Michael Young returns for his second season as a member of the Black Knights’ track and field coaching staff this season. The 2000 graduate of Ohio University will help train Army’s  men’s and women’s pole vaulters, sprinters and multi-event athletes. Young is also expected to assist the Black Knights’ recruiting efforts.

Young arrives at West Point following four years as a graduate assistant on the LSU track and field coaching staff, where he served under “Boo” Schexnayder and Dennis Shaver. At LSU, Young  primarily coached athletes competing in the multi-events and jumps. In his time at LSU, Young served on the staff of six NCAA champion teams (four women’s and two men’s).

Young’s coaching career began in the Empire State. He broke into the ranks as the sprints and jumps coach at Canisius High School in Buffalo, N.Y., during the late-1990s. Young earned a bachelor’s degree in Exercise Physiology from Ohio University in 2000. He stayed at the Athens, Ohio campus as a pole vault coach for the 2000-2001 season while he earned his master’s degree in Athletic Administration.

Following his time in the Buckeye state, Young landed at LSU in Baton Rouge, La. During his four-year stint at LSU, Young completed his doctoral studies in Motor Behavior.

A published author, Young’s articles on sprinting, pole vaulting, shot putting and strength and conditioning have appeared in research and coaching publications.  In addition, Young is a nationally-recognized clinician and a Level 2 and 3 instructor for USA Track & Field Coaches Education Division.

Young is a USATF Level 2 certified coach in the sprints, hurdles, jumps and throws. He is also recognized as a Club Coach by USA Weightlifting and a Certified Strength and Conditioning Specialist by the National Strength and Conditioning Association. He is also the Biomechanics Chair, Pole Vault Chair, and Director of Technology for USATF’s Coaches Education Division. He has also served as the biomechanist for the United States’ elite shot putters since 2001.

Young currently resides in Cornwall on Hudson, N.Y., with his wife Calah, a volunteer coach on the Army staff.