Triton Bio - Mike Kuoppamaki - UCSDTritons.com—Official Web Site of UC San Diego Athletics

Track & Field

Courtesy: UCSD Release: 01/13/10

Mike Kuoppamaki

Position:	Assistant Coach
Alma Mater:	UC Davis
Graduating Year:	1998
Experience:	3 Years

Mike Kuoppamaki begins his fourth year as pole vault coach for the UC San Diego track and field program in 2013. Kuoppamaki adds a wealth of experience to the Triton staff, having coached in the college ranks since 1999 at UC Davis and then Idaho State.

He has worked with two individual national champions, as well as several CCAA Champions and National All-Americans. In addition, he has sent two athletes to the Olympic trials.

In his first year with the program in 2010, he coached Donna LeFever, who set the school record in the pole vault with an impressive mark of 12'6". LeFever went on to finish sixth (12'2.75") at the NCAA Championships in Charlotte, N.C., becoming the first Triton to earn All-American accolades in the vault on the women's side.

Kuoppamaki graduated from UC Davis with a bachelor degree in Neuro Physiology and Behavior in 1998. He placed fourth at the NCAA National Championships in the decathlon while competing for the Aggies and then went on to place 13th at the U.S. Nationals in 2003. Kuoppamaki received his Doctorates of Chiropractic in 2008 and now works in San Diego.