Tucson, Ariz. – The University of Arizona Track and Field program has named Sheldon Blockburger Assistant Track and Field Coach on Wednesday. Blockburger will lead the combined events and jumps groups.
 
"The stars have aligned perfectly, and to have the opportunity to bring Sheldon Blockburger back home is something very special," said head track and field coach Fred Harvey. "It's hard to put into words how excited I am for Arizona Athletics, to have one of the worlds best Multi Events/Jumps coaches back in the Wildcat Family. We have a great group of student-athletes in that area and he's just the coach for the job."
 
"I'm glad to be back," said Blockburger. "I am looking forward to getting us back in the top 10. It has been a long time away, but I am happy to be back and ready to get to work."
 
Blockburger spent three seasons with the USC Trojans as the assistant coach for jumps and multi-events. In his first two seasons as USC's jumps coach, his athletes have earned a total of seven All-America honors (4 indoor and 3 outdoor), three individual Pac-12 titles and seven MPSF indoor titles. In his first two seasons as a USC assistant coach his athletes have posted seven school all-time top 10 marks. Blockburger was named the 2017 Men's Assistant Coach of the Year for the West Region during the indoor season as he guided Randall Cunningham to the high jump title and Dominic Smallwood to the long jump title at the MPSF Championships.
 
During his 10 seasons as the combined events/jumps coach at Arizona, he guided athletes to 11 NCAA titles and 16 Pac-12 conference titles. He had 39 athletes garner All-America honors during his time at Arizona. In 2015, Blockburger guided Pau Tonnesen to the Pac-12 Decathlon title and to a second-place finish at the NCAA Championships with a school-record 8,247 points.
 
Prior to coaching at Arizona, Blockburger coached nine seasons at Cal Poly where he led athletes to 14 Big West outdoor titles and two NCAA titles. He coached 15 All-Americans while at Cal Poly.
 
Many of the athletes Blockburger has coached have gone on to achieve international success, including 2012 Olympic Silver medalist Brigetta Barrett in the high jump.
 
Blockburger was an outstanding decathlete himself, placing second in 1989 and third in 1990 at the USA Track & Field Championships. He also placed third in the decathlon at the 1991 Pan American games in Cuba. He posted a personal best in the decathlon on 8,301 points at the USA Championships on June 13, 1990.
 
Blockburger attended Orange Coast College and won the 1985 California Junior College decathlon title. He then transferred to LSU and placed fifth in the decathlon at the 1987 NCAA Championships. He graduated from Newport Harbor High in 1983 and won CIF division titles in both the long jump and triple jump during his senior season, one year after joining the track and field team.
 
Blockburger and his wife, Cindy, are the parents of twins, Johnny and Alyssa.
 
FOLLOW THE WILDCATS
Fans can keep up with the latest in Arizona Cross Country by following us on Facebook (Facebook.com/ArizonaTrack), Twitter (@ArizonaTrack), Instagram (arizonatrack & arizonacrosscountry) and YouTube (Youtube.com/arizonawildcatstrack) accounts.