University of Minnesota Athletics
Scott Bennett Named Assistant Men's Track & Field Coach
8/19/2003 12:00:00 AM | Men's Track & Field
"We are very excited to add such a highly skilled and experienced coach to our staff," said Lundin. "Despite the change in assistant coaches, our guys won't miss a beat. Our team is poised to build on the success we experienced last season."
Bennett has impacted several collegiate track & field programs in his 24-plus years in the profession. A number of top collegiate, national and Olympic athletes have been tutored to successful performances by Bennett.
Bennett comes to Minnesota after a one-year stint (2002-03) as an assistant coach for the men's and women's track programs at Georgia Tech. In his one season at Tech, he helped the Yellow Jacket throwers earn an All-America citation in the hammer and Atlantic Coast Conference titles in the hammer and weight throw.
From 1998-2002, Bennett served as the women's field events coach at Tennessee. During his time with the Lady Vols, Bennett continued to coach two national caliber throwers, Andy Bloom and Aretha Hill, to international acclaim. Bloom finished fourth in the 2000 Olympics in the shot put and notched a No. 2 ranking in the world in the shot put that season. Hill, a 1996 Olympian, worked her way into a top three in the U.S. and top seven in the world ranking in the discus.
Prior to his work in Knoxville, Bennett worked as the men's and women's field event coach at Wake Forest from 1993-96. He handled coaching and recruiting duties for Demon Deacon throws, jumps, sprints and multi-events performers. He mentored 1996 U.S. Olympic Trials qualifiers in the men's discus, men's shot put and women's heptathlon, as well as six All-Americans and 10 ACC champions.
Bennett has also made coaching stops at Wisconsin (1981-83, 1989-93), Kansas State (1985-89) and Wisconsin-LaCrosse (1983-84). While at Kansas State, he worked with Kenny Harrison, who went on to win gold in the triple jump at the 1996 Olympics and '91 World Championships.
He has also been heavily involved in several USA Track & Field projects and has conducted a throws camp at Wake Forest for each of the last five years.
A Brookfield, Wis. native, Bennett is a 1976 graduate of Wisconsin with a bachelor's degree in physical education. While in school there, he was a member of the Badgers' football and track and field teams.
While at Wisconsin-LaCrosse, Bennett earned a master's degree in Human Performance, graduating in 1984.
