Indoor Track
- Title:
- Head Coach
- Email:
- andy.sythe@csulb.edu
- Phone:
- 985-4666
Andy Sythe’s tenure as head coach at Long Beach State has been characterized by individual and team success and scholar-athlete achievement in track and cross country. The long-time coach was elevated to the Director of Track and Field in the summer of 2019 and signed a contract extension to remain at the helm through the 2025 season.
An 11-time Big West Track and Field Coach of the Year (2006, 2008, 2011, 2013, 2014, 2015, 2016, 2018, 2019, 2022, 2023), Sythe is now in his 35th season at the helm of the cross country and indoor/outdoor track and field teams at the Beach. He has developed a combined program that is among the best in the Big West Conference as well as at the regional and national level and is the standard for men’s programs, winning 13 conference titles, the most of any program in the history of the Big West. Sythe has guided his student-athletes to 77 All-America performances and 21 conference Athlete of the Year awards. He has also had six Big West Freshman of the Year award winners.
2024 began with Sythe leading the Beach men and women to their first MPSF Championship, marking the fifth time in the 31 years of the event that the team titles were swept by one school. Long Beach State won a conference-high 10 of the 34 total MPSF titles, seven for the men and three for the women.
In addition to MPSF Women’s MVP Hayley Fune’ winning the pentathlon with a school record of 3,889 points, Rahni Turner took down the program record in the women’s 60m hurdles (8.25) in winning the event. The LBSU men swept the jumps with Elijah Harris’s long jump, Novye’ James’ triple jump, Kyle Jankans’ high jump, and Cyprus Rice’s pole vault. 2024 marked the first time in Sythe’s career that he has been named MPSF Coach of the Year.
The 2024 outdoor campaign was highlighted by Omir Shiff earning honorable mention All-American honors in the 400m hurdles after winning the Big West title. Shiff (400m hurdles) was 1-of-5 Beach athletes to win Big West titles. Joining Shiff as conference champions were Rori Denness-Lamont (javelin), Fune' (100m hurdles), Kash Powell (800m), and Justin Watterson (110m hurdles).
Long Beach State sent 16 competitors to the NCAA West Regional, where Shiff advanced to nationals. Fune’ ran 13.21 to tie the school record in the 100m hurdles.
The Beach was well represented at four Olympic Track and Field Trials as Fune’, and alumni Jason Smith and Kemontie Briggs entered the USA Trials. Smith advanced to the long jump finals, where he finished eighth. Denness-Lamont, Tayah DeSousa, and Aidan Turner competed in the Canadian Olympic Trials. Shiff entered Israel’s Olympic Trials, while Sofia Lavreshina entered Portugal’s Olympic Trials.
2023 saw The Beach win its second consecutive Big West Women’s Track Championship as Sythe was named Big West Women’s Coach of the Year for the second straight season. Ryley Fick repeated as Women’s Track Athlete of the Year, winning the 800m and 3000m steeplechase. Alex Heerink-van Breda was named Women’s Freshman of the Year after winning the 400m hurdles. Rhani Turner won the 100m hurdles. LBSU sent six women to the NCAA West Regional.
The Beach men finished second, with Sebastian Coleman named Big West Field Athlete of the Year after winning the discus and the hammer. Michael Phillips won the 1500m after the 4x100m took home top honors. 11 Long Beach State athletes advanced to the NCAA West Regional, where Powell clinched a spot in the NCAA Championships in the 800m. Powell earned second-team All-American honors with a 16th-place finish at nationals.
Both teams finished second at the MPSF Championships, with Powell (800m), Jankans (High Jump), Harris (Triple Jump), and Coleman (Weight Throw) winning men’s titles. Fune’ was named MPSF Women’s Athlete of the Year after winning the pentathlon. Kaitlyn Williams won the 60m and the Long Jump.
Along with signing his contract extension in 2022, Coach Sythe led another tremendous effort of performance headlined by the women’s second Big West Championship in program history. The men’s team was the runner-up, as Long Beach State was the only team in the conference, with both men’s and women’s teams finishing in the top four of the team standings. Sythe garnered awards for Women’s Coach of the Year, making him the third coach in Big West history to receive 10 awards.
Individually, Sythe guided Smith to two more All-America performances at the NCAA Outdoor Championships after having 12 student-athletes achieve 18 qualifying marks for the NCAA West Preliminaries. Closing out conference competition, Smith won his second straight Big West Field Athlete of the Year award, and Fick became the first LBSU women’s track athlete to claim Women’s Track Athlete of the Year. Overall, the Beach claimed 12 individual conference titles.
