Ceith Creekmur - Track and Field Coach - Michigan State University Athletics

Ceith Creekmur

Title:
Assistant Coach - Jumps/Multi-Events
Email:
creekmur@ath.msu.edu
Phone:
432-7167

Ceith Creekmur By the Numbers

20 USTFCCCA All-American Honorees
56 NCAA Qualifiers
12 Big Ten Champions
2 U.S. Indoor Championship Heptathlon Qualifiers
4 U.S. Junior Championships Qualifiers
1 U.S. Olympic Trials Qualifier

Ceith Creekmur enters his 11th season at Michigan State during the 2023-24 season, having guided 56 Spartans to the NCAA East Preliminary round and Finals as the assistant coach of jumps and combined events. 25 Michigan State records have fallen since Creekmur’s first season in East Lansing in 2013.

Creekmur was named the USTFCCCA Men's Outdoor Track and Field Great Lakes Assistant Coach of the Year following the 2023 season. Creekmur is the first coach to earn an assistant coach of the year honor since current Director of Track & Field/Cross Country Lisa Breznau won it in 2019. On the season, Creekmur led his jumpers and multi-event athletes to five school records, five All-American finishes, two Big Ten titles and multiple NCAA East Preliminary qualifications.

Senior Heath Baldwin broke the heptathlon and decathlon school records in 2023 while also becoming a First-Team All-American in both events and earning the heptathlon Big Ten title during the indoor season. Baldwin also broke the javelin throw school record during the outdoor season. Graduate student Trevor Stephenson set the indoor and outdoor pole vault records and captured a fourth-place finish and fifteenth-place finish in the event at the indoor and outdoor national championships, respectively, while also earning the Big Ten pole vault title during the outdoor season. Creekmur also led freshman Sophia Mettes to the NCAA East Preliminary Round in the pole vault alongside Stephenson. Senior Ryan Talbot returned to the NCAA Outdoor Championships in the decathlon, finishing 15th for a Second-Team All-America finish. Baldwin and Talbot were also All-Americans in 2022, while Stephenson has been reaching new heights in pole vault with an All-American selection in three straight years dating back to 2021.

In 2021 and 2022, Sophia Franklin achieved Outdoor Track & Field All-American honors in pole vault under the direction of Creekmur. Franklin won the Big Ten Outdoor title for pole vault in 2021, her second conference championship in the event. In 2019 Franklin set the indoor and outdoor school record in the pole vault, on her way to being named the Big Ten Champion in the pole vault and a NACAC Silver Medalist.

Under Creekmur’s guidance, six other Spartans advanced to the NCAA East Prelims in 2019, with Asya Reynolds competing in her first NCAA Finals. Five athletes were crowned Big Ten Champions during the 2019 indoor and outdoor seasons and four school records fell. In the combined events, Nick Guerrant and Asya Reynolds set school records in the heptathlon on the men’s and women’s side. Guerrant was the Big Ten indoor champion in the heptathlon and outdoor decathlon champion, for his third-straight Big Ten title. After becoming a first-team All-American during indoor season, Guerrant went on to earn the title of Big Ten Field Athlete of the Year. Reynolds became MSU’s Female Co-Athlete of the Year after notching second-team All-American honors to add onto her Big Ten title in the heptathlon. In the jumps, Ellen DiPietro was crowned the Big Ten Indoor Champion in the high jump, while qualifying for the NCAA Prelims. Trevor Stephenson also qualified for the Prelims in the pole vault.

The 2018 season marked four school records being broken, with Tim Ehrhardt, Nick Guerrant and Sophia Franklin breaking school records. In addition, two of Creekmur’s athletes were crowned Big Ten Champions and four athletes earned All-America honors. Tim Ehrhardt set two school records, one in the indoor pole vault (5.60m) and in the decathlon (8,044 points), becoming only the 80^th American ever to score over 8,000 points. In his final season, Ehrhardt was the Big Ten Outdoor Champion in the pole vault and earned first-team All-American honors in the decathlon with a sixth-place finish, as well as a second-team indoor All-American in the pole vault. Ehrhardt became the 2018 MSU Co-Athlete of the Year and also participated at the USA Championships in the decathlon and pole vault. Guerrant was the Big Ten indoor runner-up in the heptathlon, while setting a new school record. He also earned second-team All-American honors in the heptathlon. During the outdoor season, Guerrant was the Big Ten Decathlon Champion, while becoming a second-team All-American in the decathlon. Sophia Franklin tied the outdoor pole vault school record, with a mark of 4.25m, while qualifying for the NCAA Finals and placing third at the USA Junior Championships. Also, Ellen DiPietro (high jump) and Noah Gary (pole vault) qualified for the NCAA East Prelims.

