Andy Kokhanovsky - Track & Field - Kansas Jayhawks

Andy Kokhanovsky

TITLE Assistant Coach - Throws
PHONE 864-5634

Bio

Andy Kokhanovsky is in his 17th season as a member of the Kansas track & field coaching staff, serving as the throws coach. In his first 17 seasons in Lawrence, his athletes garnered 59 First and Second Team All-America honors, 35 conference championships and two national championships. Four of Kokhanovsky’s athletes from KU have gone on to compete in the Olympic Games.

Kokhanovsky’s presence has been seen on a national and international scale. In 2021, Kokhanovsky guided Kansas’ Alexandra Emilianov, Mason Finley and Gleb Dudarev to the Tokyo Olympic Games.

During the 2021-22 college season, Kokhanovsky guided Emilianov to a runner-up finish at the 2022 NCAA Outdoor Championships in the discus, with Emilianov becoming the first Jayhawk in school history to have four first team All-American honors int he women’s discus. Emilianov also won the 2022 Big 12 Outdoor Championship, her third-career title in the event.

A year prior, Kokhanovsky coached Emilianov to the Big 12 indoor shot put title and Dudarev to the Big 12 hammer throw title – the fourth of Dudarev’s career, tying the most by an individual in Big 12 history in the event. Under Kokhanovsky, Dudarev (outdoor) and Emilianov (indoor, outdoor) went on to All-American honors, while Emilianov rewrote the record books in the shot put and discus outdoors. Dudarev went on to place as the runner-up at the NCAA Outdoor Championships in the Hammer Throw, and went down as one of the top hammer throwers in collegiate history.

In 2019, Kokhanovsky coached his athletes to three Big 12 Championships and two All-American honors, while also coaching Dudarev and Alexandra Emilianov to the IAAF World Championships in Doha, Qatar, where Dudarev placed eighth overall.

Kokhanovsky guided Nicolai Ceban added two All-American honors in 2018, earning Second Team honors in the shot put during indoor and discus in the outdoor season.  Dudarev added a third Second Team honor for Kokhanovsky’s throwers with a 12th place finish at the NCAA Outdoor National Championship, after previously winning the Big 12 title for the hammer throw. Emilianov won her first Big 12 title in the discus during 2018 and then went on to become the third Jayhawk to earn Second Team All-America honors during the 2018 season after placing 12th in the discus at the NCAA Outdoor National Championship.

In 2017, Kokhanovsky coached three athletes to four First Team All-America honors and one Second Team All-America honor. Then-freshman Gleb Dudarev won two Big 12 titles and garnered two First Team All-America honors in the 2017 season, finishing sixth in the weight throw at the NCAA Indoor National Championship and third in the hammer throw at the NCAA Outdoor National Championship.

In Mitch Cooper’s final collegiate outdoor season, Kokhanovsky guided him to a Big 12 title and First Team All-America honors in the discus. Nicolai Ceban won his first Big 12 title during indoor season in the shot put and went on to notch First Team All-America honors in the same event. During outdoor season, Ceban garnered Second Team All-America honors for his performance in the discus.

Kokhanovsky oversaw the rapid raise of Daina Levy, who became the second Jayhawk in three years to attain First Team All-America status in the hammer throw. She also garnered league titles in the weight and hammer throws in 2016 and notched a third-place finish in the weight throw at the NCAA Indoor Championships.

The 2016 season also saw Kokhanovsky pupil Mitch Cooper take down one of the school’s longest standing records. Cooper upended Doug Knop’s 46-year-old KU record in the discus, before going on to win the Big 12 title in the event later in the year.

Twenty-fourteen also saw another one of his athletes claim a Big 12 title as Jessica Maroszek won her second-straight discus championship, doing so in grand fashion after winning the competition with a meet-record throw of 197’5”.

In 2013 he once again mentored a host of Big 12 Champions and All-Americans, who played major roles in helping the women’s program to its first Big 12 team titles and a NCAA Outdoor Championship.

Alena Krechyk picked up her second weight throw league title and added on her second First Team All-America distinction in the hammer throw. Maroszek earned her first Big 12 discus crown and tallied a fourth-place finish in the event at the national championships. Heather Bergmann ended her KU career with a school record javelin toss which earned her second-straight First Team All-America honor. For the men, Jesse Vaughn won the Big 12’s javelin championship, making it seven out of Kokhanovsky’s then-eight seasons that a KU male won a throwing event at the conference meet.

Twenty-twelve saw another standout season for Kokhanovsky’s athletes with the highlight coming when Krechyk claimed the Big 12 hammer throw title with her school and meet record toss of 69.02 meters (226’5”). Krechyk went on to be named a First Team All-American in the event and joined Kokhanovsky athletes Mason Finley (shot put, discus) and Heather Bergmann (javelin) to add their names to the First Team All-America lists.

Kokhanovsky led one of the strongest groups of throwers the school has seen in 2011. He tutored four throwers to First Team All-America honors in five events, including Finley’s fourth Big 12 title. He also saw two of his athletes break school records, with Finley smashing the KU shot put record and sophomore Bergmann breaking the record in the javelin.

