Men's Track & Field
- Positon:
- Assistant Coach - Sprints/Hurdles
- Email:
- flaquer.2@osu.edu
Diego Flaquer joined the Ohio State coaching staff on August 22, 2022, prior to the start of the 2022-23 season, working primarily with the men’s sprinters and assisting with all relay squads.
Flaquer was named USTFCCCA Men’s Assistant Great Lakes Region Coach of the Year following the conclusion of the 2026 outdoor season. Flaquer coached Buckeye sprinters and hurdlers to a pair of third-place finishes at the NCAA DI Outdoor Championships with program record-setting performances – Braxton Brann in the 110m hurdles (13.07) and the 4×100 relay that was anchored by Brann (38.44). His athletes also earned Big Ten titles in the 110 hurdles and 4×400 relay. During the indoor season, the men’s 4x400m relay squad made it to the NCAA Championships finals to earn All-American First Team honors. The men’s 4x400m relay team captured the Big Ten title at the 2025 outdoor championships sand the 2026 indoor and outdoor championships.
In 2025, Brann, Edidiong Udo (400m) and the 4x100m relay and 4x400m relay all made it to the final site of the outdoor NCAA Championships.
During the 2024 season, Marcus Brown Jr. scored in both the 100m and 200m at both the indoor and outdoor Big Ten Championships to lead the Buckeye men’s sprinters. The women’s sprints, relays and hurdlers scored 61 of the 115 total Ohio State points at the Big Ten Outdoor Championships and claimed all three of the Buckeye women's Big Ten Champions (100m, 200m, 4x100m relay), also earning second-place finishes in the 4x400m relay and 200m. Four Buckeyes qualified for the 100m and three for the 200m finals.
Five of the Buckeyes' NCAA Championships qualifiers were in the groups Flaquer assists with – 100m (two qualifiers – seventh and 22nd), 4x100m relay (10th), 4x400m relay (12th) and the 100m hurdles (15th). He had seven individuals/relay teams ranked nationally in the top-50 in the last rankings before the NCAA Championships began. During the 2024 indoor season, Leah Bertrand earned the Buckeye women’s lone All-American honor after being the Big Ten 60m runner-up.
In his first season with the Buckeyes in 2022-23, Flaquer guided the Buckeye men to a pair of Big Ten runner-up finishes in the 400m (both indoor and outdoor). The OSU women swept the outdoor Big Ten Championships in the relays and broke program records in the 4x100m relay (outdoor) and 4x400m relay (indoor and outdoor) this season. The Buckeye women also finished in the top-eight at the NCAA Championships in all relays – both indoor and outdoor.
Flaquer joined the Ohio State staff following six seasons as the assistant men’s coach for sprints, hurdles and relays at the University of Miami. Flaquer coached two of the best sprinters UM has ever had as they posted the second-fastest and third-fastest times in program history in the 100m and earned all-conference honors. He also coached the men’s school record holders in the 60m in Raheem Chambers, the indoor 200m, Khamal Stewart Baynes, and McKinley Brown, who is both a school record holder and the reigning ACC Champion in the 400m hurdles. The men’s 4x400m relay squad made an NCAA regional appearance each of Flaquer’s years at Miami and also broke both the indoor and outdoor records. Flaquer’s squad posted many of the top-five times in program history under his direction.
Flaquer began his coaching career at his alma mater, Virginia Intermont College. He also spent time at Samford University, Troy University and Auburn before reaching Oklahoma State, where he coached for three years. Flaquer elevated Oklahoma State’s sprint program as he was a member of two Big 12 indoor conference championships and did not finish lower than third. The Cowboys scored points at the NCAA Indoor Championships in each of Flaquer’s three seasons, finishing as high as sixth in 2014, and earned two top-20 NCAA Outdoor Championship finishes.
At Oklahoma State, Flaquer coached John Teeters and Tyreek Hill in the men’s sprints, developing the duo into All-Americans. Teeters was the 2015 NCAA runner-up in the men’s 60m, while Hill was a 2014 NCAA finalist in the indoor 200m. Teeters went on to set the Oklahoma State school record in the 60m and 100m, earning three First Team All-America honors in his career. Hill was the 2015 Big XII men’s 200m indoor champion before placing fifth in the event at the NCAA Indoor Championships.
In Flaquer’s coaching career, he has coached three NCAA runner-ups, two in the 60m and one in the 100m.
Flaquer was a member of the coaching staff for his native country, Colombia, for the 2011 Pan American Junior Championships and the 2014 World Junior Championships. He then went on to coach on Team USA’s staff for the 2014 Pan American Sports Festival in Mexico City and the 2015 World Youth Championships in Cali, Colombia.
Flaquer is a 2007 graduate of Virginia Intermont College, where he earned a degree in health and physical education. He is a native of Samson, Ala. And is the son of Pedro Grajales, a two-time Olympian in the 400m and a previous coach of the Colombian national team.
