Brandon Amo
Brandon Amo arrived in Charlottesville ahead of the 2023-24 season following an impressive season as an assistant at Harvard in 2022-23.
The 2024-25 season proved successful for the Cavalier throwers as Amo led three to All-America honors including Keyandre Davis (HT), Annika Kelly (HT) and Estel Valeanu (DT), and five to All-ACC accolades including John Fay (HT), Christiana Ellina (JT), Davis (HT), Kelly (HT) and Valeanu (SP, DT). At the ACC Outdoor Championships, Ellina won the women’s javelin competition, leading the charge as the Cavaliers went three-for-three to the final. Valeanu notched second team All-ACC honors in the shot put and discus throw. Over the course of the season, Kelly broke the Virginia record in the women’s hammer throw three times. On the men’s side, Davis brought home the silver medal throwing the No.5 mark in school history in the hammer throw.
The indoor season was highlighted by Jeremiah Nubbe and his fourth place finish in the weight throw at the NCAA Indoor Championships to earn first team All-America honors. Nubbe won the ACC Indoor Championship title in the weight throw followed by his teammate, Davis, winning the bronze in the weight throw. Virginia throwers that earned All-ACC honors include John Fay (WT), Brooke Lumpkin (SP), Davis (WT) and Nubbe (WT).
During his first year in Charlottesville, Amo led three throwers to NCAA Outdoor appearances. Jacob Lemmon finished sixth in the men’s discus throw to earn First Team All-American honors while John Fay and Janae Profit earned Honorable Mention accolades for their performances in the men’s hammer throw and women’s shot put. Amo led a contingent of Cavaliers to All-ACC honors as Jacob Lemmon earned the silver medal in the discus and John Fay garnered bronze in the hammer throw to earn First Team status. Brooke Lumpkin (SP), Janae Profit (SP) and Tyler Zawatski (JT) garnered Second Team All-ACC honors with their performance at the conference meet.
The Virginia men won the first ACC Championship team title for the first time outright in program history scoring a total 107 points before going on to finish eighth as a team at the NCAA Outdoor Championships with 26 points.
During his only season in Cambridge, Amo led Kenneth Ikeji and Stephanie Ratcliffe to a sweep of the NCAA hammer throw titles as each set collegiate-leading marks in the process. In all, Amo led three Crimson throwers to first-team All-American honors as Estel Valeanu placed sixth in the discus.
Under the direction of Amo, the Crimson throwers were a crucial piece of Harvard’s sweep of the 2023 Ivy League team titles. The Harvard women’s throwers accounted for 51 points from their events while the men racked up a total of 40. Between both men and women, Amo’s throwers secured six gold medals at the conference championships.
Amo competed as a thrower at Rhode Island where he graduated with a degree in biological sciences and kinesiology in 2018. At Rhode Island, Amo was the 2018 A-10 Champion in the hammer throw and a two-time A-10 champion in the weight throw (2017, 2018). He was also the conference runner-up in the weight throw in 2016.
In addition to his coaching resume within the NCAA, Amo also founded the RISE Athletics developmental program, through which he has coached athletes of all different ages with the primary goal of helping young throwers achieve their goals of competing at the collegiate level. Through his involvement with the program, Amo has had the opportunity to work with USA trials qualifiers as well as Olympic qualifiers.