HEAD COACH

BRIAN BEDARD

Entering his 19th year as the head coach of the Colorado State Track & Field Program and 37th season with the program overall, Brian Bedard has amassed one of the top coaching resumes in CSU history during his time with the Rams. Bedard joined the CSU program as an assistant coach specializing in the throwing events in 1988 and was accomplished enough in his role to be inducted into the Colorado State Hall of Fame in 2005. Bedard took over at the helm of the program prior to the 2006-07 track and field season and has taken Colorado State to new heights since.

Under Bedard, Colorado State has captured 22 Mountain West conference championships across indoor and outdoor track and field and cross country. Just as impressive is the list of individual accolades his athletes have accumulated over his nearly 20 seasons as a head coach, with 194 individual conference championships, 85 All-America honors (first and second team), and 12 MW Athlete of the Year awards among them.

Bedard is known around the country for his ability to produce nationally competitive throwers, headlined by a pair of national champions in Mostafa Hassan (Indoor Shot Put 2017, 2018) and Mya Lesnar (Indoor Shot Put 2024). Across all events, CSU has seen 100 individual appearances at the National Championships during Bedard’s time in command.

Thanks to the guidance of Bedard, the Rams are amidst the most successful decade in program history. Dating back to 2014, Bedard has guided his teams to 18 team conference championships (6 WITF, 4 MITF, 5 WOTF, 3 MOTF), including a continuing run of five straight titles on the women’s side across both indoor and outdoor seasons beginning with the Mountain West Outdoor Track and Field Championship in 2022. During the 10-year stretch the Rams have amassed 64 first and second team All-America honors (15 WITF, 16 MITF, 17 WOTF, 16 MOTF), the most in any decade in program history.

The awards do not stop with his student-athletes, as Bedard has been named the USTFCCCA Mountain Regional Head Coach of the Year on nine different occasions, most recently in 2024 for his efforts in leading the women’s program to a third-consecutive outdoor conference title. In 2005, Bedard was named the USTFCCCA National Assistant Coach of the Year.

THROWING SPECIALITY
Bedard is known around the country for his ability to recruit and develop competitive throwers, with all of Colorado State’s school records in the throwing events being set during Bedard’s tenure.

Most recently, Bedard mentored Mya Lesnar to a NCAA Indoor Shotput Championship in 2024, with Lesnar claiming the CSU record along the way. Bedard also coached Mostafa Hassan to the Egyptian shot put record indoors and outdoors, while Shadae Lawrence set the Jamaican National record for discus throw in 2019 with a mark of 65.05m.

One of Bedard’s most successful athletes – and one of the most decorated athletes in CSU history – is Colorado’s own discus product Casey Malone. Bedard and Malone worked together for over 20 years, with the 1998 NCAA discus champion qualifying for 20-consecutive USATF Championships. A two-time USATF discus champion (2008 and 2010) and two-time Olympian (Athens 2004, Beijing 2008), Malone was first coached by Bedard in national and international competition Bedard in 1996, Malone’s freshman year at CSU.

Another of Bedard’s standout throwers is Loree Smith, the 2005 NCAA individual hammer champion, the 2005 NCAA runner-up in the weight throw and a five-time All-American. Among Smith’s top performances in 2005 was a then-American collegiate record in the weight throw (74-3), as well as a then-NCAA collegiate record in the hammer throw (229-9/70.02m) at the MW Outdoor Championships. She remains the No. 10 performer in the women’s hammer throw in NCAA history today. Smith earned a spot on the U.S. Olympic Team in 2008 and competed in the hammer throw in the Summer Olympics in Beijing.

Many other athletes have enjoyed tremendous success under Bedard’s guidance, including Shelly Borrman, a Fort Collins native, five-time All-American and 1999 NCAA discus runner-up. Before Shadae Lawerence, Borrman held the Colorado State school record but still holds the Western Athletic Conference (WAC) record in the discus with a throw of 198-8 (60.55m). Another discus thrower, Liz Toman, placed second at the 2001 NCAA Championships, while Drew Loftin was the 2003 NCAA runner-up in the weight throw and the hammer. Loftin, who threw 71-1.5 in the weight throw and 232 feet in the hammer in college, has continued to work with Bedard, improving his hammer mark by 20 feet. Loftin has placed fifth at the 2012 U.S. Olympic Trials as well as in fourth at the 2013 USATF Championships.

Bedard has shared his coaching expertise as a featured speaker at numerous conferences and clinics across the country. He has also developed an instructional master class on discus throwing technique - "Throwing Smarter, Throwing Farther" - which is available through Vimeo.

Bedard's coaching has extended beyond Fort Collins as he was selected as the throws coach for the U.S. Junior Pan American team in 2015, and led the squad to three gold and three silver medals in the throwing events.

COLLEGIATE CAREER
Before he began his coaching career, Bedard was a member CSU’s track & field team from 1983-88. Bedard was a Western Athletic Conference runner-up in the discus and recorded an eighth-place finish in the shot put in conference competition. Entering 2021 outdoor season, he still stands 18th on the outdoor discus record list at CSU with a toss of 176'10''.

PERSONAL
Bedard is married to Jill Bedard (formerly Jill Johnson), a Colorado State University Hall of Fame inductee and volleyball standout from 1987-90. The couple has two daughters, Kelcey and Baylee. Kelcey is a graduate from CSU track & field and was a Second-Team All-American in hammer, weight throw, and discus, while also earning MWC champion three times in her career with the Rams. Baylee played collegiate soccer, first for Kansas State before transferring to Colorado State as a redshirt sophomore in 2018.