With nine years completed as an assistant coach at North Dakota State, Justin St. Clair has established himself as the NCAA’s premier throws coach.
Under St. Clair’s direction, the Bison throwers have carried out a complete overhaul of the school’s record books, as well as gaining more prominence on the national stage. The track & field community has taken notice, as St. Clair has been voted the Midwest Region Assistant Coach of the Year seven times since 2016 – four times for the indoor season and three times outdoors.
In 2019, he was voted the USTFCCCA National Assistant Coach of the Year for men's indoor track & field, and he followed up by being one of three national finalists for the women's award in 2020. USA Track & Field named St. Clair the throws coach for its Team USA vs. Europe meet in Belarus in September 2019.
St. Clair coached Payton Otterdahl to NCAA titles in the indoor shot put and weight throw, becoming only the second man ever to sweep the NCAA titles in the indoor throwing events. Otterdahl set the all-time collegiate record in the indoor shot put on his way to becoming a semifinalist for The Bowerman.
On the women's side in 2019, the Bison had four different throwers combine to earn five All-America honors at the NCAA Indoor and Outdoor Championships -- Bailey Retzlaff (indoor shot put, hammer throw), Akealy Moton (outdoor shot put), Shelby Gunnells (indoor shot put), and Maddy Nilles (weight throw).
For the abbreviated 2020 season, St. Clair coached Moton, Gunnells and Nilles to return trips to the NCAA Championships, and the Bison women were dominant at the Summit League Indoor Championships. NDSU scored 66 of a possible 78 team points in the two throwing events, finishing 1-2-3-4-5-7 in the shot put and 1-2-3-5-7-8 in the weight throw.
NDSU tied for the national lead with six entries in the men's throwing events at the 2019 NCAA Outdoor Championships, and Alex Talley and Kristoffer Thomsen earned All-America honors for the 2020 indoor season with national top-10 performances.
In back-to-back-to-back seasons in 2016, 2017 and 2018, the NDSU men and women combined to lead the nation in entries in the throwing events at the NCAA Prelims. Separately, the Bison women have led the nation in NCAA Prelims entries in each of the past three years, while the NDSU men have led the country twice. The Bison had a remarkable 25 entries at the NCAA Prelims in 2016, while no other school in the country had more than 14.
Statistically, the Bison throws program was declared the top squad in the nation across all divisions for three straight years from 2016-18. In 2018, the Bison were the only squad in the country with four men over 59 feet in the shot put and four men over 60 meters in the hammer.
On the women’s side, NDSU scored 120 of a possible 156 points in the throwing events at the 2018 Summit League Championships. Six different Bison women finished the season ranked among the NCAA’s top 50 in throwing events, and NDSU became the only team in the nation with five women over 15 meters in the shot put.
St. Clair’s athletes were also highly regarded on the national scene in 2018, with Payton Otterdahl owning the nation’s top collegiate shot put mark and Alyssa Olin ranking second in the NCAA in the javelin.
In addition to Olin and Otterdahl, St. Clair has guided Maddy Nilles (hammer), Matti Mortimore (javelin) and Alex Renner (shot put) to top-10 finishes at the NCAA Outdoor Championships in the past two seasons.
The Bison men and women broke nine of a possible 12 school records in the throws in the 2016 season alone – and now every school record on the books has been re-broken since January 2016.
St. Clair has led the Bison to a similar level of dominance on the conference level. At the 2016 Summit League Outdoor Championships, the Bison men scored 117 of a possible 156 team points in the four throwing events, with all other schools combining for just 39 points in the throws.
“Anyone who has been around our program knows that Justin has played a vital role in the success we’ve had at North Dakota State,” said Stevie Keller, NDSU’s head women’s track & field coach. “He’s built this throws program from the ground-up, and now it’s one of the best in the country. He has tremendous work ethic and dedication, and that’s reflected by his athletes. We’re lucky to have him representing the Bison.”
In 2015, St. Clair coached Mortimore to 7th place in the javelin and freshman Austin Schmidt to 16th in the javelin at the NCAA Outdoor Championships -- at the time, the two highest NCAA Outdoor finishes in NDSU’s Division I era. On the women’s side, he directed Sierra Rosenau to the first Division I national meet appearance by a Bison woman in a throwing event.
