Widely recognized as the premiere throws coach in the country, Larry Judge is currently a professor in the Kinesiology Department at Ball State University. Prior to entering the academic field, Larry served was a collegiate throws coach for over 18 years. Most recently he led the Florida Gators throws dynasty to become one of the most dominant event groups in NCAA Track & Field history. Under Judge's direction, the Florida throws group has reached the pinnacle of the sport amassing unparalleled honors. In just four years at UF, Judge has tutored eight All-Americans, five Southeastern Conference Champions, two NCAA champions and three Olympians adding to an already impressive resume. Gator throwers have collected an astounding 30 All-American honors, 14 individual SEC titles, and 5 individual NCAA titles since Judge's arrival in Gainesville prior to the 2000-01 season.2004 was another stellar campaign for the Gator throwing core as the group scattered 10 All-American honors among five athletes to lead the nation. Kim Barrett took home SEC titles in both the indoor and outdoor shot put and set school and SEC conference records. Barrett also set the NCAA record in the weight throw at the Florida Intercollegiate. Barrett was also the NCAA runner-up in the weight throw finishing the competition as only the second collegiate female in history to surpass 75 feet in that event. Candice Scott reset her own NCAA records in the weight throw and hammer while defending her championships. She also had two SEC individual wins in the weight throw and hammer throw and garnered All-American honors in the shot put indoors with a seventh place finish. Florida had an unprecedented 4 girls over 71 feet at the NCAA championships indoor in the weight throw with Jukina Dickerson finishing fifth with a throw 71-8 and Laquanda Cotton finishing sixth with a throw of 71-7. Scott defended her NCAA title in the hammer throw, taking home an NCAA crown for a third consecutive season. She also reset her own collegiate record in the hammer throw with a mark of 229-1. Rachel Longfors set the school record in the discus at the Olympic Trials with a throw of 188-7. Former Gator Erin Gilreath established a world record in the weight throw 78-7, and set the American Record in the hammer throw at 236-7 enroute to representing the United States in the hammer throw in Athens. Judge served as an Olympic Coach for Trinidad and Tobago and assisted Gators Kim Barrett and Candice Scott, as well as Gilreath in Athens. Scott finished 9th in the Games resetting her own school, collegiate and national records.
2003 was perhaps Judge's best season with the Gators as two athletes won individual national titles, eight athletes earned 13 All-America honors, two athletes won NCAA East Region titles and four Gators claimed SEC titles. Erin Gilreath won a national title, winning the weight throw with a mark of 72-2.75 - the third best throw in collegiate history in the event. Gilreath led a Gator domination of the event at the NCAA's with Jukina Dickerson finishing second, LaQuanda Cotten finishing fourth, Kim Barrett finishing fifth, and Merilyn Brown finishing sixth. Candice Scott won her second national title in as many years, winning the hammer throw at the NCAA Outdoor Championships with a collegiate-record throw of 228-10 - the third time she set the record in 2003. Rachel Longfors finished fourth in the NCAA's and added an NCAA East Region title in the discus after throwing 180-11, which put her second on Florida's all-time list in the event. Karen Freberg was a two-time SEC Champion in the shot put and the Gators swept the top five spots at the outdoor SEC Championships. The throwers also finished one through four in the hammer, one-two in the discus and led the team to an outdoor SEC championship with 85 points in three events. Kim Barrett earned a team-high three All-America honors in 2003. Later that summer, Scott added a bronze medal at the Pan American Games and a 9th place finish at the World Championships. When the season ended, Judge's athletes accounted for four school records and rewrote the school's top 10 lists for the throws after almost every meet. For his efforts, Judge was named Assistant Coach of the Year in the Throws by the USTCA.
