Bob Thurnhoffer - Track & Field Coach - University of Louisville Athletic

Bob Thurnhoffer

Title:
Assistant Coach/Jumps
Email:
bob@GoCards.com

Assistant Coach (Jumps) - 2nd season

Coaching Honors at Louisville
• USTFCCCA Southeast Regional Women's Outdoor Assistant Coach of the Year (2025)

Athlete Honors at Louisville
• 1 NCAA Champion
• 6 USTFCCCA All-Americans (2 Indoor, 4 Outdoor)
• 8 NCAA Championships Qualifications (2 Indoor, 6 Outdoor)
• 17 All-ACC Selections (9 Indoor, 8 Outdoor)
• 18 NCAA East Regional Qualifications
• 1 Program Record
• 1 Freshman Record
• 1 ACC Performer of the Year
• 1 USTFCCCA Southeast Regional Performer of the Year

Bob Thurnhoffer was named to the Louisville track and field coaching staff as an assistant coach for jumps on July 31, 2023.

In his time with the Cardinals, Thurnhoffer has coached the Louisville jumpers to one individual NCAA title, six USTFCCCA All-American honors, eight NCAA Championships qualifications, 17 All-ACC honors, 18 NCAA East Regional bids, one program record, and one freshman record.

2024-25
Indoor
During the 2024-25 indoor season, Thurnhoffer led the Cards to a dominant performance at the ACC Indoor Championships, where they became the only program to earn podium finishes in each of the three jumps events at the 2025 meet. Under Thurnhoffer's guidance, the Cards earned three bronze medals with Rachel Darden in the women's triple jump, Synclair Savage in the women's long jump, and Brion Stephens in the men's high jump. Sophia Day also earned Second Team All-ACC honors for the first time in her career in the women's long jump, placing fifth in the event at the conference championship meet.

Outdoor
Under Thurnhoffer's guidance, Synclair Savage claimed the NCAA title in the women's long jump, the fifth outdoor national title in program history. On her final attempt of the competition at the NCAA Outdoor Championships, the redshirt senior set a new program record of 6.72m to move from fourth to first and etch her name in program history. Along with the national title from Savage, Sharvari Parulekar (13th - women's triple jump) and Roman Kuleshov (16th - men's triple jump) earned Second Team All-American distinction in their first career appearances at the national championship meet. Thurnhoffer also led the Louisville jumpers to a solid showing at the ACC Outdoor Championships, as the group combined for six All-ACC honors. Savage (second - women's long jump), Parulekar (second - women's triple jump) and Kuleshov (third - men's triple jump) were named First Team All-ACC, while Sophia Day (fifth - women's long jump), Soledad Jean (T-fifth - women's high jump), and Miller Jones (sixth - men's triple jump) all earned Second Team All-ACC recognition. Josh Moore (T-seventh - men's high jump) and Day (eighth - women's triple jump) rounded out the point scorers for the Cards.

2023-24
Indoor
Thurnhoffer's first indoor season at the helm of the Cardinals' jumps crew in 2023-24 saw Trey Allen and Brion Stephens both earn Second Team All-American distinction in the men' high jump, where Stephens tied for 11th and Allen placed 14th at the NCAA Indoor Championships. At the ACC Indoor Championships, Allen (third - men's high jump), Alba Cuns Iglesias (third - women's triple jump), Stephens (second - men's high jump), and Jeremiah Willis (second - men's long jump) all earned First Team All-ACC distinction with top-three individual finishes in their respective events.

Outdoor
The 2024 outdoor season was highlighted by a trio of jumpers earning qualifications to the NCAA Outdoor Championships, led by Jake Burkey's 15th-place finish in the men's long jump while Soledad Jean (women's high jump) and Brion Stephens (men's high jump) were both tabbed Honorable Mention All-Americans. Along with the three national qualifiers, the Louisville jumpers accounted for a total of 11 berths to the NCAA East Regional, including four individuals in the men's long jump. At the ACC Outdoor Championships, Stephens earned his second consecutive runner-up finish at the outdoor conference championships meet in the men's high jump, while Roman Kuleshov earned Second Team All-ACC distinction in the men's triple jump after placing fourth in the event. The jumps squad also saw three more performances score points at the ACC Championships as Jean placed seventh in the women's high jump, Jeremiah Willis finished seventh in the men's long jump, and Rachel Darden rounded out the scorers in the women's triple jump with an eighth-place finish. Thurnhoffer also guided Sophia Day to a Louisville freshman record of 12.42m in the women's triple jump. Over the course of the campaign, the Louisville jumpers also fared well in the USTFCCCA Event Squad Rankings with the men's long jump, women's triple jump, and men's triple jump each finishing the year ranked in the top-five nationally.

