles (x2), women’s outdoor long jump (x3), women’s outdoor triple jump, women’s heptathlon, women’s outdoor pole vault, men’s heptathlon (x2), men’s 60m hurdles, women’s 60m hurdles (x2), women’s indoor high jump (x2), women’s indoor long jump (x3), women’s indoor triple jump, pentathlon, women’s 60m, men’s indoor high jump (x2).
Prior to 2014, the 2013 indoor and outdoor seasons were starting to get busy for Kyprianou as he had three SEC champions and six NCAA First Team All-Americans while also leading his decathletes to a prestigious national honor. The Bulldogs decathlon corps finished second overall in the annual race for the Bill Webb Cup, which Georgia won in 2011 in the two-, three- and four-man categories. A month before the 2013 indoor season began, Kyprianou also presented at the 2012 USTFCCCA Convention on “Mechanical Advantages in the Weight Room”.
In addition, Kyprianou guided Ryan Grinnell, who is a current assistant coach under the Bulldogs’ head coach and who was a student-athlete under his watch while coaching at Boise State from 2005-08, to a third-place finish at the USATF Championships. Grinnell earned a spot on Team USA after jumping 17.02m (55-10.25). A week later, he set a new personal best of 17.22m (56-6) at a USATF sanctioned meet at he University of Chicago. Grinnell lived in Athens and trained with Kyprianou before being hired as Utah State’s jumps/multi-events coach and also leading Washington State’s competitors in the aforementioned events.
The 2012 campaign saw five of his student-athletes advance to the NCAA Championships and bring four All-America certificates home. Leleux captured a pair of those honors after finishing second in the pole vault at both the NCAA indoor and outdoor meets while also winning the SEC outdoor title over the collegiate record holder in the event with a school record mark 4.43m (14-6.75). For her success, Leleux was named the SEC Women’s Freshman Field Athlete of the Year and the USTFCCCA South Region Women’s Athlete of the Year following the season.
Leleux’s teammate, triple jumper Colleen Felix, also grabbed her second consecutive SEC indoor title in the triple jump during her final year with the Lady Bulldogs.
In 2011, Kyprianou guided eight Georgia team members to the Nationals as the Lady Bulldogs swept the triple jump at the SEC Indoor and Outdoor Championships. He had four All-Americans during the 2011 seasons. Six of Kyprianou’s student-athletes qualified for the 2010 NCAA Championships. Kyprianou led his group to score a combined 46 points at the 2011 and then again at the 2012 SEC Outdoor Championships.
Internationally, Kyprianou had Tommy Barrineau compete at the 2011 European Cup and World University Games in the multi-events and he led Shakeema Welsch to an indoor USATF triple jump title. In fact, Kyprianou had four different athletes qualify for four different 2010 national teams.
Kyprianou quickly began to develop Georgia into a “decathlon/heptathlon powerhouse” of sorts during his tenure. Cory Holman exploded for a school record score of 5,873 points in the heptathlon to take sixth and earn an All-America certificate at the 2012 NCAA Indoor Championships. A year earlier, All-American Michael Ayers scored 7,903 points to finish sixth in the decathlon at the 2011 NCAA Championships as Georgia joined Texas as the only schools having two decathletes at the national meet.
In the pole vault, Caleb Ebbets took off for a personal-best mark of 5.32m (17-5.50) in 2012 to complement Leleux’s immense success in the event.
A variety of athletes whom Kyprianou trained showed significant improvements and posted a series of personal-best marks in 2012. Scantling tallied the fifth-best effort in school history in the decathlon (7,434) and four Bulldog pole vaulters from the 2012 indoor season each have a spot on the current all-time top-10 list. Scantling continued his success after his first outdoor collegiate season by qualifying for the 2012 World Junior Championships after taking a silver medal at the USA Junior Championships in Indiana.
Following the 2012 season, former Lady Bulldog Kat Majester finished fifth in the pole vault at the 2012 Olympic Trials, narrowly missing a berth to the Olympic Games in London. Kyprianou has steered Majester, who is still new to the sport, to a current personal-best height of 14-5.25.
In 2010, Barrineau shattered his own school record in the heptathlon twice to capture an SEC title in the event - a first for the Bulldog men in the history of the program. Also two years ago, Holman, competing in the multi-events for the first time, set an SEC Championships record in the high jump (2.17m, 7-1.75) and finished third at the league meet.
