Kyle Lillie, the 2025 and 2026 USTFCCCA Mountain Region Assistant Coach of the Year, heads to Tempe after four seasons as the Air Force track and field program throws coach. A former collegiate thrower here at Arizona State University, Lillie revitalized the Falcons’ throwing program during his time at the Academy.
His impact was immediately felt in 2023, as his athletes swept the throwing titles at the Mountain West Indoor Championships, added another at the outdoor meet and combined for nine podium finishes to help the men sweep the conference team titles. His athletes represented the Academy in all four throwing events at the NCAA Outdoor Championships while rewriting the program record book. Backed by Academy Records in the weight throw, hammer throw and discus throw, the men made 14 improvements to the program’s all-time Top 10 and set seven Air Force Class Records, while Hayden Bullock recorded the best discus mark (194-9) by any service academy thrower.
The men’s throwers continued their success in 2024, highlighted by three MW Outdoor titles and 61 total points toward the Falcons’ third straight team championship. Under Lillie’s guidance, Texas Tanner produced a stellar sophomore season that included two conference titles, four MW medals, three Air Force Records, the Mountain West and Service Academy Record in the hammer throw, appearances in two events at the NCAA Outdoor Championships, USTFCCCA Mountain Region Field Athlete of the Year honors and a berth at the U.S. Olympic Trials.
Lillie also coached Tanner, Gerrit Tamminga and Cooper Stroka to three of the program’s top four marks in the hammer throw and three of the top five in the weight throw in 2024, while the throwers posted at least one top-five all-time mark in every event. He also continued to rebuild the women’s squad, as freshmen debuted on the program’s all-time standings in multiple events and Paige Birch broke a long-standing Freshman Class Record in the hammer throw.
The 2025 season was another banner campaign for the Air Force program, culminating with Lillie being named the USTFCCCA Mountain Region Assistant Coach of the Year. He guided Tanner to a fourth-place finish in the hammer throw at the NCAA Outdoor Championships – the highest finish ever by a member of the Air Force men’s throwing program – and an All-America finish in the shot put at the NCAA Indoor Championships. His group had at least one NCAA qualifier in every throwing event, while Tanner competed in the finals of two outdoor events and both indoor throws.
Lillie-coached athletes accounted for three of the four throwing titles at the MW Outdoor Championships, while the Falcons went 1-3 in the hammer throw, set two MW Championship meet records and recorded the best hammer mark in conference history. Lillie also guided Tanner to a fifth-place finish in the discus at the USATF Championships, where the then-junior was the only collegian to advance to the final.
Tanner set Air Force Records in the discus, hammer, weight throw and indoor shot put during the 2025 season, while Stroka recorded the program’s No. 2 marks in the weight and hammer and Joe Nizich capped his career with the second-best javelin mark in program history. Tanner was named the Mountain West Outdoor Athlete of the Year, repeated as the Outstanding Performer of the MW Outdoor Championships and earned his second straight USTFCCCA Mountain Region Field Athlete of the Year honor. On the women’s side, Birch moved up to No. 2 in program history in the hammer and debuted on the Air Force Top 10 in the weight throw.
Lillie followed that performance with an even stronger 2026 campaign, earning USTFCCCA Mountain Region Assistant Coach of the Year honors for the second consecutive season. Tanner, a two-time USTFCCCA Mountain Region Field Athlete of the Year, set an American collegiate record and moved to No. 2 in collegiate history in both the hammer throw (78.87m) and discus (69.56m). He earned First-Team All-America honors in the indoor shot put (fifth), discus (fourth) and hammer throw (second), while adding Second-Team All-America honors in the weight throw (14th). Tanner also became the first Air Force athlete to appear on The Bowerman Watch List, earning a spot on the list twice during the season.
Lillie’s throwers also continued their dominance at the conference level in 2026, capturing Mountain West titles in the discus, hammer, indoor shot put and weight throw while adding a runner-up finish in the discus. His athletes established MW Championship records in the hammer and discus and conference records in both events.
Lillie came to the Academy from Sacramento State, where he spent four years overseeing the throwing program. During his time with the Hornets, he coached Big Sky champions in four different throwing events and saw his athletes account for three school records and multiple qualifying bids to the NCAA West Preliminary. He helped the women to the indoor and outdoor conference titles during his first season and, in his final season at Sacramento State, Lillie’s throwers accounted for 50% of the Hornets’ team points at the Big Sky Outdoor Championships. In 2022, he also coached Evan Stork to his second Big Sky title in the hammer throw and the school’s first appearance in the NCAA hammer final since 2005.
Prior to his time in Sacramento, Lillie coached six NJCAA All-Americans and 10 NJCAA national qualifiers at Mesa Community College. He began his coaching career in 2015 at Husson University in Bangor, Maine, and made an immediate impact with the Eagles’ program, guiding one of his throwers to a third-place finish at the Division III New England Championships, a ninth-place finish at the NEICAAA Championships and a berth at the ECAC Championships.
Lillie graduated from ASU in 2015 with a degree in criminal justice and criminology. As a thrower on the Sun Devils’ track and field team, he qualified for the NCAA Outdoor Championships in the hammer throw and scored for ASU at the Pac-12 Championships. He ended his Sun Devil career ranked among the program’s top five in the hammer throw while holding top-10 all-time marks in the weight throw and indoor shot put.
He also spent time as a student-athlete at Glendale Community College, where he was a two-time NJCAA All-American in the shot put after winning the outdoor title and placing second indoors in 2012. He also qualified for the NJCAA National Championships in the hammer and discus.