The 2021 season saw more success, including Smith winning the Big West Field Athlete of the Year and Big West Field Athlete of the Meet after a dominant season in which he ultimately qualified for the NCAA Championships and the U.S. Olympic Team Trials. Aaron Booth also qualified for the NCAA Championships in the Decathlon, setting the school record on his way to a First-Team All-American selection. The team collected 16 All-Big West performances and eight individual titles and sent eight athletes to the NCAA Preliminaries.
Sythe’s work with the jumpers continues to showcase the best of the program. In 2022, Long Beach State made history with individual titles in men’s and women’s High Jump, Long Jump, and Triple Jump. It was the first time in Big West history that a school has swept all six events.
In the COVID-shortened 2020 season, Smith became the first LBSU student-athlete to qualify for multiple events at the NCAA Indoor Championships, where he was set to compete before the COVID-19 pandemic canceled the competition. Smith had already won the MPSF Championship in the long jump and qualified in the high jump. The year prior, in 2019, Briggs qualified for both the Indoor and Outdoor NCAA national championships, earning All-American honors in both. Briggs qualified for the outdoor regional championships in three different events and was named the Big West Men’s Field Athlete of the Year after leading the men’s program to a 13th conference title. The Beach sent four qualifiers to the NCAA Outdoor Track and Field Championships.
Sythe guided the women’s program to their first Big West Championship the previous year, while the men’s team took second place at the conference meet. Earning Big West Coach of the Year honors for his work with the women, the Beach sent 15 athletes to the postseason and had six advance to the NCAA Championships, as Sal Nasser and Smith, the Big West Field Athlete of the Year both advanced, as did the women’s 4x100m relay team who set the school record in the event on multiple occasions.
In 2017, Long Beach State qualified 17 athletes for the 2017 NCAA West Preliminaries, with senior Riley Cooks and junior Vincent Calhoun each earning All-American honors at the NCAA Championships. Cooks concluded her brilliant career with Big West titles in the long jump and heptathlon, earning her second straight Big West Athlete of the Meet honor at the conference championships. Briggs was named the men’s athlete of the meet to make it a Long Beach State sweep, thanks to his win in the long jump and All-Big West finishes in the 200m, 400m, and 4x400m relay.
That duo of Cooks and Briggs went on to win their respective Big West Field Athlete of the Year honors while Smith was awarded the conference’s Freshman of the Year.
The Long Beach State men finished with eight Big West titles and 18 All-Conference performances. LBSU thrived in the field events, scoring 116 of their 185 points. They had five conference champions: Kody Robison (Hammer), Jacob Fraser (Discus), Willie Alexander (Long Jump), Ryan Sanders (Triple Jump), and Michael Montgomery (Pole Vault). Alexander was also the runner-up in the triple jump and named the 2015 Big West Men’s Field Athlete of the Year. Cameron Glasgow, who was tabbed the Big West Men’s Track Athlete of the Year, led the Beach in the running events as he won the 400m while also joining forces with Dylan McCloskey, Michael Perez-Rogers, and Jahmani Lockett to defend their title in the 4x400 relay. Chris Low was also a back-to-back champion in the 800m.
LBSU continued to lead the conference in the postseason, sending 17 athletes to the NCAA West Preliminary and a school-record seven to the NCAA Championships. Glasgow finished his career as a two-time All-American (400m, 4x400). In contrast, Perez-Rogers (4x400), McCloskey (4x400), Lockett (4x400), Alexander (Triple Jump), Low (800m), and Montgomery (Pole Vault) also garnered honorable mention All-America honors. Adding to an award-filled season, the Beach was ranked 15th in the final Track & Field News Dual Meet Rankings.
In 2014, the men cruised to the Big West title with nine individual champions and a school record of 218.5 points. Sythe’s pole vaulters gave the Beach a considerable boost with a 26.5-point outburst as all five of the team’s entrants finished in scoring position (1st-2nd-4th-6th-8th). The women’s squad also took fourth overall, with Fatima Vergara claiming top honors in the hammer throw. The men and women had 22 athletes qualify for the NCAA West Preliminary Rounds, including a program-record 16 individuals on the men’s side. Alexander, Low, and
Chris Enriquez also advanced to the NCAA Outdoor Track and Field Championships, where they combined to post a 24th-place team finish. Alexander was the national runner-up in the long jump, while Low took seventh in the 800m. Low was the 49ers’ first-ever first-team All-American in the 800m. In addition, the Beach men went undefeated in dual meets as they were 37-0 in scoring opportunities. The 2014 squad closed out the year ranked ninth in the Track & Field News dual meet rankings, while the women came in at No. 21. The men were also ranked as high as No. 5 in the USTFCCCA West Region Rankings.
In 2013, the Long Beach State men won their fourth Big West championship in eight years. LBSU had 15 athletes produce 21 all-conference honors, including four individual Big West titles. The women added eight all-conference awards. The Long Beach State men and women sent 16 athletes to the NCAA West Preliminaries. Alexander, the Big West Men’s Freshman of the Year, punched his ticket to the NCAA Championships, and garnered All-America honorable mention recognition in the long jump.
