In his 11th year on the UA track and field staff, throwing events coach Brian Forrester, the 2009 USTFCCCA Great Lakes Region Women's Assistant Coach of the Year, has established his group as a force on the conference, regional and national levels.

Since joining the Akron staff prior to the 2002 season, Forrester has mentored four All-Americans – earning eight All-America honors. Leading the way among that esteemed group is Stevi Large, a four-time All-American who captured the 2009 NCAA Championship in the hammer while smashing school, conference and regional records along the way.

Since his arrival in 2002, UA student-athletes have set 11 of the school's 12 throws records under Forrester's direction. Large currently holds four Akron records, while Auston Papay, who placed eighth at the NCAA Indoors in the shot put to earn All-American status in 2008, is the record-holder in three events.

Forrester produced just the second All-American thrower in program history in 2005 when Ashley Kaufman earned her first of two consecutive honors in the javelin.

Large, who also finished as the national runner-up in the weight throw in 2009, blossomed into Akron's most dominating thrower next, capturing nine MAC Championships during her time – including four consecutive hammer titles from 2006-'09.

A four-time MAC Female Field Performer of the Year, Large shattered the MAC record in the 20-pound weight and took fifth at the NCAA Indoors for her first All-American honor in 2008. She backed that up by shattering the MAC record in the hammer, claimed the NCAA Mid-East Region crown in the event, and then placed eighth at the NCAA Outdoors for her second All-American honor.

Valerie Wert, who was next in the line of dominating Akron throwers, earned a berth to the NCAA Indoor and Outdoor Championships in 2009; the same year Large won her second straight Mideast Regional title in the hammer. The next season, Wert, who owns the school's record in the discus, went on to capture the MAC Championship in the hammer and earned All-American status in 2010. 

Other UA record holders include Randall Hafner in the 35-pound weight and Greg Corbitt in the hammer.

In addition to his duties coaching the throwers, Forrester works with the camp organization and assists with the day-to-day administrative details of the program. As proud as he may be about his athlete's success on the field, he is even more proud of their success in the classroom as well. Namely, Hafner was a six-time Academic All-MAC selection.

The UA throwers provided big points allowing the women's program to sweep the MAC Indoor and Outdoor titles for the third straight year as well as men's program winning the '08 MAC Outdoors and adding runner up finishes at the '07 MAC Outdoors and '08 MAC Indoors. In 2008, Large won the discus, hammer and 20-pound weight, while placing second in the indoor shot and third in the outdoor. Also, Wert made an immediate impact, placing second in the discus and third in the hammer. For the men in '08, Akron had seven podium finishes at the MAC Outdoor and three during the MAC Indoor.

In 2007, Large won titles in the weight throw, discus and hammer while shattering the league record in the weight throw and hammer along the way. Hafner added a second team All-MAC selection with his performance in the weight throw with Papay getting second team All-MAC honors during the outdoor season in the discus and shot.

During the 2006 season, Akron throwers did their most damage in one season to the record books, establishing UA records in the women's weight, hammer, discus, javelin and the men's discus events. Forrester's athletes won four individual MAC Championships including; women's hammer (Large), discus (Liz Mangen), javelin (Kaufman) and men's discus (Papay). Jenna Strouse (hammer) and Hafner (discus) also finished second in their respective events.

In 2006, seven Akron throwers qualified for NCAA Regionals in 11 events matching the previous year's best total. Three throwers advanced to the NCAA Outdoor National Championships with one, Kaufman, earning her second All-American honor. Kaufman had a tremendous senior campaign holding down the nation's best effort in the javelin through April, setting a MAC Championship meet record (176' 10") in the javelin and being named MAC Female Field Performer of the Year. The throws team ended the season being the ranked No. 1 in the MAC and 17th nationally.

During the 2004-05 season, Forrester coached seven different throwers to regional qualifying marks in 11 events, and two NCAA indoor provisional qualifiers as well. The year prior to that, two of Forrester's pupils, Dustin Shaffer (weight throw) and Corbitt (shot put outdoors) were crowned MAC Individual Champions.

In addition, Shaffer, the All-Ohio Indoor Champion in the weight throw, was a provisional NCAA and USATF Indoor Championships qualifier with his toss of 64-10 at the Scarlet and Gray Invitational. Outdoors, Shaffer set the school record in the discus (173-10) and qualified for the NCAA Regional in the discus and hammer.

Corbitt, a regional qualifier in the shot put and hammer throw, was the All-Ohio Outdoor Champion in the shot put and set school records in the shot put (59-04.25) and hammer throw (203-10). He became the only UA student-athlete to throw more than 200 feet in the hammer and qualified for the NCAA Outdoor Championships. Forrester additionally coached Zach Helm, who qualified for the regional in the hammer throw.

During the 2003 outdoor season, three UA throwers, Kaufman, Liz Mangen (discus) and Shaffer (hammer) qualified for the inaugural NCAA Mideast Regional Championships.

Forrester made an immediate impact with the Zips upon his arrival for the 2002 season. Corbitt placed second in the weight throw at the MAC Indoors with a school-record toss of 66-2.5. Corbitt also bested his own mark in the indoor shot put (55-2) and the hammer throw (193-3). Renata Smith set the pace for the women in 2002 with a championship in the shot put at the MAC Indoor meet.

Prior to joining the Zips staff, Forrester spent the 2001 season as the throwing events coach at Wittenburg University.

While at Wittenburg, the throwers under his tutelage established school records in the men's and women's weight throw, men's and women's javelin, and the men's hammer. He coached four freshmen throwers to NCAA qualifying marks, two of which also qualified for USA Junior Nationals. In 2000, Forrester worked as a volunteer assistant coach at Kent State under the guidance of coach Kent Pagel.

Forrester is a USATF Level II throws coach, a USA Weightlifting Club coach and a Jump-Stretch Instructor. He is a member and contributing author of the Long and Strong Throwers Journal/Club. Forrester is the director of the UA track and field camps and has coached at throwing camps throughout Western Pennsylvania and Ohio.

A 1999 graduate of Slippery Rock University with a degree in sport management, Forrester was an all-conference performer in the shot put, as well as the SRU Indoor Athlete of the Year in 1996 and 1997.