Husky throws coach Andrew Ninow resigns position...

SEATTLE--In a move that caught the coaching staff and athletes at the University of Washington by surprise, associate head coach Andrew Ninow (photo courtesy UW Athletics) resigned late last week, according to a series of texts sent by UW director of track & cross country Maurica Powell.

Ninow's name has been scrubbed from the team's coaching directory on its website, though his biography remains on the school's web site for the time being.

Ninow was promoted to an associate head coach position over the summer by Powell, in part because of the production from his athletes in the 2021 season.

His throwers had several big hands in the teams' matching third-place finishes. The men's throws group scored 48 points, twenty points more than the next best men's throws group in the Pac-12, with five top-four finishes, and a second Pac-12 title for Elijah Mason in the discus. Washington was the only mens team to score in every throwing event.

Mason and Jonah Wilson made NCAA Outdoors for the second time in a row, and then go on to the U.S. Olympic Trials a week later.

Two of the longest standing indoor school records were broken in the 2021 season, as true freshman Jayden White broke the 35-pound weight throw record set by Husky Hall of Fame member Scott Nielsen, as White threw threw the 35-pound weight 71-8.25 (21.85m) to upend Nielsen's 1979 mark of 71-5.5 (21.78m). 

Makayla Kelby broke the women's shot put record with a throw of 53-7.75 (16.35m), breaking Jennifer Ponath's indoor record of 52-7.5 (16.04m) set in 1988.

Though the school hasn't officially announced it, Ninow is expected to be named throws coach at the University of Oklahoma.

Ninow has already made an impact on the Sooners' recruiting, as Tucker Smith of Columbus North HS in Indiana, the state's Gatorade track & field athlete of the year, signed a national letter of intent to attend Oklahoma.

The University of Washington is expected to conduct a national search for the throws position.

NOTE: The sports information office of the University of Washington contributed to this report.

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