NDSU’s throwers destroyed the competition at the 2015 Summit League Outdoor Championships. The Bison men scored 114 of a possible 156 points in the throwing events -- meaning all other schools combined for just 42 points. The NDSU men finished 1-2-3-4-5-6-7 in the javelin at the league meet, as well as placing six in the shot put, five in the hammer throw, and four in the discus.
The Bison women racked up 106 of a possible 156 points at the league meet in 2015, winning all four throwing events with four different women. The Bison also swept all four second-place spots in the throws. The NDSU women had four performances that ranked in the NCAA’s top 50 and eight marks in the top 100 for the season.
The 2015 season was also an extremely successful one for St. Clair’s athletes on the national and international track & field scene. St. Clair coached NDSU freshman Payton Otterdahl to a USA Junior national championship and a Pan American Junior title in the discus, and he also directed NDSU alum Riley Dolezal to his second World Championships appearance in the javelin for Team USA. St. Clair was the throws coach for Team USA at the World University Games held in South Korea.
St. Clair’s throwers broke school records 18 times in 2014, including four new marks on the women’s side (indoor shot put, weight throw, discus, javelin), and men’s records in the indoor and outdoor shot put. Six of NDSU’s seven men’s entries at the NCAA West Preliminary Rounds were in the throwing events, tying them for the fourth-most in the nation.
NDSU’s remarkable dominance in the throwing events at the conference level began to take shape in 2013 and 2014. Over those two Summit League Outdoor Championships, the NDSU men’s throwers scored 156 team points. No other school in the league scored more than 85.
The Bison women won four of a possible six Summit League titles in the throwing events in 2014, including a pair of champion underclassmen in sophomore Sierra Rosenau (javelin) and freshman Katelyn Weimerskirch (discus) who both ranked among the top 40 in the entire country. Junior Emily Lesser swept the league’s indoor throwing titles.
Along with directing the historic success of his current NDSU student-athletes, St. Clair re-entered the international track & field scene as the coach for 2013 USATF javelin champion Riley Dolezal, a 2009 NDSU graduate. Dolezal won the national title in the javelin at the USA Outdoor Championships in June 2013 with a mark of 273-11 (83.50m) – the best throw by an American in four years and enough to rank Dolezal eighth in American history.
St. Clair was also named the throws coach of the Team USA Under-23 squad in the summer of 2014.
St. Clair made an immediate impact for the Bison in 2012, directing his student-athletes to 17 performances that ranked among the school’s all-time Top 10, including two new school records.
In previous stops at Duke University and Southeastern Louisiana University, St. Clair’s athletes combined to set 30 school records and earn two All-America honors.
St. Clair enjoyed a decorated professional career in the javelin. He finished third at the 2007 U.S. Championships and moved on to compete in the Pan-Am Games, where he took seventh. He competed in the U.S. Championships 11 times, including the U.S. Olympic Trials in 2000, 2004 and 2008. He also held the javelin record at the North American Central American and Caribbean Championships where he won gold in 2007 and silver in 2002. St. Clair qualified for the 2007 World Championships, but fell short of the Olympic A standard.
Prior to a one year stint as a Washington state trooper, St. Clair was an assistant coach at Duke University for one year. Working with the throwers, he coached five All-ACC performers, four NCAA East region qualifiers, one NCAA All-American and four school record holders.
He also spent two years at Southeastern Louisiana University, where his athletes set 26 school records and won three conference titles. He coached six NCAA qualifiers, including the first female athlete in school history to compete at the NCAA Championships, as well as one NCAA All-American. He also developed and mentored 10 all-conference athletes and a Danish national champion.
St. Clair started his collegiate career at the University of Washington before transferring to Boise State. He finished college as a four-time All-American in the javelin. He graduated from Boise State in 2002 with a degree in criminal justice administration. He then served as a volunteer assistant for the Broncos from 2002-2005.
St. Clair is Level II certified by U.S. Track and Field and also holds national certification from U.S. Weight Lifting and ACE Personal Training.
Justin and his wife, Keli, live in West Fargo with their son, Carter, and daughter, Eva.
