Alan Collatz has been with the California State University, Bakersfield track and field program for decades and he is in his 36th season as of Fall of 2022. He was a star thrower as a student-athlete, then served as a volunteer coach before being hired on as a full-time assistant in 1987. Collatz, served as the head men's and women's track and field coach from 2003 through 2011 and director of track in 2012 before retiring. Her currently serves as the "coach emeritus" for Bakersfield overseeing Throws.
All told in his career, Collatz produced 97 NCAA Division II All-Americans, 24 Division II national champions, and five Western Athletic Conference champions (Wilmert 2014, 15; Grimes, 2015; and Chronister 19, 19). He tallied at least one All-American in each of his first 19 seasons in charge of throwing events. Collatz was named Western Region Coach of the Year twice, was honored with the Cornerstone Award in 2012, and inducted into the California State University, Bakersfield Hall of Fame in 2020.
As a member of the Bakersfield program for two seasons, Collatz placed third in the javelin at the 1985 NCAA Division II Championships with a throw of 241-7 to help lead the Roadrunners to a fourth place national finish. At the time, the fourth place finish was the program's best finish at nationals and stands as the second-best performance all-time. Before transferring in time for the 1982 season, Collatz was a junior college All-American in the javelin at Allan Hancock College.
Collatz is the NCAA Division II national record holder in the pre-1985 javelin. His mark (267-1) thrown in 1985 also set the CCAA and school records and made him a California Collegiate Athletic Association Champion. He qualified for the 1992 Olympic Trials ranking Top 10 in the javelin by Track and Field News in 1991 and ’94. In addition to his stint at the Olympic Trials, Collatz placed eighth at the USA Track and Field Championships in 1994.
Collatz and wife Maria, a teacher and volleyball coach at Stockdale High School in Bakersfield, have two daughters, Alex and Tatum. Alex followed in her father’s footsteps and threw for the track and field program at USC. There she was a three-time first team All-American and a PAC-12 champion. Tatum was a student-athlete on the Bakersfield swim team. She was a two-time All-WAC recipient.
