Phil Whitesitt serves as UW-La Crosse's Strength and Conditioning Coordinator/Mental Skills Trainer in 2025-26. His responsibilities included coaching the throwing events, writing strength and conditioning programs, and assisting with administrative duties.
Along with his coaching responsibilities, Whitesitt teaches physical education courses at UWL and is the coordinator of sports performance for the Eagles' athletic department.
He completed his 16th year as a member of the the Eagles' men's track & field coaching staff in 2023. UWL won 14 Wisconsin Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (WIAC) indoor and outdoor titles while Whitesitt was a member of the Eagles' coaching staff.
UWL won six (2008-09, 2013-14, 2017, 2023) National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) Division III Indoor titles and four (2013, 2015-17) Outdoor Championships. The Eagles were second at the 2015 and 2019 NCAA III Indoor Championships and third in 2010, 2011 and 2016. The team finished second outdoors in 2011, 2012, 2014, and 2023 and third in 2010, fourth in 2022 and fifth in 2021.
Whitesitt coached five individuals to nine WIAC indoor titles. Bobby Riley (2008-09) and Andy Novak (2011-12) both captured shot put titles while John Cooper (2014), Grant Havard (2015) and Andrew Jarrett (2018-20) won the weight throw. Jarrett became the first thrower in WIAC history to win three titles in the weight throw. He was named the 2019 WIAC Field Performer of the Meet.
UWL won 10 individual league crowns among five individuals at the WIAC Outdoor Championships. Riley, named the 2009 WIAC Field Performer of the Meet, captured shot put, discus throw and javelin throw in 2009. Novak (2010-11) won the outdoor shot put title while Havard won the discus (2014) and hammer (2015). Justin Donkin won two (2017, 2019) javelin throw championships while Jarrett (2019) took the hammer throw.
Whitesitt coached eight individuals to 16 NCAA Division III Indoor All-America honors and five athletes to 12 outdoor All-America accolades.
Donkin and Jarrett both earned 2020 NCAA Division III Indoor All-America honors in the weight throw while Daniel Graf earned accolades in the shot put. All three qualified for the NCAA Division III Championships, but the meet was canceled due to the COVID-19 public health threat. Jarrett was seeded first and Donkin fourth in the weight throw,
Jarrett won the 2018 NCAA Division III Indoor title in the weight throw while Christian Morzinski placed sixth to earn All-America honors. Jarrett placed third in the weight throw at the 2017 and 2019 NCAA III Indoor Championships while Morzinski was seventh in 2017.
Whitesitt is credited with coaching Riley to two (2008, 2009) of his three NCAA Division III indoor national championships in the shot put. Riley also finished second in the shot put and fourth in the discus throw at the 2009 outdoor championships under Whitesitt.
Under Whitesitt's tutelage, Havard captured the national crown in the discus throw at the 2014 and 2015 NCAA III Outdoor Championships while finishing seventh in 2012 and third in 2013. Havard was fourth nationally in the weight throw at the 2013 and 2015 NCAA III indoor meet and third in 2014.
Novak placed second in the shot put at the 2011 and 2012 NCAA III Outdoor Championships and third in 2010.
The Eagles' Cooper was seventh in the weight throw at the 2012 indoor national meet and second in 2014 while placing eighth in the hammer throw at the 2013 outdoor championships and third in 2014.
A native of Brownsville, Minnesota, Whitesitt was a member of the UWL track and field team from 2001-04 when the team won eight straight national championships. He was a four-time NCAA III All-America in the 35-pound weight throw and hammer.
He earned his undergraduate degree in physical education from UWL in 2005 and his master's degree in human performance with an emphasis in strength and conditioning in 2008.
Whitesitt attended Caledonia (Minn.) High School and was an assistant track & field coach at La Crescent (Minn.) High School from 2005-07.
Whitesitt is a certified strength and conditioning specialist through the National Strength and Conditioning Association (NSCA).
