Texas Rio Grande Valley Athletics

Jakob Degenshein was hired as an assistant throws coach for the UTRGV track & field program on Jan. 11, 2024.

2026 Outdoor

Efe Latham took silver in the shot put for a second consecutive year at the SLC Championships with a mark of 15.78 meters. Matic Vidmar finished second at the outdoor championships in the Javelin with a mark of 64.54 meters, qualifying him for NCAA West First Round.

2025 Indoor

Efe Latham had two top-5 finishes at the SLC Championships. In the weight throw, she finished fourth with a mark of 16.79 while in the shot put she took fourth with a mark of 14.26. 

2025 Outdoor

Hannah Hilding won the SLC hammer throw title with a throw of 56.78 meters and Efe Latham took silver in the shot put with a mark of 15.36 meters. Both advanced to the NCAA West First Round. 

2025 Indoor

Hannah Hilding took third in the weight throw with a mark of 16.80 meters and Efe Latham took sixth at 16.19 meters at the SLC Championships.

2024 Outdoor

Hannah Hilding earned the WAC Outstanding Field Performer award at the outdoor championships, taking silver in the hammer, bronze in the discus and shot put and fourth in the javelin. She made her first trip to the NCAA West Preliminary in the hammer.

2024 Indoor

Hannah Hilding closed the season with three consecutive double-PR meets, growing her shot put from 12.46 to 14.31 meters and her weight throw from 15.08 to 17.28 meters. She took bronze in the shot put at conference and scored in the weight throw. Freshman Omolola Kuponiyi was one of the top shot putters all season and placed fourth at conference.

Degenshein joins the UTRGV staff after serving as the throws coach and recruiting coordinator at the University of Lynchburg, his alma mater, for two years. He mentored nine student-athletes to all-conference honors in the Old Dominion Athletic Conference (ODAC) and two individual conference champions, helping the Hornets program win multiple team championships. He was also a throws coach at Liberty Christian Academy in Virginia for three years, guiding one state medalist, six state qualifiers and two conference champions. 
  
He has experience coaching and developing student-athletes in all throwing events, including shot put, discus, hammer throw, weight throw and javelin. He has recruited men’s and women’s sprinters and jumpers in addition to throwers. He is skilled in creating and executing training and strength & conditioning programs focused on fundamentals and individual improvement. Additionally, while coaching at Lynchburg, he coordinated scheduling and created itineraries for track & field recruit visits. 
 
His strength as an impactful coach stems from his ability to connect with his student-athletes on a personal level. This ability was not only showcased by the performances his athletes have turned in on the competition surface, but with their growth in the classroom. Degenshein reinvigorated the priority placed on academics for the Lynchburg throwers, leading to their cumulative GPA improving to a 3.54 by the end of his second year.  
 
A product of Collegeville, Pennsylvania, Degenshein threw for Lynchburg for four years at the NCAA Div. III level. He won the ODAC javelin championship as a senior in 2021, helping his team claim the outdoor conference championship as he also took bronze in discus. Degenshein made the USTFCCCA All-South/Southeast Region team in javelin that season and entered the Lynchburg top-10 in the event. His career-best javelin throw of 53.68 meters currently ranks sixth all-time in Lynchburg history. 
 
During his three full outdoor seasons with the Hornets (only competed in one meet in COVID-19-shortened 2020 season), Degenshein racked up five golds in javelin and 12 top-five finishes in the event. He took bronze in javelin and eighth in discus at his first ODAC outdoor championship in 2018 and was fourth in javelin in 2019, helping the Hornet men to a third-place finish at both conference meets. 
 
Degenshein competed in all five throws at some point in his collegiate career before specializing on javelin and discus. He received several coaches’ awards and field athlete MVP awards during his career, voted on by the coaching staff. 
 
Degenshein earned a Bachelor of Administration in Marketing in 2021 and completed his Master’s in Public Health in 2023, both from Lynchburg.