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Jim Garnham |
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Assistant Coach - Field Events
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Jim Garnham joined the Notre Dame track and field staff as an assistant coach for jumps in the fall of 2008.
In his third year with the Fighting Irish, Garnham helped Kevin Schipper win his second-straight title in the pole vault at the BIG EAST Outdoor Championships. It was Schipper's second title of the year, as he also won the pole vault at the Arizona State Invitational, taking home BIG EAST Male Field Athlete of the Week honors. Garnham's efforts also helped multi-event athletes, as Justin Schneider earned all-BIG EAST honors in the men's heptathlon, while Maddie Buttinger earned her second all-conference accolade in the women's hep- tathlon. Buttinger went on to finish 12th in the same event at the NCAA Championships, posting a top-10 finish in the high jump.
During the 2009-10 campaign, Schipper won the indoor and outdoor BIG EAST titles in the pole vault. Eric Quick captured the title at the BIG EAST Indoor Championships and was the runner-up in both the long jump and the triple jump. Justin Schneider won the heptathlon at the indoor league meet and was runner up in the decathlon. Buttinger earned all-BIG EAST honors in the heptathlon, finishing second.
Schipper went on to finish eighth place at the NCAA Outdoor track and field championships to earn his first All-American honor. Quick, who finished 16th in the triple jump, became the first-ever athlete from Notre Dame to compete at the NCAAs in the event. Buttinger also qualified in the heptathlon for her first NCAA championship appearance. She went on to finish 19th in the event.
Garnham led the Irish jumpers to an outstanding season during the 2008-09 season that included two All-America honors and four BIG EAST titles.
Mary Saxer earned her first All-America honor with a ninth-place pole vault finish at the 2009 NCAA Indoor Championships and then followed that with a third-place, All-American performance at the outdoor meet. Saxer also won the BIG EAST indoor and outdoor pole vault titles.
Matt Schipper qualified for both the NCAA indoor and outdoor meets after taking home the BIG EAST indoor and outdoor pole vault titles in 2009. Kevin Schipper was the third Irish pole vaulter to earn all-BIG EAST honors with a second-place finish at the league's indoor meet in the same event.
Justin Schneider qualified for the 2009 NCAA Outdoor Championships in the decathlon, where he finished in 20th place. He was also the runner up in the decathlon at the BIG EAST Conference Championships. At the 2010 Indoor BIG EAST Championships, Kevin Schipper took top honors in pole vault, Eric Quick won the triple jump for the Irish and Justin Schneider became the first Notre Dame athlete to win a heptathlon title. Maddie Buttinger took All-BIG EAST honors in the pentathlon with a 3rd place finish.
In three years at Notre Dame, Garnham has coached three All-Americans, nine NCAA Qualifiers, nine NCAA Regional Qualifiers, nine BIG EAST Conference Champions, and 18 all-BIG EAST performers.
Garnham joined the Irish staff after a three-year stint as the field events coach at the University of Tulsa. During his tenure, he coached an NCAA qualifier in the shot put, a USATF indoor shot put qualifier, 17 NCAA Midwest Regional qualifiers, four Conference USA champions and 20 all-C-USA athletes. His student- athletes also set 18 school records at Tulsa.
Prior to Tulsa, Garnham served five years as an assistant track and field coach at the University at Buffalo, where he worked with multi-event athletes, javelin throwers and hurdlers. He coached a USATF indoor heptathlon qualifier, a Canadian Olympic trials qualifier in the women's heptathlon, two NCAA quali- fiers, four NCAA East Regional qualifiers and five Mid- American Conference champions.
Garnham earned his bachelor's degree in history from Kent State in 1998.