In 2010, Kokhanovsky mentored Finley to an outstanding rookie season. Finley won the Big 12 indoor title and claimed both the shot put and discus titles at the Big 12 Outdoor Championships. Finley earned All-America honors in all three events and finished second at the NCAA outdoor meet in both the shot put and discus. He was named the Midwest Region Field Athlete of the Year and also earned the Big 12’s Outstanding Male Freshman of the Year award. Kokhanovsky also coached Brian Bishop to an appearance at the 2010 NCAA Outdoor Championships in the discus, where he finished 15th.

Kokhanovsky mentored Egor Agafonov to his second-consecutive National Championship in 2008 in the weight throw and also saw him claim his fifth and sixth All-America honors (weight throw, hammer throw). That same season, Agafonov also won his third-consecutive Big 12 Championship in both the hammer and the weight throws.

In 2007, Kokhanovsky coached then-junior Agafonov to the indoor and outdoor conference championships in the weight throw and hammer throw, respectively. Agafonov earned All-America honors in both events and won the 2007 weight throw national championship. Also that season, Kokhanovsky also led Zlata Tarasova to the first women’s hammer throw conference championship in school history.

Kokhanovsky guided Agafonov to two Big 12 Championships (indoor weight throw and outdoor hammer throw) in Agafonov’s first season in intercollegiate athletics in 2006. Agafonov went on to earn All-America accolades with his second-place finish at NCAA Indoor Championships in the weight throw and a fifth-place finish at the NCAA Outdoor Championships in the hammer throw.

Kokhanovsky joined the Kansas staff after spending 2001-05 at Louisiana-Monroe. While at Louisiana-Monroe, Kokhanovsky’s athletes qualified for a total of 11 NCAA regional championships and set seven school records.

His collegiate coaching career began at McNease State where he coached throws and multi events from 1998-01.

Kokhanovsky graduated from Abilene Christian University in 1998 with a B.S. in education. In 1996, he set a Division II national record in the discus with a throw of 211’5”. He was also the national champion and an All-American in the event. The same year, Kokhanovsky represented the Ukraine in the discus at the Olympic Games in Atlanta.

Before his time in Abilene, Kokhanovsky competed at Blinn Junior College where he set the national record for junior colleges in the discus in 1995 with a throw of 210’8”. He was an All-American and the national champion in the discus in 1994 and 1995 at Blinn.

In addition to his time as a collegiate thrower and coach, Kokhanovsky was a member of the Soviet Union and the Ukrainian national teams from 1984-93. In 1989, he won the USSR national championship in the discus and in 1992 was ranked as high as 12th in the world in that event after throwing his personal record of 215’5”. He competed in the World University Games in Germany (1989), England (1991) and the United States (1993). Additionally, Kokhanovsky held the Soviet national high school record (ages 17 and younger) in the discus with a throw of 215’2”.

Kokhanovsky holds a Level I and II USA Track & Field coaching certification and a USA Weightlifting coaching certification. He resides in Lawrence with his wife, Marissa and daughter, Ana-Claire.

THE KOKHANOVSKY FILE
Alma Mater: Abilene Christian, 1998
Experience: 16th Season at KU
Wife: Marissa
Children: Ana-Claire

COACHING EXPERIENCE
2005-Present, Kansas (Assistant Coach - Throws)
2001-05, Louisiana-Monroe (Assistant Coach - Throws/Horizontal Jumps)
1998-2001, McNease State (Assistant Coach - Throws/ Multis)

CAREER AWARDS
2017 USTFCCCA Midwest Region Men's Outdoor Asst. Coach of the Year

NATIONAL CHAMPIONS COACHED AT KANSAS
Men's Indoor
2007 Egor Agafonov Weight Throw
2008 Egor Agafonov Weight Throw

BIG 12 CHAMPIONS COACHED
Men's Outdoor
2006 Egor Agafonov Hammer Throw
2007 Egor Agafonov Hammer Throw
2008 Egor Agafonov Hammer Throw
2010 Mason Finley Shot Put
2010 Mason Finley Discus
2011 Mason Finley Shot Put
2013 Jesse Vaughn Javelin
2016 Mitch Cooper Discus
2017 Mitch Cooper Discus
2017 Gleb Dudarev Hammer Throw
2018 Gleb Dudarev Hammer Throw
2019 Gleb Dudarev Hammer Throw
2021 Gleb Dudarev Hammer Throw
Women's Outdoor
2007 Zlata Tarasova Hammer Throw
2010 Alena Krechyk Hammer Throw
2012 Alena Krechyk Hammer Throw
2013 Jessica Maroszek Discus
2014 Jessica Maroszek Discus
2016 Daina Levy Hammer Throw
2018 Alexandra Emilianov Discus
2019 Alexandra Emilianov Discus
Men's Indoor
2006 Egor Agafonov Weight Throw
2006 Sheldon Battle Shot Put
2007 Egor Agafonov Weight Throw
2008 Egor Agafonov Weight Throw
2010 Mason Finley Shot Put
2017 Nicolai Ceban Shot Put
2017 Gleb Dudarev Weight Throw
2019 Gleb Dudarev Weight Throw
2020 Gleb Dudarev Weight Throw
Women's Indoor
2010 Alena Krechyk Weight Throw
2013 Alena Krechyk Weight Throw
2021 Alexandra Emilianov
Shot Put