2021-23 - University of New Mexico - Assistant Coach
Thurnhoffer came to Louisville after spending two seasons as an assistant coach at the University of New Mexico where he coached athletes in all speed/power events (sprints, jumps, hurdles, relays, throws). During his time at UNM, he coached 13 NCAA All-Americans, 25 Mountain West champions, 33 NCAA qualifiers, and helped set 19 new school records.

Thurnhoffer joined the Louisville coaching staff after amassing 18 years of collegiate coaching experience at three different institutions at the Division I level. Over the course of his career, Thurnhoffer has coached his athletes to 17 USTFCCCA All-American honors, 66 NCAA Championships qualifications, 119 individual conference championships, 156 all-conference honors, and 121 school record performances.

The 2022-23 season saw unprecedented success at the national level for the Lobo long jumpers as both Jake Burkey and Lokesh Sathyanathan were recognized as NCAA All-Americans in the men’s long jump. The duo also dominated the Mountain West conference with Burkey winning the indoor conference title and Sathyanathan capturing the outdoor crown. Both set Mountain West Championship records in the event in the process. Thurnhoffer also guided Sathyanathan to the 2023 Mountain West Outdoor Track & Field Male Performer of the Meet and Student Athlete of the Year awards following his success during the outdoor campaign.

After his first season in Albuquerque, Thurnhoffer was named the 2022 USTFCCCA Mountain Region Outdoor Men’s Assistant Coach of the Year following an outdoor season that saw his athletes earn 16 All-MWC honors while earning nine gold medals at the conference championship meet. He also helped Rivaldo Leacock (men’s 400m hurdles) to second team All-American recognition, while Jovahn Williamson (men’s 400m) and the men’s 4x400m relay were tabbed as honorable mention All-Americans.

Thurnhoffer’s time at New Mexico also yielded sustained success at the national level with his athletes recording the Israeli indoor men’s 200m national record, the Scottish indoor men’s 300m national record, the second-best 400m hurdles performance in Barbados athletics history from Leacock, and the ninth-best long jump in India athletics history from Sathyanathan.

2016-21 - Loyola University Chicago - Head Coach
2014-16 - Loyola University Chicago - Assistant Coach
2010-14 - Loyola University Chicago - Graduate Assistant/Part-Time Coach
Prior to his time with the Lobos, Thurnhoffer spent five seasons (2016-21) as the head track & field and cross country coach at Loyola University Chicago, where he also served as an assistant coach working primarily with jumpers and sprinters from 2014-16 and a graduate assistant/part-time coach from 2010-14.

At Loyola, Thurnhoffer helped the Ramblers tally 27 NCAA Championships qualifiers, eight Missouri Valley Conference team trophies, 65 individual conference titles, 19 individual conference specialty award winners, and 92 school record performances. On the international stage, he coached two athletes to European Championships qualifications while helping one athlete to a British U23 championship and aiding in a new Scottish junior national record.

He also helped the Ramblers find success off the track as the head coach of the program with 32 USTFCCCA All-Academic Team members, nine COSIDA Academic All-District Award winners, and two COSIDA Academic All-Americans during his time with the program. All fifteen of the teams Thurnhoffer helmed also earned USTFCCCA All-Academic distinction as a whole.

2004-09 - University of Illinois at Chicago - Assistant Coach
Thurnhoffer began his coaching career as an assistant jumps coach at the University of Illinois at Chicago for four years (2004-09). Under his guidance, the Flames’ jumpers earned 29 individual Horizon League championships, six NCAA Championships qualifications, and 10 school record performances.

Personal
Outside of coaching, Thurnhoffer has also been featured in numerous speaking engagements and compiled five publications centered primarily around training strategies within sprints and jumps for coaches throughout track and field. He has also earned multiple certifications over the course of his career including completion of a USTFCCCA Master’s Endorsement in Horizontal Jumps and the Frans Bosch Injury Prevention and Rehabilitation Course.

Thurnhoffer earned a bachelor’s degree in exercise science from UIC in 2004 and is currently writing his thesis after completing coursework for a master of arts in philosophy from Loyola-Chicago.