Central Michigan University Athletics
CMU Assistant Goes International
3/18/2016 12:00:00 AM | MTF
Andy Sneddon, CMUChippewas.com
PORTLAND, Ore. - Central Michigan track and field assistant coach Andrew Basler will step onto a big stage this weekend when he coaches in the IAAF World Indoor Championships at the Oregon Convention Center.
It's the first time that Basler, who is in his second stint as an assistant at CMU, has coach at the international level.
"All the experiences that we have as coaches just help us, and our student-athletes, down the road," Basler said from Portland on Friday. "Being at an international level like this, it helps motivate and lights a fire; I want to get my current athletes to higher level down the road.
"From a recruiting standpoint and to have that international experience on your resume adds a level of legitimacy as a coach."
Basler, who coaches jumpers, heptathletes and decathletes under CMU Director of Track & Field and Cross Country Mark Guthrie, will mentor Taiwanese longer jumper Ted Hooper this weekend in World Indoors.
Basler coached Hooper when Hooper was an undergrad at UC Riverside and Basler was an assistant there. The goal is to get Hooper qualified for the 2016 Olympics in Rio de Janeiro, Basler said. In order to do that, Hooper will have to jump at least 26 feet, 9 inches.
There are 14 long jumpers representing 12 countries scheduled to compete on Sunday, Basler said. Each will make three attempts and the top eight advance to the finals.
"Our goal is for him to get to the finals," Basler said. "And he'll have to get that Olympic qualifying jump to be in the area where he could medal."
Basler has coached Hooper from a distance through the magic of technology since he left Riverside two years ago.
"Ted in high school was a kid who jumped 22 feet, so he's jumped 4 feet in five, six years," Basler said. "It wasn't like he was one of the top long jumpers in the nation coming out of high school.
"And he got to the level where he was a Second Team All-American for UC Riverside. Ted's really come from a humble background and worked really hard to get to where he's at now."
Basler is in his second stint as an assistant at CMU. He was an All-American long jumper under Guthrie at Division III Wisconsin-LaCrosse, then joined CMU as a graduate assistant in 2005.
He was at Riverside for six years before returning to Mount Pleasant when Guthrie took over the Chippewa program in July, 2013.
Basler has coached a number of student-athletes who have achieved All-America honors, both at CMU and at UC Riverside.
Basler's resumé includes numerous athletes who have qualified for and competed in the U.S. Olympic Trials, the U.S. Outdoor Track and Field Championships, and the U.S. Junior Outdoor Track and Field Championships. He has also coached several Mid-American Conference champions while at CMU and many Big West champions at Riverside.
