2010 Men's and Women's Cross Country/Track and Field Media Guide

On the women’s side, Blockburger helped guide Liz Patterson
to runner-up finishes in the indoor and outdoor high jump
championships. Her indoor championship mark of 1.95m (6-4
¾) was the third highest jump in UA history.
Blockburger also led Shevell Quinley to an eighth place finish
in the heptathlon in her final outdoor meet to bring her to a
grand total of four All-American honors in her illustrious career.
Gabriella Duclos earned her first All-American honors both
indoors and outdoors in the pole vault to wrap up her career
as well.
The 2008 NCAA Championships – both indoor and outdoor
– were also a bright spot for athletes competing under
Blockburger. Indoors, Luis Rivera-Morales placed ninth in the
long jump with a jump of 25-7.25”. Shevell Quinley placed
third in the heptathlon with a school record score of 4,256
and Jasmin Day placed sixth in the high jump with a leap of
6-0.25”. At the 2008 NCAA Outdoor Championships,
Elizabeth Patterson jumped 6-1.25” on her first
attempt to upset 2005 NCAA Champion and
Blockburger’s former athlete, Sharon Day, to win the
high jump title. Jasmine Day finished in seventh to earn
her second All-American honor of the season. Patterson’s
championship gave Blockburger his fourth national
champion in as many years.
At the University of Arizona, Blockburger coached
Jake Arnold to back-to-back NCAA decathlon titles in
2006 and 2007. Arnold’s score of 8,215 in 2007 broke
a nineteen year old school record and was the sixth
highest score in NCAA meet history. Jake was
also named Field Athlete of the Year
by the USTFCCCA. Arnold also finished
second place at the 2007 NCAA Indoor
Championships with a school record score of
5909. Jake went on to finish 13th at the 2007 World
Championships with his second best
score ever (8,002).
Other fine performances in 2007 included; Gabriella
Duclos winning the PAC-10 Championship in the pole
vault with a personal best clearance of 13-9.25” and
Daniel Marshall winning the NCAA West Region
triple jump title with a leap of 51-9.25”. At the USATF
National Junior Championships in Indianapolis,
Elizabeth Patterson won the high jump with a
clearance of 5-9.25”. Blockburger was named the West Region
Field Event Coach of the Year by the USTFCCCA to conclude
the season.
From 2002-04, Blockburger also served as a head regional
coach for the WGA Decathlon Club, where he coached two
post-collegiate decathletes in preparation for the 2004 Olympic
Trials. He placed one of them (Paul Terek) on the 2004 Olympic
Decathlon Team with a score of 8,312.
Blockburger was named Head Coach of the United States
versus Germany Decathlon in 1998, where the Americans
made a huge second day comeback to defeat the Germans in
Lubbock, TX. He was also the Head Coach of the United States
versus Germany Decathlon in 2008 and led the squad to its fifth
consecutive victory over the Europeans. Former UA-athlete
and Blockburger pupil Jake Arnold was the individual runnerup
in the event.
An accomplished competitor at the international
level, Blockburger was a standout at LSU where
he captured the Southeastern Conference
(SEC) decathlon championship in 1986 with a
meet-record 7,737 points and set the indoor
pentathlon world record at the 1987 SEC
Championships with 4,453 points.
Blockburger was runner-up at the 1989
USATF Decathlon Championships with
a score of 8,248 and was a bronze
medalist at the 1990 USATF Decathlon
Championships with 8,301 points. In
1993, he won the MultiStars Decathlon
in Brescia, Italy with 8,296 points.
Blockburger retired following the 1994
USATF Decathlon Championships
where he finished in fourth with
a score of 8,281. He did come
back in 1995 to win the inaugural
USATF National Indoor Heptathlon
Championship with 6,030 points.
A native of Newport Beach, Calif.,
Blockburger earned a Bachelor of Arts
degree from LSU in 1988. He is married
to Cynthia Blockburger. They have two
children, Alyssa and Johnnie.
www.arizonaathletics.com
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