Track and Field
- Title:
- Assistant Coach (Throws)
- Email:
- jlambert@siu.edu
- Phone:
- 618-453-5140
By the Numbers
- 1 Olympian
-DeAnna Price, Hammer Throw, 8th Place, 2016
- 2 Olympic Trials participants – 1 Bronze medalist
-DeAnna Price, Hammer Throw, 3rd
-Josh Freeman, Shot Put, 8th
- 1 NCAA Champion
-DeAnna Price, Hammer Throw, 2016
- 11 NCAA All-Americans
-Shauniece O’Neal, Hammer Throw, 13th, 2019
-Jared Kern, Shot Put (Outdoor), 9th, 2018
-Ricky Hurley, Hammer Throw, 20th, 2018
-Jared Kern, Shot Put (Indoor), 11th, 2018
-Freya Block, Hammer Throw, 7th, 2017
-Jared Kern, Shot Put (Indoor), 4th, 2017
-DeAnna Price, Hammer Throw, 1st, 2016
-Josh Freeman, Shot Put (Outdoor), 6th, 2016
-Bradley Sauer, Hammer Throw, 18th, 2016
-Josh Freeman, Shot Put (Indoor), 7th, 2016
-Bradley Sauer, Weight Throw, 5th, 2016
- 25 NCAA Final and Preliminary qualifiers
- 21 MVC Champions
- 41 MVC All-Conference
- 32 SIU All-Time Top 10 Marks
- 6 MVC Most Outstanding Field Athletes
- 1 MVC Most Valuable Athlete
- 3 USATF Junior Participants
Entering his sixth season as an assistant coach at Southern Illinois University, J.C. Lambert has established himself as one of the NCAA’s premier throws coaches.
A native of nearby Harrisburg, Ill. who graduated from SIU in 2013, Lambert ranked among the most accomplished throwers in Southern's history as a five-time All-American and seven-time Missouri Valley Conference champion. With Lambert as SIU's throws coach the past four seasons, Saluki throwers have excelled on the national and international stage.
His coaching career is off to an impressive start with 11 All-Americans and 21 Missouri Valley Conference champions in just four seasons. He guided Price to an NCAA championship in the hammer throw in 2016 and she went on to place eighth in the Olympics that year. Josh Freeman also took eighth place in the shot put at the Olympic Trials. In 2019, Price unleashed the fourth-longest toss in women's hammer throw history to reset her own American record and win her third USATF championship at the 2019 USATF Outdoor Championships.
His fourth season on staff was a stellar year for Southern’s throwers, led by Adam Kessler and Shauniece O’Neal. Kessler won three MVC titles, set an indoor meet record in the shot put and took home both the indoor and outdoor MVC Most Outstanding Field Athlete awards. O’Neal, meanwhile, earned second-team All-America honors in the hammer throw during her sophomore season.
The 2018 season was another banner year for the Saluki throwers who won five MVC titles, tallied 12 top-3 finishes at conference meets and qualified four to national meets. Jared Kern broke both the school and the conference shot put records and claimed the MVC Outdoor Most Outstanding Male Field Athlete award. Isaac Ingram won the MVC Indoor Most Outstanding Field Athlete award after he won the weight throw at the conference indoor meet and Ricky Hurley took home the MVC Most Valuable Male Athlete award at the conference outdoor meet after he became just the third male thrower in MVC history to win the discus and the hammer throw at the same conference meet.
During the 2017 season, his throwers list of accomplishments included: two NCAA All-Americans, five MVC Champions, seven All-Conference accolades, ten All-Time Top 10 marks, and seven NCAA championship meet participants. Lambert’s throwers swept the indoor weight and outdoor hammer MVC championships. Saluki newcomer junior Jared Kern stormed onto the scene by winning the MVC indoor shot-put and claiming All-American status finishing fourth at the NCAA Championships which helped the Men’s team take 14that the Indoor NCAA’s. He threw a lifetime best 67’2” setting new SIU and MVC records. His mark also ranked him 16thon the IAAFWorld Indoor list. Former walk-on Freya Block led a young women’s group by claiming the indoor Weight throw and the outdoor Hammer throw MVC titles. She threw a lifetime best of 218’8” finishing third at the West NCAA preliminary. She followed up earning NCAA All-American status by finishing seventh in the hammer.
Lambert's first season (2016) was highlighted by the success of DeAnnaPrice and Josh Freeman. DeAnna’s hammer award list included; eight place at the 2016 Olympics, third place at the Olympic Trials, NCAA Champion, Collegiate All-Time Best throw, American Collegiate Record, NCAA Meet Record and the school record. In addition she a MVC shot put title to her lengthy resume. Working hard to not be out done, Freeman’s award list included; Silver Medalist at the NACACUnder-23 Championship, 16th at the Olympic Trials, two NCAA All-American awards, two MVC titles, and a new school record in the outdoor shot put. In all, Lambert’s throwers tallied: one Olympian, one NCAA Champion, four NCAA All-Americans, 13 NCAA Finalist and First Round Qualifiers, six MVC Conference Champions, 13 MVC All-conference honorees, nine Top-10 all-time marks, one NCAA meet record, and one MVC Most Outstanding Field Athlete honoree.
While he was a volunteer assistant, Lambert worked under his former coach, 2015 United States Track and Field and Cross Country Coaches Association National Outdoor Women’s Assistant Coach of the Year John Smith. In all he helped coach helped coach four MVC Champions, 13 All-MVCAthletes, five NCAA Preliminary qualifiers, four NCAA Finals Qualifiers, three NCAA All Americans including Deanna Price winning the NCAA National title in 2015, 1 USATFJr National Qualifier, one USATFJr National Bronze Medalist. Price also threw a personal best to place second at the 2015 USATFOutdoor Nationals. She made three USA Teams: Pan American Games (fourth), NACACSeniors (Silver Medal), IAAFWorlds (18th).
Lambert wrapped up his competitive career placing eighth in the hammer throw at the 2016 Olympic Trials. In 2015, he took second in the weight throw at the 2015 USA Senior Indoor National Championships and later took fourth in the hammer at the USATFChampionships. A 2013 SIU graduate, Lambert came within 2.5 inches of being a national champion during the 2011-12 indoor season, as he finished second at NCAA Championships in the weight throw. The runner-up finish at the national meet also marked the only loss for Lambert that entire season.
