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Men's Track & Field
- Title:
- Assistant Coach
- Email:
- brek.a.christensen@rice.edu
- Phone:
- 348-8861
2024 USTFCCCA South Central Assistant Coach of the Year
Brek Christensen enters his 12th season with the Rice Owls track and field program. In August 2024, Christensen was promoted to the Associate Head Coach for the men's track and field team.
In 2018-2019, Christensen began coaching both the men’s and women’s throws. With the Owls, Christensen has continued to exceed expectations with the Rice throwers, consistently competing at the conference and national stages.
Since Christensen has been on staff, his throwers have set six school records, won 34 conference individual championships, qualified 50 athletes to the NCAA West Preliminary Round, and earned 23 NCAA All-American honors at the NCAA Championships.
In 2025, the Owls continued to find success in the throws, with Mckyla Van der Westhuizen leading the way with a seventh-place finish in the javelin at the NCAA Championships, earning back-to-back First Team All-American honors. She also claimed her second consecutive AAC title for javelin and was named the 2025 Joyce Pounds Hardy Award winner. Red-shirt freshman Jack Greaves also shined, earning a trip to the NCAA Championships where he finished 16th to earn Second Team All-American honors in just his fourth meet competing with the Owls. Another freshman, Juan Marais, finished second at the AAC Championships in discus and qualified for the NCAA West Prelims. Cal Abdulky closed his outdoor career also at the NCAA West Prelims and finished third in the hammer throw at the conference meet.
During the summer of 2024, Christensen was a member of the Icelandic Olympic National Team Coaching Staff as he coached, Rice Alum and former All-American, Erna Gunnarsdottir at the Paris 2024 Olympic Games. Gunnarsdottir became the first female shot putter to ever represent Iceland at the Olympics. She finished 20th at the Olympics with a throw of 17.39m.
The 2024 track season was historic for the Rice throwers, with the dominance from CUSA carrying over into a new conference in the AAC, where Rice collected seven conference titles from the indoor and outdoor championships. Tara Simpson-Sullivan secured another trip to the NCAA Indoor Championships, where she finished 12th to earn Second Team All-American honors. During outdoors, six athletes advanced to the NCAA West Prelims (Simpson-Sullivan, Mckyla Van der Westhuizen, Ty Hampton, Aryan Padaruth, Cal Abdulky and Shaun Kerry). Simpson-Sullivan, Van der Westhuizen, Hampton and Kerry all advanced to the NCAA Championships in Eugene, Oregon. At the championship, on her final throws with a Rice uniform, Simpson-Sullivan broke her own school record and the AAC record to finish second in the nation in the hammer throw. Van der Westhuizen followed that performance with a third-place finish in the javelin, also on a personal best throw.
Rice's 14 points at the NCAA Championships from Simpson-Sullivan and Van der Westhuizen secured a top 25 finish in the nation, as the Owls finished the meet in 21st. Simpson-Sullivan finished her career with eight conference titles and seven All-American honors, and was named the 2024 Joyce Pounds Hardy Award winner. After an incredible 2024 season, Christensen was named the 2024 USTFCCCA South Central Assistant Coach of the Year.
In 2023, Rice throwers proved to be among the best in the nation with eight C-USA individual champions, nine NCAA West Preliminary qualifiers and five NCAA All-American honors. During the indoor season, Nick Hicks (weight throw) and Elian Ahmar (shot put) won C-USA titles on the men's side while Tara Simpson-Sullivan (weight throw) and Erna Gunnarsdottir (shot put) claimed event titles on the women's side. Simpson-Sullivan and Gunnarsdottir qualified for the NCAA Championships with Gunnarsdottir earning First Team All-American honors with a seventh-place finish while Simpson-Sullivan finished 14th, earning Second Team All-American honors.
The outdoor season in 2023 raised the expectations for Rice, with the Owls sweeping men's hammer to open the C-USA Championships with Shaun Kerry, Cal Abdulky, and Hicks going 1-2-3. Christensen's throwers continued to add event titles, with Sam Welsh winning discus and shot put while Simpson-Sullivan added another event title in hammer throw. Nine Owls advanced to the NCAA West Prelims with Kerry, Hicks, Welsh, Abdulky, Ahmar and Samuel Woodley making the cut on the men's side and Gunnarsdottir, Simpson-Sullivan and freshmen Mckyla Van der Westhuizen all qualifying on the women's side. Simpson-Sullivan (fourth place), Van der Westhuizen (seventh place) and Gunnarsdottir (12th place) all advanced to the NCAA Championships in Austin, Texas. Simpson-Sullivan earned First Team All-American honors with a fifth-place finish at the meet with a throw of 67.00m, while Gunnarsdottir (11th, shot put) and Van der Westhuizen (11th, javelin) both earned Second Team All-American honors.