In 2017, Creekmur mentored one Big Ten Champion in Tim Ehrhardt, three All-Americans and two school records set. Tim Ehrhardt had a successful junior campaign, becoming the Big Ten Indoor Pole Vault Champion and earning first-team All-American honors with a fourth-place finish. Ehrhardt also was an NCAA qualifier in the decathlon and a NCAA Prelim qualifier in the long jump. Ehrhardt completed the season with second-team All-American honors in the decathlon and became the 2017 Michigan State Male Athlete of the Year. Asya Reynolds placed third at the Big Ten Outdoor Championships in the heptathlon and set a school record with 5,311 points. Hannah Saliar and Noah Gary also had successful pole vault season as Sailar placed third at the Big Ten Indoor Championships in pole vault and was a NCAA Finals qualifier while Gary was an NCAA Qualifier in the pole vault and earned second-team All-American honors.

During the 2016 season, the Spartans reached a high under his guidance as a trio of MSU records were matched or beaten, and Tim Ehrhardt competed in the PanAm Championships and Olympic Trials in the decathlon. Ellen DiPietro knotted the indoor high jump record of 1.83m on her way to earning a spot at the NCAA Indoor Championships. Lauren Chorny concluded her career in the Green & White with second-team All-American honors, breaking the outdoor pole vault record with a clearance of 4.25m to finish in a tie for first at the NCAA East Prelims. Asya Reynolds was the third Spartan to take Creekmur’s coaching in record-form, smashing the heptathlon program best with a tally of 5,211 points. In addition to program bests being topped, Janae Hill ran a 11.63 to qualify for the first round of the NCAA Championships in the 100-meter dash, as Will Agodu raced to a fifth-place finish with a 14.29 as a true freshman in the 110-meter high hurdles at the Big Ten Outdoor Championships.

Creekmur saw 11 student-athletes reach the NCAA East Prelims in 2015, marking the most in a single season in his coaching career. The year was highlighted by four school records, including a pair in the women’s pole vault. Ehrhardt garnered All-American accolades, both indoors and outdoors, finishing seventh in the heptathlon and fifth in the decathlon. Of the 11 Spartans at the outdoor prelims, three advanced as individuals as the school-record 4x100-meter relay team punched their ticket to Eugene. In year three, Creekmur saw his second student-athlete earn a Big Ten title, as Ehrhardt stood atop the podium at the Big Ten Indoor Championships in the pole vault. DeVantre Whitelow placed third under Creekmur at the B1G Indoor Championships, clocking a 6.75. Whitelow entered the season as the program record holder in the event with a 6.71 as a junior. Outdoors, he had a career-best 10.41 in the 100 meters to qualify for the NCAA East Prelims. On the women’s side, Lauren Rose placed eighth in the 100-meter hurdles at the Big Ten Outdoor Championships to qualify for the opening round of the NCAA Championships.

School records and All-America honors continued into Creekmur’s second season at MSU. Kurt Schneider was a standout for the Spartans in the multi’s, finishing 10^th in the heptathlon at the NCAA Indoor Championships and 15^th in the decathlon during the outdoor campaign. The efforts earned him second-team All-America status. One of Schneider’s most dominant performances came at the indoor championships, where he broke the NCAA meet record in the heptathlon high jump. Lauren Chorny not only broke the program record for the pole vault outdoors, but was crowned the Big Ten champion, marking Creekmur’s first league champion at MSU. Seven student-athletes reached the NCAA East Prelims, six coming in the men’s and women’s pole vault.

In his first season on campus, Creekmur helped lead six Spartans to the 2013 NCAA East Prelims, including Sarah Birkmeier who set a career-best mark and new MSU record in the pole vault to advance to the NCAA Outdoor Championships. For her accomplishments, Birkmeier earned USTFCCCA All-American Honorable Mention honors.

Prior to Michigan State, Creekmur spent five years at his alma matter, Miami University, overseeing the vertical jumps, multi-events and throws. He helped coach three RedHawks to the NCAA East Preliminaries in 2012, one of which earned second-team All-MAC by finishing as a runner-up in the decathlon at the MAC Championships. Four of Creekmur’s student-athletes earned berths in the NCAA East Preliminary in 2010-11, while two earned All-MAC honors with runner-up finishes at the MAC Championships.

Creekmur successfully recruited multiple state champions and national elite level high school athletes to the RedHawks. He also designed and implemented strength training programs for all track events up to the 800m in addition to multi-events, throws and vertical jumps.

A RedHawk standout, Creekmur was a four-year letterwinner (2003-06) and finished runner-up in the Mid-American Conference in the heptathlon. A second-team All-MAC honoree in 2005, he turned in an eighth-place heptathlon finish at the U.S. Indoor Nationals and a fourth-place decathlon finish at the MAC Championships his senior season. Creekmur left Miami the school record holder in the heptathlon with 5,399 points.

Creekmur graduated from Miami University with Bachelors of Science in Exercise Science in 2006 and obtained his Masters of Science in Kinesiology from Miami University in 2011. He holds a USTFCCCA Jumps and Throws Specialist Certification, along with a USAW Sport Performance Coach Certification. Creekmur earned a Level I Certification from USATF, and he is a certified strength and conditioning specialist. Ceith resides in East Lansing with his wife, Alexis, and newborn daughter, Elliot.