Bio
Ray Robinson joined the University of Iowa track and field coaching staff in July 2021. He leads Iowa’s throws group.
In 2022, his first season with Iowa, Robinson coached three Hawkeye First Team All-Americans (Tyler Lienau, weight throw; Nik Curtiss, shot put; Jordan Johnson, discus). Additionally, Robinson coached Curtiss to Second Team All-America honors in shot put during the indoor season. Before competing at Iowa during his senior season, Curtiss competed under Robinson at Tiffin, where Robinson coached him to trio of NCAA DII runner-up finishes in shot put and seven total All-America honors. Making an immediate impact on the program, Robinson’s throwers took down four school records during the 2022 season (Indoor: men’s weight throw, men’s shot put; Outdoor: men’s shot put, women’s hammer throw). Robinson also coached freshman Sean Smith, who finished his season sixth at the USATF U20 Outdoor Championships in the hammer throw.
Robinson joined the Hawkeyes following an 11-year stint as associate head coach at Tiffin University in Tiffin, Ohio. Robinson coached both the men and women at Tiffin University. His student-athletes captured four NCAA Division II national championships and five NCAA silver medals. He coach 40 first-team All-Americans and saw the school record in each of Tiffin’s 12 throwing events broken during his tenure.
Tiffin won two national titles and has captured seven trophies at the NCAA Championships since 2015.
On the senior level, Robinson has worked extensively with John Godina, a four-time world champion, Olympic medalist and holder of the NCAA Championships shot put record. He coached three-time NCAA DII national champion Coy Blair at the 2016 U.S. Olympic Trials and the 2017 World University Games, and Adriane Blewitt at the 2012 Olympic Trials.
Robinson is a two-time graduate of Tiffin University. He earned his Bachelor of Business Administration in 2010 and his Master of Business Administration with a concentration in Human Resources in 2015. He previously held the TU school record in the discus throw and is on the top-10 performance list in hammer throw and weight throw. He is a three-time All-GLIAC honoree and was selected to the GLIAC All-Academic team four times while twice earning Academic All-America honors.
Robinson is married to Kristen Robinson, a former All-American shot putter for the Dragons and TU Hall of Fame inductee. Ray and Kristen have three daughters, McKenzie Jo, Jordy Rae and Emileigh James.