Ross Richardson
Position: Assistant Coach Experience: 1st season Alma Mater: Monmouth College, 1989

Ross Richardson became an assistant coach for the Buckeyes in 2012-13. Richardson comes to Ohio State from the University of Virginia, and also has previous ties to the Big Ten, spending five seasons as an assistant coach at Purdue from 2005-10.

"Ross Richardson brings a wealth of knowledge and experience to our program," Beathea said upon Richardson being hired. "We are very excited to have Ross join us as part of our staff and look forward to what he will do for the future of the program."

In his first season with the Buckeyes Richardson helped guide freshman javelin thrower Billy Stanley to First-Team All-America honors and a fourth place finish at the NCAA Outdoor Championships. Under Richardson's direction Stanley also won a Big Ten outdoor championship while setting the all-time Big Ten meet record with his throw of 75.23m (246-10.00).

Richardson primarily works with the throwers at Ohio State. He has coached 11 All-Americans and 21 NCAA championship qualifiers throughout his career. Last season at Virginia the team broke six school records, sent three throwers to the NCAA Championships, had two second-team All-Americans, and scored 68 points at the ACC outdoor conference meet. Richardson also had one of his javelin throwers compete at the Olympic trials in Eugene, Ore.

"I was immediately drawn to Ohio State by the quality of the coaching staff they already had in place and also the great opportunity to be coaching at one of the most prestigious athletic programs in the country," Richardson said.

Prior to his time at Virginia, Richardson spent a year at Miami (Ohio) University after coming from Purdue where he spent five seasons. Eight Boilermakers earned Big Ten championships under Richardson's lead at Purdue. In 2007 Richardson was honored with Mideast Region Women's Throws Coach of the Year by the United States Track and Field and Cross Country Coaches Association.

Before his arrival at Purdue, Richardson spent a season as an assistant coach at Sacramento State University. From 2000 to 2004 he coached at Western Illinois University and prior to that he spent three seasons at Garden City (Kan.) Community College from 1997-2000.

A native of Mount Carroll, Ill., Richardson graduated from Monmouth College in 1989 with a bachelor's degree in sociology. In 1992 Richardson completed his teaching certificate from Western Illinois.

As a student-athlete at Monmouth he earned All-American honors in both track and field and football. In the fall of 2003, Richardson was inducted into the Monmouth College Athletic Hall of Fame.

Richardson is a certified USATF Level II coach in the throws and jumps, as well as being a certified strength and conditioning specialist by the National Strength and Conditioning Association.