Don Babbitt - Track & Field Coach - University of Georgia Athletics

Denzel Comenentia - 2016 Spec Towns Invitational

Don Babbitt

Title:
Associate Head Coach - Throws Coach
Email:
dbabbitt@sports.uga.edu
Phone:
706-542-7915

With the arrival of his 26^th year in red and black and in his 38^th year overall coaching, Don Babbitt has transformed the Georgia throws program into arguably the most continually talented group in the country.  And along a total of 30 NCAA champions and 140 All-Americans, the dean of SEC throws coaches is perhaps the most accomplished throwing coach in the world.  Babbitt was promoted to Associate Head Coach in June 2015 and since his promotion, the Bulldogs have finished in the top six nationally 14 times, including two national team titles and a pair of runner-up finishes.

Most recently, Babbitt wrapped up the collegiate development of javelin standout Marie-Therese Obst as she won seven meets in her final campaign, including capturing the 2021 SEC and NCAA titles.  Obst topped out at a school record 61.37 meters (201 feet, 4 inches) in her final home meet at the Spec Towns Invitational and ended as the NCAA’s No. 4 all-time collegiate performer.  On the men’s side, graduate transfer Jonathan Tharaldsen finished 10^thnationally for the year and sixth on the school’s all-time top-10 list after reaching 19.99m (65-7) in the shot put and taking fifth at the SEC Outdoor Championships.  In addition, another trio of newcomer throwers also had success in 2021.

Transfer Alencar Pereira was an SEC scorer in the hammer and weight throws and lifted his top effort in the hammer at the NCAA East Prelims a personal record distance of 67.84m (222-7) to advance to the NCAA Championships.  In addition, freshman Charlotte Williams advanced to the Prelims after launching the eighth-best hammer toss in school history at 61.25m (200-11) and transfer Gavin Beverage worked up to 61 feet in the shot during his first full collegiate season.

Babbitt concluded coaching one of the Bulldogs’ all-time greats, Denzel Comenentia, in 2019.  Comenentia finished his UGA career as a 13-time First Team All-American, eight-time SEC individual champion, two-time NCAA individual champion and the Amsterdam native accomplished a feat in 2019 that had never been conquered in history. Comenentia balanced a trio of events at the NCAA Championships and scored in all three, including a runner-up finish in the shot put (20.77m, 68-1.75) and fifth-place showings in both the discus (a personal record of 59.97m, 196-9) and the hammer throw (72.93m, 293-3).  Following Babbitt’s leadership, Comenentia was named the U.S. Track & Field and Cross Country Coaches Association (USTFCCCA) Co-South Region Men’s Field Athlete of the Year outdoors for the second straight year.  He also captured the SEC Commissioner’s Trophy for the second year in a row as the league’s high scorer at the conference meet thanks to his third shot put title in a row and second-place finishes in both the discus and hammer.  His personal bests from his final outdoor campaign featured a hammer mark of 76.80m (252-0, No. 10 all-time collegiate performer, longest NCAA mark in 2019, Dutch national record), a shot put effort of 20.78m (68-2.25, No. 5 on 2019 NCAA list) and a personal-best discus mark that finished No. 2 on Georgia’s all-time list.

Comenentia earned another USTFCCCA honor at the conclusion of the indoor season as he was third in both the weight throw (23.32m, 76-6.25) and the shot (20.58m, 67-6.25) at the NCAA meet and won his second SEC indoor shot crown.  Babbitt tuned his All-American up to muscle a school record in the shot (20.72m, 67-11.75), which ended up being the country’s third-longest toss of the year, and the NCAA’s third-longest weight throw of 2019 with a mark of 23.52m (77-2).

On the women’s side, Obst launched the then fifth-longest javelin effort in UGA history during the 2019 campaign, was third at SECs and qualified for another NCAA Prelims.  In addition, Hayden Merrick worked her way up to No. 4 on Georgia’s all-time list in the discus to finish one spot from qualifying for Nationals with a toss of 52.34m (171-9).

In 2018, Babbitt directed Comenentia to two NCAA crowns, four First Team All-America honors and a trio of SEC individual championships.  Most importantly, Comenentia was the key component to bringing the Bulldogs’ first NCAA team crown back to Athens outdoors.  Sweeping the hammer throw and shot put at the SEC Outdoor Championships for the second straight year (while also placing in the discus to win the Commissioner’s Trophy as the meet’s high scorer), Comenentia collected the hammer and shot put NCAA titles together for only the third time in meet history to lead the Bulldog men to their national championships.  Babbitt first coached the Amsterdam native to reach a school record distance of 20.44m (67-0.75) in the indoor shot put and 23.71m (77-9.50) in the weight throw, which is a mark that sits only behind one of Babbitt’s former throwers, NCAA champion and Olympian Andras Haklits (79.30m, 80-2).  Outdoors, Comenentia improved to second on Georgia’s all-time list in the shot (20.88m, 68-6), hammer (a Dutch national record of 76.41m, 250-8) and discus (58.81m, 192-11).  The effort in the hammer put Comenentia as the No. 10 all-time collegiate performer and gave the Bulldogs two on the all-time list as Haklits remains No. 2.

Under Babbitt’s guidance since 1996, Georgia’s throwers have reached a high level of success.  The Bulldog throwers have captured 15 NCAA titles, earned 101 All-American certificates and won 60 SEC titles since Babbitt arrived in Athens.

Thanks to the performances listed above and others, Babbitt has garnered the following honors while coaching at Georgia:

2003 USTFCCCA National Assistant Coach of the Year
2007 USTFCCCA East Region Women’s Throws Coach of the Year
2009 USTFCCCA East Region Men’s Throws Coach of the Year

Babbitt came to Athens from California State University in Los Angeles where he was an assistant from 1988-96. He built the Cal State-Los Angeles throwing program into the strongest at the NCAA Division II level, producing 46 NCAA qualifiers, 39 All-Americans and 15 NCAA Champions.

