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Brian Appell begins his first season as the track coach at Utah. Appell brings an impressive resume with him to Utah. In four seasons at Weber State University in Ogden, Utah, as the assistant cross country coach, he helped produced nine All-Americans. Most recently, Rebecca Bennion and Jeremy Tolman both placed second in the steeplechase. Additionally, Joel Atwater took sixth in the 1,500 meters at the 2001 NCAA Track and Field Championships.
Last season, Weber State placed 14th at the NCAA Men's Outdoor Championships and 28th at the NCAA Women's Outdoor Championships thanks largely to some of Appell's runners. Appell can also be credited with helping the men's cross country team finish 19th and the women's cross country team finish 21st at the 2000 NCAA Cross Country Championships.
Appell has International experience to his credit as a private professional coach for the Olympic Games, which he has been doing since 1990. Appell owns and operates High Elevation Training Facility in Albuquerque, N.M. The facility is an Olympic and Elite Athlete training center.
He was asked to serve as an Olympic coach for Mexico during the 1992 games in Barcelona, Spain. Appell coached six athletes from six different nations in the 1996 Olympic Games in Atlanta, Ga.
In 1993, Appell coached Luketz Swartbooi to a second-place finish in the marathon at the World Championships in Stuttgart, Germany. That same year at the World Championships, he coached Olympian Carmen de Oliveira to an 11th-place finish and Olympian Olga Appell to a 14th-place finish in the 10,000 meters.
Before becoming a coach, Appell posted an impressive resume as an athlete. He was a three-time national qualifier in the 3,000-meter steeplechase while competing for Weber State from 1979-1982. He was also a five-time USATF national qualifier and a member of the United States World Military Championship team from 1987-89.
Away from coaching, Appell enjoys playing volleyball and training his dog Brownie for competitive field trials. He has spent the past 10 years teaching ESL and Spanish.
Appell graduated from Weber State with bachelor's degrees in English, Spanish and child family studies in 1997 and went on to earn a master's degree in education from WSU in 2001.
The Fountain Valley, Calif., native is married to two-time Olympic marathoner Olga Appell. She competed in the 1992 Olympics for Mexico and was a member of the 1996 United States Olympic team. The couple has a 14-year-old daughter, Monique.
