Mike Kuoppamaki is in his 11th year as pole vault coach for the University of California San Diego track and field program in 2021. Kuoppamaki adds a wealth of experience to the Triton staff, having coached in the college ranks since 1999 at UC Davis, Boise State and San Francisco State.
With the transition to Division I in 2021, Kuoppamaki prepped his vaulters for new competition as part of the Big West Conference. Highlighting the pole vault events was Evan Shimasaki who took first-place at the Matador Invite with a mark of 15’9.25”, which ultimately ranked 11th among the league at the end of the season. Additionally, Naomi Chin matched a personal best 11’11.75”, a height she reached in her rookie campaign, to finish fifth overall and remain at No. 7 on the program’s all-time list.
In 2020, Kuoppamaki greatly assisted the same two Triton scholar-athletes in entering or bypassing the UC San Diego pole vault records. Shimasaki cleared 16'6.75" at the San Diego Collegiate Challenge which tied the all-time mark at number one, while Chin impressed in her freshman year to enter the record books after competing in just four meets.
Kuoppamaki has worked with two individual national champions, as well as several California Collegiate Athletic Association champions and national All-Americans. In addition, he has sent two athletes to the U.S. Olympic Trials.
In his first year with the program in 2010, Kuoppamaki coached Donna LeFever, who set the school record in the pole vault with an impressive mark of 12'6". LeFever went on to finish sixth (12'2.75") at the NCAA Championships in Charlotte, N.C., becoming the first Triton to earn All-America accolades in the vault on the women's side.
Kuoppamaki graduated from UC Davis with a bachelor degree in Neuro Physiology and Behavior in 1998. He placed fourth at the NCAA Championships in the decathlon while competing for the Aggies, and then went on to place 13th at the U.S. Nationals in 2003. Kuoppamaki received his Doctorates of Chiropractic in 2008 and now works in San Diego.