Babbitt’s success at the international level is also highlighted below:

54 throwers who have competed at the Olympic Games/World Championships
His throwers have captured 21 medals in international competition
His throwers have won 20 titles at the USA Championships

Eight NCAA titles, 55 All-American honors and 28 SEC crowns during the last 15 seasons further solidified Babbitt’s hold as one of the world’s premier throws coaches.  The trend became even more evident as the native of Santa Monica, Calif., led freshman Freya Jones to the 2013 NCAA javelin title and four other throwers to All-America honors that year. In 2014, his throwers swept the SEC hammer throw titles (first time the Bulldogs have won both since 2001; UGA accomplished the feat again in 2017) and added six more All-America certificates, including three top-six national finishes in the men’s hammer, men’s shot put and women’s javelin.  Alex Poursanidis won his second consecutive SEC hammer championship in 2015 and Ashinia Miler topped a 20-year-old school record in the indoor shot put (20.31m, 66-7.75) as Babbitt’s corps picked up another pair of First Team All-America honors at the NCAA Outdoor Championships.  When 2016 had come and gone, Babbitt had directed then freshman Comenentia to First Team All-America honors in the indoor shot put and Ashinia Miller to a sweep of the SEC shot put titles.

Babbitt’s throwers have seen success throughout the 2000s.  Nikola Lomnicka registered four All-America certificates over her years at UGA (2010-12) to go along with the 2010 national title in the hammer throw, marking Georgia’s third championship in the event during a five-year span (2006-10).  In 2009, Chris Hill won his second consecutive NCAA title in the javelin throw and capped his NCAA career with a USATF National Championship as well with a throw of 83.87m (275-2). This mark established a new NCAA American collegiate record.

Other notable Bulldog performers under Babbitt’s tutelage include now former collegiate record holder Jenny Dahlgren (hammer throw), 2003 NCAA champion Lucais MacKay (hammer) and the three-time national champion Haklits (two hammer, one weight).  In 2007, Dahlgren finished her Bulldog career with three NCAA titles, eight All-American certificates and four SEC titles while the Argentinian shattered school, SEC, collegiate, NCAA Championship and South American records in the hammer throw (72.94m, 239-3) under Babbitt’s guidance.  Two years before Dahlgren’s finale, Babbitt led his throwers to eight top-20 finishes during the 2005 NCAA Championships, highlighted by Trevor Snyder’s second-place finish in the javelin and Dahlgren’s pair of top-five finishes in the NCAA Championships.

In 2003, Babbitt guided MacKay to All-America honors in the weight, hammer and discus as MacKay became a six-time All-America thrower while at UGA. Babbitt also coached MacKay to an NCAA title in the hammer throw and led Panagiotis Mavraganis to All-America honors in the weight throw as well as SEC titles in the weight and hammer throws in 2003.

In addition, Babbitt has had a long-term coaching relationship with Haklits, the four-time Croatian Olympian and hammer record holder.  Haklits finished eighth in the 2008 Beijing Olympics and seventh in the hammer at the 2009 World Championships in Berlin, Germany.

Babbitt has also guided a number of the world’s top performers at the professional level. These include 2004 Olympic champion and 2005 World Outdoor shot put champion Adam Nelson and 2006 World Indoor and 2007 World Outdoor shot put champion and 2012 Olympic bronze medalist Reese Hoffa.  Hoffa developed into the world’s most consistent thrower over a 15-year period and will go down, along with Nelson, as one of the all-time greats in the sport.  Babbitt is has also served as the personal coach of eight-time U.S. Champion and current American record holder Breaux Greer (javelin), as well as Canadian record holder Jason Tunks (discus) and three-time Canadian Olympian and former Canadian record holder Brad Snyder (shot put).

Babbitt received his bachelor’s degree in Biology from UCLA in 1989 and his Master’s degree in Exercise Science from Cal State-Los Angeles in 1994.  He is currently completing a PhD in Kinesiology (Sport Pedagogy) at the University of Georgia.

An avid writer and clinician, Babbitt has written over 81 articles and three book chapters for publications on six continents and in six different languages. He has also conducted clinics and seminars on six different continents, including 18 different states in the US. Babbitt has served the Throws Editor for the World Athletics Coaches Education Program and a World Athletics Level V Lecturer for the World Athletics Throws Academy Courses since 2009. In addition, Babbitt produced and taught the throws curriculum for the new USATFCCCA Coaching Academy which was established in 2011 and has contributed to the development of the UK Athletics Coaching Education Curriculum for the heavy throws (shot, discus, hammer) and ALTIS’ Coaching Education Program.

Babbitt is also an NSCA Certified Strength and Conditioning Specialist and designed strength and conditioning programs for Cal State-Los Angeles’ basketball, soccer and track and field teams. He served as assistant manager and throws coach for the U.S. men’s track and field team at the 1997 World University Games in Italy. He has also been a national team coach for Canada, Croatia, Taiwan, Netherlands and Argentina in various major international championships.

While at UCLA, Babbitt competed in the javelin throw for the Bruins, placing seventh at the 1988 Pac-10 Outdoor Championships.

Babbitt is married to the former Petra Juraskova, who is a member of the NCAA Division II NCAA Track & Field Hall of Fame. They have two daughters, Julia (born in 1998), and Veronika (born in 2006).  Julia competed on Princeton’s track and field team and is now set to start as a graduate transfer for the Bulldogs in 2021.