Jay Petsch begins his 13th year on the University of Rochester coaching staff in 2025-26. He was elevated to Assistant Director of Track & Field in July 2023, after spending the previous ten years as the team’s Jumps & Multi-Events Coach. Petsch coaches the Yellowjacket jumpers and combined event athletes, while also assisting with the overall administration of the track & field program, including travel planning and logistics, facility scheduling, home meet operations, alumni relations & fundraising activities, and organizing the program’s recruiting efforts.
Coach Petsch has led the Rochester jumpers and multi-event athletes to great success during his time at the River Campus, none more impressive than the accomplishments of three-time NCAA Champions Kylee Bartlett '19 and Madeline O’Connell ‘23. Bartlett won both the indoor pentathlon and outdoor heptathlon at the 2017 NCAA Division III Championships, becoming only the third athlete in Division III history to win both titles in the same season. She then defended her heptathlon national title at the 2018 NCAA Outdoor Championships and became just the second athlete in Rochester history to win three NCAA titles. O’Connell captured the 2024 NCAA Indoor title in the pole vault, and won two more national championships as leadoff leg of Rochester’s 4x400 relay teams in 2023 and 2024. During the 2024 season, Petsch also coached Cole Goodman ’25 to the NCAA Outdoor title in the men’s triple jump, as well as a berth to compete at the 2024 U.S. Olympic Trials. Goodman finished up his collegiate career as an eight-time All-American in the horizontal jumps, making him the most decorated athlete in Rochester Men's Track & Field history.
Coach Petsch has been honored by his peers by being named Regional Assistant Coach of the Year by the United States Track & Field and Cross Country Coaches Association six times (2015, '16, '19, ’22, ’23, ‘24). Petsch has coached 38 All-Americans since joining the Rochester staff, and 74 qualifiers to the NCAA Championships. The Rochester jumpers and multi-event athletes have re-written the record books since Petsch’s arrival at Rochester in 2013, establishing new UR records in the women’s pentathlon, heptathlon, 100 hurdles, 200 meters, 400 meters, pole vault, long jump, and triple jump, as well as the men’s heptathlon, pole vault, long jump, and triple jump.
Rochester’s jumpers and multi event athletes had tremendous success at the conference, regional, and national levels during a record-setting 2024 season. In addition to his NCAA title, Goodman swept the indoor and outdoor Liberty League titles in the long jump and triple jump and was named Liberty League Men’s Field Athlete of the Year and the USTFCCCA Niagara Region Men’s Field Athlete of the Year. The Yellowjacket men’s triple jumpers also claimed a dominant 1-2-3-4-5-6 finish at the 2024 Liberty League Outdoor Championships. O’Connell won the indoor and outdoor League titles in the Pole Vault, and was also Liberty League champion in the indoor 400 meters. She was named 2024 Women’s Field Athlete of the Year by both the Liberty League and the USTFCCCA Niagara Region. Ashley Heffernan ’24 captured six Liberty League titles in 2024, and earned First Team All-America honors in the indoor pentathlon and was a Second Team All-American in the outdoor heptathlon. Aeden Angelone ’24 won Liberty League titles in the indoor heptathlon and outdoor decathlon, and earned Second Team All-America honors after finishing 12th in the heptathlon and the 2024 NCAA Indoor Championships.
Prior to his arrival at Rochester, Petsch spent two years on the coaching staff at Northwest Missouri State, a NCAA Division II school, working primarily with the Bearcat pole vaulters, jumpers, and multi-event athletes. Petsch also spent a season coaching hurdlers & jumpers at Red Mountain High School in Mesa, Arizona in 2011, and completed a summer internship as an Assistant Compliance Officer with the University of Wyoming Athletic Department in 2012.
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A versatile student-athlete at the University of Wyoming, Petsch earned All-Mountain West Conference honors in the Decathlon and Heptathlon and served as team captain in 2010. His personal best score of 7,112 points at the 2010 Mountain West Decathlon Championship was good enough for conference runner-up honors, and ranked in the top-40 nationally in Division I that season. Petsch excelled in a variety of events during his collegiate career, achieving conference-scoring performances in the Heptathlon, Decathlon, Long Jump, 60 hurdles, and 4x400 relay. He was also selected to participate in the NCAA Division I Leadership Conference in 2008, and served as Vice President of Wyoming’s Student-Athlete Advisory Committee.
Coach Petsch earned a Bachelor's degree in Business Finance from Wyoming in 2010, and a Masters degree in Applied Health Science from Northwest Missouri State in 2013. He also earned Level 1 Coaching Certification from USA Track & Field, and has advanced Strength & Conditioning Certification from the U.S. Track & Field and Cross Country Coaches Association.