2002 proved to be a building block to what is now the nation's premiere throwing program. Two Gators rewrote the record books in the 20-pound weight throw. Scott set the NCAA record at the Adidas Invitational in Lincoln, Neb., and reset it at the SEC championships in Fayetteville, Ark., before launching an NCAA all time best mark of 75-7.5 - the third longest throw in the world. Scott won the weight throw at the 2002 Indoor NCAA Championships, and added a fourth place finish in the shot put to her record setting year. Dickerson established an American Collegiate record (71-8.5) at the Gator Invitational, handing Scott her only defeat of the season. Dickerson placed third at the NCAA Indoor Nationals. Scott picked up two additional SEC Championships in the shot put and hammer throw for a total of four SEC title wins for the year and earned All-America honors in those events at the NCAA Outdoor Championships. Longfors added a seventh place finish and personal best in the discus at the NCAA Championships. In addition, Cotten received the SEC Commissioner's Trophy as the top point scorer at the SEC Outdoor Meet.
Before his arrival in Gainesville, Judge spent three seasons as the head coach at the University of Wyoming for the men's and women's track and cross country programs. In his three years in Laramie, Judge guided the Wyoming program to new heights, completely rewriting the record books. The Cowboys and Cowgirls finished in the Top 25 five times in both indoor and outdoor track, and Judge also brought the program into the national spotlight, tutoring 13 individual conference champions, two NCAA runner-ups, 27 All-Americans and four Olympians. In his final season (2000), the men's team finished second in the Mountain West Conference indoor meet and the women's team finished third. In 2000,Wyoming qualified nine athletes - a school record for the NCAA championships, bringing home 13 All-American honors. Both teams finished in the top 25 in the indoor and outdoor nationals.
In 1999,Wyoming continued to improve as the men's team finished 21st in the NCAA indoor meet. Both the men's and women's teams were ranked in the top 25 by Trackwire most of the season. In 1999, seven Wyoming athletes participated in the NCAA championships. Wyoming athletes earned six All-America honors in 1999, and both teams finished the year with a cumulative GPA above 3.0.
In the throws, Judge's athletes rewrote the record books with Kevin Mannon setting the American Collegiate Record in the 35lb weight throw (74-8.25). Robin Lyons set Canadian national records in the hammer (211-4) and 20 lb weight (70-11). Derek Woodske and Marie LeJour set Canadian Senior and Junior National records in the weight throw and Julie Thomas set the American Junior Record in the weight. Jesseca Cross recorded the fourth-best mark indoors in US history in the shot put (62-10.75) and the No. 2 throw in the weight (73-3) in 2000. Judge's assistant coach Dawn Ellerbe set American Records in the hammer (230-3) and weight (77-8.5) in that same year.
Judge's throwers stayed very busy in international competition. Ellerbe and Jason Gervais competed in the Pan American Games and World Championships in Seville in 1999, with Ellerbe winning the Pan American Games Gold and establishing a new meet record. Ellerbe and Cross also competed in the 1999 World University Games. Both had fourth-place finishes with Cross hitting a personal best in the shot put competition. In the summer of 2000, Robin Lyons and Gervais won the Canadian Olympic trials while Ellerbe set the U.S. Olympic Trials record in the hammer. Cross, finished second in the Olympic trials in the shot put and third in the hammer throw. Kevin Mannon just missed making the U.S. team finishing fifth in the hammer throw. Judge served as the personal coach for Ellerbe, Cross and Gervais in Sydney at the 2000 Olympic Games.
No stranger to the Southeastern Conference, Judge had outstanding success in his five years as an assistant coach at the University of South Carolina. He assisted in three top 25 finishes on the men's team and four top 10 finishes on the women 's team. Led by Judge's throwers, the Gamecocks finished fourth indoors and fifth outdoors nationally in women's events, and seventh indoors in men's events. While at South Carolina, Judge coached 21 SEC champions, 37 All-Americans and sent 19 different athletes to the NCAA meet in the throwing events.
