Bigelow Added as Assistant Coach for Vertical Jumps and Multis
8/28/2023 3:33:00 PM | General, Men's Track & Field, Women's Track & Field
Matt Bigelow was announced as an addition to the Buckeye coaching staff on Monday.
COLUMBUS, Ohio – The Ohio State track and field program and Director of Track & Field and Cross Country Rosalind Joseph announced the addition of Matt Bigelow to the coaching staff on Monday. Bigelow will serve as the assistant coach for multi events and vertical jumps.
"I'm excited to have Coach Bigelow join our program," Joseph said. "I've known him as a hard-working student-athlete at my previous stop, but I have been able to watch his growth and journey as a coach over the past few years. His dedication to the development of student-athletes has resulted in excellence at the highest level, most recently coaching the NCAA women's high jump national champion and an NCAA All-American in the women's heptathlon at the 2023 NCAA Outdoor Championships."
"His experience as a decathlete has given him a wide range of knowledge in all events, but his personality and coaching philosophy will fit perfectly with our student-athletes and their skillset in the jumps and multi events. I'm excited to have him on board."
"This opportunity is a dream come true," Bigelow said. "I am thrilled and honored to be joining the Ohio State Track and Field program. The history and legacy of the program is legendary and I look forward to carrying it on and adding to it. I can't wait to get to work with the coaches and student-athletes and see what we can accomplish together."
Prior to joining the Buckeyes in August 2023, Bigelow spent the 2022-23 season as an assistant coach at Ball State, where he helped lead the Cardinals to their highest-scoring performance at a MAC Indoor Track and Field Championship since 2008. Bigelow's group score of 46.25 points from the pentathlon, high jump, long jump, triple jump, and the shot put tallied over half of Ball State's total points (83) at the 2023 indoor conference championships. At the 2023 outdoor conference championships, Bigelow's group scored 62 out of the team's 108 points. Bigelow was named MAC Women's Assistant Coach of the Year following both the indoor and outdoor seasons.
Bigelow helped guide senior Charity Griffith as she qualified for the 2023 NCAA Indoor Track and Field Championships in the high jump and pentathlon events. Griffith earned first-team All-American honors after her fifth-place finish in the high jump 1.85m (6'-0.75"), becoming the Cardinals' highest ever finisher at the NCAA Indoor Championships. She earned second-team All-American honors for her 13th-place finish in the pentathlon event (4,138 points). Griffith took the next step at the 2023 NCAA Outdoor Championships by winning the high jump (1.93m / 6'-4"), as Jenelle Rogers finished fifth in the heptathlon (6,018) and both set Mid-American Conference records.
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Bigelow arrived in Muncie after three years as an assistant Track & Field/Cross Country coach at Miami University. During his time at Miami, Bigelow helped guide the RedHawks to a men's outdoor season MAC championship in 2021 for the first time since 1993. Bigelow coached the 2021 MAC Champion in the pentathlon and multiple conference scorers in the high jump and multi events throughout his three seasons with the RedHawks.
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Prior to his coaching experience, Bigelow was a student-athlete at Southern Illinois University and earned All-Missouri Valley Conference honors twice. He took second place in the 2018 MVC Indoor Championships in the heptathlon with 5,258 points and scored a personal best and third-place finish during the outdoor championships with 6,660 points.
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Bigelow graduated from Southern Illinois University in 2019 with a Bachelor of Science in Sports Administration and a minor in coaching. Bigelow completed an internship with SIU's track and field program prior to graduation. Bigelow is a Carterville, Ill. native.
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