In 2011, the men claimed 23 All-Conference awards, including seven individual championships, en route to their third Big West title under Sythe’s direction. Three athletes advanced to the NCAA Outdoor Championships, earning All-America recognition. Randi Hicks was a first-team performer in the women’s javelin, while Colin Dunbar garnered second-team honors in the hammer and honorable mention in the discus. Nicholas Armstrong was also an honorable mention All-American in the Decathlon. In addition to earning All-America status, Dunbar was named the 2011 USTFCCCA West Region Men’s Field Athlete of the Year and the 2011 Big West Men’s Field Athlete of the Year. He accounted for 29 points at the conference championships and became the second player in league history to score in all four throwing events.
Kenneth Medwood (400 Hurdles) and Hicks (Javelin) won the individual conference title in their respective events to lead Long Beach State in the 2010 season. Medwood competed in the 2012 London Olympic Games, representing his native Belize. His nation selected him as the flag bearer at the opening ceremonies and he would advance to the semifinals of the 400m hurdles.
The men’s squad won the Big West title in 2008, compiling 185 points. Long Beach State had 21 individuals qualify for the NCAA Regionals, with six advancing to the national championship meet. Sythe saw two of his athletes, Brent Gray and Chris Richardson, earn All-America honors for the second time.
Since the inception of NCAA track and field regional qualifying in 2003, Long Beach State has sent over 200 qualifiers to the postseason meet. Under his direction, the LBSU track and field program has consistently ranked among the top 20 percent of over 320 NCAA Division I schools.
Sythe has also directed the cross country squad to several top performances. In the fall of 2013, Enriquez earned an individual berth to the NCAA Cross Country Championships. He was the first Long Beach State student-athlete to qualify for the event in the modern era of NCAA cross country (since 1980). Enriquez advanced to the national meet after placing 10th at the NCAA West Regional, the highest finish in school history. In 2011, Rosa Del Toro won the individual conference title and was the first Beach runner in school history to be tabbed the Big West Women’s Cross Country Athlete of the Year.
Since Sythe’s arrival, the Beach has rewritten the record books. In his 34 seasons at the helm, student-athletes coached by the legendary coach hold an astounding 33 of 34 school records in Indoor Track and Field, 18 of 22 men’s outdoor records, and 15 of 22 women’s outdoor records.
Strong academic performance has also been a common theme in Sythe’s career as a coach and athlete. Sythe was an outstanding student-athlete at San Diego State, graduating in 1987 with honors and a bachelor’s degree in physical education.
Through his guidance as a coach, 603 athletes have also been named to the Academic All-Conference teams. On the national level, Sythe’s athletes have produced 57 USTFCCCA All-Academic Teams in cross country and track and field, and the women’s track and field and cross country squads have received the honor every year since 1997.
Individually, Sythe has also helped his student-athletes attain the highest academic achievement, with seven CoSIDA Academic All-Americans, two Phi Beta Kappas, and one Rhodes Scholar.
Sythe was hired in the fall of 1989 as the head coach at Long Beach State. At age 23, he was the youngest NCAA Division I coach in the United States.
Sythe has had the best mentors in the sport throughout high school and college. As an athlete under Dixon Farmer at San Diego State (1984-87), Sythe captained his team, which ranked among the top 10 in the nation.
As an assistant for Ralph Lindeman at LBSU (1988-89), Sythe furthered his skills under the tutelage of another nation’s most respected coach. In 1989, his mentor Lindeman was tabbed the Big West Coach of the Year. Farmer and Lindeman also served on the United States Olympic staff.
Track and field and cross country are a passion for Sythe, and his dedication to the sport is reflected by his involvement beyond the scope of the University. Sythe has served on national committees with USA Track & Field and the U.S. Track Coaches Association. He has served on the Executive Committee for Men’s Development with USATF, been co-meet director for the 1999 USATF Senior Cross Country National Championships, and has completed over 10 years of service as Men’s Track & Field Chair and board member for the Southern California Association of USA Track & Field. Sythe also completed four years of service with the Executive Committee and Rules Committee for the USTFCCCA.
Sythe has coached at clinics throughout the U.S. and worked with the Amateur Athletic Foundation of Los Angeles in its coaching instructional program. Recognized for his success and dedicated work on the national level, Sythe was selected by his peers to be the head coach for the men’s West team at the 1995 United States Olympic Festival, held in Colorado Springs, Colorado. Before that, he was an assistant coach for the champion West team at the 1993 Olympic Festival in San Antonio, Texas.
A native of Los Gatos, Calif., Sythe and his wife, Maribeth, reside in Long Beach with their two daughters, Sierra and Callie June.