At the 1997 NCAA Indoor Championships, the Gamecock women went one-two in the weight throw and finished fourth through sixth in the shot put for 30 points at the meet, helping South Carolina to a fourth place finish. The Gamecock throwers dominated the SEC Conference meet in 1996, crowning nine individual champions, setting three SEC conference records and scoring 90 points in the conference championships on the women's side to lead the team to a school record second place finish.
Judge tutored 1994 NCAA Champion and American collegiate record setter Ron Willis in the weight throw (72-1). Ellerbe won four NCAA titles in the hammer throw and weight and established American and collegiate records in those events under Judge. Ellerbe was named the USATF female thrower of the year in 1997, and Kevin Mannon was the 1998 SEC Commisioners' Trophy winner. Crystal Brownlee established an SEC outdoor record in the shot put and competed in the 1997 World University Games in that event. 1996 Olympians and 1997 World Championship participants Brad Snyder (shot put) and Lisa Misipeka (shot put) both won NCAA nationals titles indoor and outdoors in 1998. Misipeka was a four time NCAA Runner-up behind Ellerbe in 1996 and 1997.
Prior to coaching at South Carolina, Judge served as an assistant coach at Indiana State University, where he coached 19 conference champions and eight All-Americans, including three NCAA runners-up. Judge assisted in three conference championships and three Top 20 NCAA finishes. In his five-year stay, he tutored athletes that participated in the Olympic Trials, the World University Games and the World Championships. World Championship participant Christy Barrett improved her high school personal best in the shot put from 42-0 as a prep to 58-7 under Judge.
Judge has guided athletes in the last three Olympic Games. Judge served as the personal coach for Snyder and Misipeka at the Olympic Games in Atlanta and guided Ellerbe to the 1996 US Olympic Trials title in the hammer. Snyder put the shot for Canada and Misipeka competed in the same event for American Samoa. In 2000 five of his former athletes competed in the 2000 Olympic Games in Sydney. Judge served as the personal coach for Jesseca Cross and Dawn Ellerbe of the U.S. and Jason Gervais of Canada. Ellerbe was Judge's top finisher in the games finishing seventh in the hammer throw with a distance of 219-1. In 2004 Judge served as an assistant coach for Trinidad and Tobago in Athens and watched as three of his Gators competed, Candice Scott for Trinidad and Tobago, Kim Barrett for Jamaica, and Erin Gilreath for the United States
In the aspects of technical coaching, Judge is a well-respected author and clinician. He has published approximately 30 articles on track and field technique, nutrition and resistance training. Judge holds many certifications, including NSCA certified strength and conditioning coach, USWF regional weightlifting coach, ACSM fitness instructor and ACE certified personal trainer. Many of Judge's former athletes have gone on to coach in college - Dawn Ellerbe (Wyoming), Lisa Misipeka (Northern Arizona), Glenn McAtee (Clemson) and Matt Quinn (IUPU Fort Wayne).
Judge is very active in the USATF coaches education program. He was recently honored with the distinction "Master Coach" in the throws by USATF for his contributions to track and field. Judge is the National Chairman of the Throws for USATF Coaching Education, is certified as a Level III coach and is a member of the USATF Coaches Education Curriculum Committee. Judge is very active in coaches' education as a Level I, II, and III instructor.
A native of Merrillville, Ind., Judge was a standout performer at Indiana State, setting the school record and qualifying for the NCAA 's with a throw of 62-3.75 in the shot put. Judge also established Indiana intercollegiate and school records in the 35-pound weight throw and the hammer. The two-time MVC shot put champion was named to the MVC Academic All-Conference team and was a finalist for GTE Academic All-American.
As a prep star at Merrillville High School he was coached in the shot put by his father, Ira, and was an All-American in football. Brother Mike was a standout shot putter at the University of Georgia.
A black belt in karate, Judge has impressive educational credentials including a Masters Degree in Exercise Science, a Masters Degree in Public Administration and a Ph.D. in Higher Education Administration.
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