Successful Ashland University Coach Dies Of COVID Complications

By Doug Binder, DyeStat Editor

Jud Logan, who made U.S. Olympic teams between 1984 to 2000 and guided the Ashland University men's track and field team to three national championships between 2019 and 2021, died Monday at the age of 62. 

The cause of death was COVID-related pneumonia, although he had also been through two years of treatment for leukeuma, according to the Canton Repository. 

Logan was the head coach at Ashland from 2004 until the time of his death. 

Last March, his men's team won the NCAA Division 2 Indoor championship, building upon the indoor and outdoor sweep of 2019. 

"His passing is just shattering news for our campus and beyond, and our prayers are with the entire Logan family," Ashland University president Dr. Carlos Campo said. 

Logan played football and threw the hammer in college at Kent State, where his status as a thrower took off. 

Logan was the U.S. team captain at the 1992 Barcelona Games and is the former American record holder in the hammer. The only Americans to throw farther than Logan's 1988 best of 268-8 (81.88m) are Lance Deal and current record-holder Rudy Winkler.

Ashland All-American and graduate student Trevor Bassitt, a key member of the Eagles' recent championship teams, said he and his former teammates have been taking the news one day at a time. 

"It's hard because words don’t do Jud Logan justice," Bassitt said. "I don’t know how to describe the indescribable. He’s a four-time Olympian and a legendary coach, but he was an even better person. He truly cared about everyone he came into contact with. He could talk for hours and was the best storyteller I’ve ever met. He led with passion, intensity and love. I’ve never met someone as inspirational and as impactful as Jud Logan."