The 2022 season was an exceptional year for Christensen and his throwers. In the Indoor Season, Hicks (men’s weight throw), Simpson-Sullivan (women’s weight throw), and Gunnarsdottir (women’s shot put) each won C-USA Championships in their respective events. Simpson-Sullivan set a new C-USA meet record (and Rice school record) in her winning throw of 22.15m (72’8”), which qualified her for her first NCAA Indoor Championships where she finished 14th earning Second Team All-American honors. The outdoor season was just as accomplished as Simpson-Sullivan (women’s hammer), Hicks (men’s hammer), Gunnarsdottir (women’s shot put), and James McNaney (men’s javelin) all won C-USA Championships among four other all-conference performances fot the throwers. Simpson-Sullivan's performance of 69.39m (227’8”) at the C-USA Championships broke her own C-USA meet record as well as her own Rice school record in the hammer throw. Six throwers advanced to the NCAA West Preliminary Round. Simpson-Sullivan, Gunnarsdottir and McNaney each qualified for the NCAA Outdoor Championships. Simpson-Sullivan and Gunnarsdottir each earned Second Team All-American accolades.
The 2020-2021 season was a banner year for Christensen and his throwers. In a shortened indoor season due to the continued ramifications of the COVID pandemic, Hicks (men’s weight throw) and Gunnarsdottir (women’s shot put) won C-USA Championships on their way to qualifying for the NCAA Indoor Championships. Chris Rivera (men’s shot put-2nd) and Simpson-Sullivan (3rd) also picked up all-conference honors during the Indoor Season. Hicks established a school record in men’s weight throw of 22.21m (72’10.5”) at the H-Town Speed City Series IV Meet during the indoor season. At the C-USA Outdoor Championships, Simpson-Sullivan won the women’s hammer throw and set a new C-USA meet record with a throw of 66.01m (216’7”). Hicks won the men’s hammer throw and was second in the men’s discus. Julie Perez won the discus and was third in the women’s hammer. McNaney (men’s javelin) and Gunnarsdottir (shot put) each picked up second place finishes as well. Seven throwers advanced to the NCAA West Preliminary Round. McNaney and Simpson-Sullivan (hammer) each advanced to the NCAA Outdoor Championships. Simpson-Sullivan finished her freshman outdoor season by placing fourth at the NCAA Track and Field Championships, earning First Team All-American honors. She set a new school record of 68.91m (226’1”), a Conference USA Championship Meet Record of 66.01m (216’7”), won the British Senior Championships, and finished fifth at the European Under 23 Championships in July all throughout her freshman campaign.
During the abbreviated 2019-2020 season, before indoor season was ended and outdoor season was canceled due to the COVID-19 pandemic, Christensen guided then freshman Simpson-Sullivan to a school record and first place finish in the women’s weight throw (19.45m) at the C-USA Indoor Championships. Hicks (weight throw), Gunnarsdottir (shot put), and Lucas Ribeiro (men’s shot put) all finished second in their respective events at the C-USA Indoor Championships to earn all-conference honors. Also, during the indoor season, Ribeiro broke a 40-year-old school record in the shot put with a mark of 17.94m to win the Howie Ryan Invitational.
In 2019, Christensen began working with the women’s throwers and the impact was immediate as Gunnarsdottir won the C-USA outdoor title in the shot put as a freshman. She went on to finish third at the European Under-23 Championships later that summer. Hicks (2nd- men’s discus) and Perez (3rd- discus) earned all-conference awards, setting the tone for the future of this young throws group.
In 2018, Christensen guided a group of senior throwers to a stellar year. Erik Maher won a C-USA outdoor title in the men’s javelin. Uche Ugwunze won the C-USA indoor title in the men’s shot put, while Austin Riddle finished runner-up in both the hammer throw and discus at the C-USA Outdoor Championships.
In 2017, Christensen again guided Riddle to a second place finish at the C-USA Championships and another appearance at the NCAA Outdoor Championships. During the Outdoor season, Riddle threw a mark of 67.69m (222’1”) in the hammer throw, which still stands as the Rice school record.
In 2016, his first year as a full-time assistant coach, Christensen guided senior Evan Karakolis to a Rice school record in the javelin with a throw of 79.30m (260’2”). Karakolis also went on to finish fifth at the NCAA Championships, earning First Team All-American honors to go along with his Academic All-American honors. Later that summer, he won the Canadian National Championships in the javelin. During that season, Christensen also guided Riddle to a second place finish at the C-USA Championships in the hammer throw prior to being the first hammer thrower in school history to earn a spot at the NCAA Outdoor Championships later that June.
In 2015, Christensen oversaw the men’s throwers and helped guide Duncan Dickerson to a historical season with the Owls. Dickerson established a new Rice school record at the time with a hammer throw of 62.21m (201’1”) to become the first Owl to ever win a conference title in the hammer throw.
Christensen is a Cypress, Texas native and Graduate of Cy-Fair High School. He earned a bachelor’s degree in in 2013 and a master’s degree in 2015, both in Kinesiology from Sam Houston State University, where he was one of the most decorated throwers in the program’s history.