Other individual highlights under Kyprianou’s watch included Ondraschkova advancing to the 2010 NCAA Outdoor Championships as a freshman before having a personal-best score of 3,995 points in the pentathlon to take second at the 2011 SEC Indoors; Majester shooting from 3.86m (12-8) to 4.24m (13-11.25) in the pole vault and advancing to both NCAA meets; John Smith soaring to a one-foot PR of 5.20m (17-1) and earning runner-up honors at 2010 SEC Outdoor Championships; and Aaron LaGarde reaching new heights in both the long jump (7.75m - 25-5.25) and the triple jump (16.04m - 52-7.50), and also qualifying for the 2010 USA Championships.
On the professional circuit, Kyprianou has served as the strength coach for high jumper and Levern Spencer, who has a PR of 1.98m (6-6), and Welsch, who is a four-time USA women’s triple jump champion with a best of 14.30m (46-11).
Kyprianou also served as a guest speaker at the High Performance Congress in Cyprus, Greece, in December 2009. He was also a jumps clinician at the Florida High School Coaches Association. Kyprianou’s latest article printed in the magazine `Techniques’ was featured in two different languages and highlighted some of Kyprianou’s methods of developing athletes. He has written numerous technical articles for several track and field publications including the USTFCCCA magazine “Techniques” and the Estonian site “Decathlon2000.”
In his inaugural season with the Bulldogs, Kyprianou helped Barrineau break his own school record in the heptathlon. Kyprianou also saw two of his heptathletes score at the SEC Championships before having a pair tally points for the Bulldogs at the outdoor conference meet.
A pair of pole vaulters also experienced immense success under Kyprianou’s guidance in 2009. Adam Sarafian advanced to the NCAA Outdoor Championships, clearing 5.25m (17-2.75), and took fourth at the NCAA East Regional. In her final year of competition, Julianne Toto exploded for an enormous personal-best mark of 4.09m (13-5.25) to advance to the East Regional.
Kyprianou, the 2008 USTFCCCA Indoor West Regional Assistant Coach of the Year, had a significant impact on the Boise State program before arriving in Athens, guiding numerous men and women to Western Athletic Conference Championships and NCAA Championship All-American honors.
During his three-year stint at Boise State, Kyprianou guided Bronco student-athletes to 21 individual WAC Championships, four All-American honors, 10 school records and two WAC records. He also helped the men’s team to indoor (2006, 2007) and outdoor (2006, 2008) WAC league titles.
The rest of his 21 WAC champions and NCAA qualifiers came from Eleni Kafourou in the long jump and triple jump. Kyprianou helped Kafourou improve in both events and break her personal bests in both jumps while winning eight WAC championships and being the runner-up at the NCAA West Regionals. Kafourou also was named the WAC freshman of the year during the indoor and outdoor conference meet in 2006. In 2008, Kafourou was awarded the WAC Outstanding Field Performer in both the indoor and outdoor championships.
Prior to arriving on the Boise State campus, Kyprianou spent the previous two seasons as an assistant track and field coach at the University of Nebraska, Omaha and was in charge of the field events. While at UNO, he guided two student-athletes to five All-American performances at the NCAA Division II National Championships.
While competing in track and field, Kyprianou won several Cyprus and Greek Championships from 1991 to 1999. They included the decathlon, pole vault, 110 hurdles and long jump.
He has won several awards during his career which include being named the 2008 Indoor West Region coach of the Year, the Most Improved Coach Award from Cyprus in 2002, the Cyprus Athlete of the Year Award in 1999, an award from the Cyprus Soccer Association for the “Best Fitness Team” in 2003 and the Track and Field Coaching Specialty Academic Award from Greece in 2001.
Kyprianou also began making his mark in the weight lifting world early in his career. He set the Idaho record for Olympic weight lifting after lifting 567 lbs. at the 85kg class in October 2007.
Kyprianou received his Bachelor of Science degree in physical education in June of 2001 from Aristotle University in Greece. He completed his Master of Science degree in Exercise Science/ Biomechanics from the University of Nebraska in 2006. Kyprianou is a certified level III coach in the jumps, a level I and II USA Track and Field certified coach in the combined events, a certified strength and conditioning specialist and a certified USA weightlifting sports performance coach.
Kyprianou and his wife Masa welcomed their first child, Alexander, in 2008 and their second, Stefan, in 2009.
