John Hepp serves as the Associate Head Coach and Recruiting Coordinator for the Oberlin Track and Field Program and is responsible for coaching the team’s throwers. He finished his 11th season with the program in 2019-20 and was named the USTFCCCA Great Lakes Region Assistant Coach of the Year for both the indoor and outdoor seasons in 2016-17 and 2017-18.
Under Coach Hepp's guidance, Oberlin's throwers have turned into the most dominant unit in the North Coast Athletic Conference and the women’s throws group has become one of the premiere throwing corps in all of the NCAA in Division III. Since Hepp’s arrival in 2010, Oberlin’s throwers have achieved 74 All-NCAC awards, 32 Individual NCAC titles, 24 NCAA Qualifying marks, 11 NCAC records, 11 All-American awards and two NCAA titles.
Senior Naeisha McClain won the shot put event at the 2020 NCAC Indoor Track & Field Championships on her way to qualifying for a spot at Nationals while two other Oberlin throwers finished inside the top four of the 20-person field.
In 2018-19 Oberlin’s throws corps was lead by senior Hank Sinn who ended his collegiate career by winning the indoor conference title in the weight throw along with breaking his own school record three different times on the year with a best of 17.30m. Sinn also earned All-NCAC honors at the Indoor Championships in the shot put. During the outdoor season not only did Sinn reset his own school record at 57.29m (187’11”) but he became the first three-time hammer champion in the history of the NCAC, winning his third straight title at the NCAC Outdoor Championships. The senior capped off his illustrious career by becoming the first men’s thrower in school history to qualify for the NCAA Outdoor Championships in the hammer where he finished 11th in the deepest hammer field in Division III history.
The 2018-19 seasons saw the rest of the Oberlin throwers continue their success in a big way. Juniors Maya Marerro-English (weight throw, hammer), Nae McClain (indoor and outdoor shot) and Jasmine Keegan (discus) all claimed NCAC titles on the year while fellow junior CeCe Longo helped earned the highest conference finish (fourth-place) in the weight at the Indoor Championships. Freshmen Victoria Blair made an immediate impact, as she earned All-NCAC honors in the indoor and outdoor shot put along with a fourth-place finish in the discus. On the men’s side, senior Chauncey Simmons scored big points at the indoor conference meet with a fifth-place finish in the weight and scoring in the shot. During the outdoor campaign sophomore Cam MacIntyre finished sixth in the javelin while freshman Zac Ntia ended the year with the sixth best throw of any freshman in Division III in the hammer at 46.50m.
The 2017-18 seasons saw Oberlin’s throwers dominate at both the conference and national levels. Senior Monique Newton cemented her legacy as not only one of the top athletes in the history of Oberlin College but as one of the top throwers in Division III history. Newton added three All-American awards to her resume, bringing her career total to eight. Her season was highlighted by her second individual national title, winning the discus at the 2018 NCAA Outdoor Championships. Newton also became the first thrower in North Coast Athletic Conference history to win conference titles in the shot put, discus, and hammer at the same outdoor championships which she did during the 2018 NCAC Outdoor Championships. Newton’s dominance at the national level was recognized by the USTFCCCA as she was named the Great Lakes Region Field Event Athlete of the Year for both the indoor and outdoor seasons for the second year in a row as well as the Division III Female Field Athlete of the Meet at the Outdoor Championships and Division III Female Field Athlete of the Year for the 2018 outdoor season.
During the 2017-18 indoor season fellow senior Ana Richardson earned her second All-American award in the weight throw and also qualified for the NCAA championships in the discus during the outdoor season. Richardson became the first woman in NCAC history to throw over 18m in the weight, setting a new school and conference record (18.41m) in the process. Newton and Richardson graduated having won 16 individual NCAC titles while setting three NCAC records. They also hit 20 national qualifying marks and earned 10 All-American awards including Newton’s two NCAA titles (2017 indoor shot put and 2018 discus).
The 2018 outdoor season also saw junior Hank Sinn win his second straight NCAC title in the hammer throw along with breaking the school record twice during the year. Sinn finished the season ranked 30th in the hammer in Division III with a top mark of 54.67m.
A graduate of Oberlin, Hepp won 12 letters in both football and track & field and was a captain during the 2006-2007 track season. He went on to earn his master's degree in sports management from The Ohio State University. He currently resides in Oberlin.
