Zivile Pukstas - Assistant Coach - Jumps - Cowgirl Cross Country & Track Coaches

Zivile Pukstas

Title:
Assistant Coach - Jumps
Email:
zivile.pukstas@okstate.edu
Phone:
(405) 744-8765

Zivile Pukstas is in her 21st year at Oklahoma State since joining the staff in 2003. She assists primarily in jumps.

Most recently, Pukstas coached Winny Bii to her first Big 12 title in the Triple Jump at the Big 12 indoor championships in addition to first team All-America honors. Bii broke the school record in the Triple Jump with her mark of 13.72 meters at the Eagle Elite Invitational. She also broke the TJ record outdoors at the African Games at 13.64 meters, earning a second-place finish overall. She also coached tryout athlete out of Choctaw, Okla., Blair Anderson, to a second-place finish at the Big 12 Outdoor Championships in the Long Jump in 2023.

Pukstas recruited and coached the best Cowboy jumper of all-time in Jacob Fincham-Dukes. Fincham-Dukes earned All-America awards in the indoor and outdoor long jump in 2019. He also broke his own school record in both seasons, including an eight-meter jump at the NCAA Outdoor Championships.

Pukstas saw Fincham-Dukes win the Big 12 in the indoor long jump in 2019, which was the English jumper’s second conference title.

All but one of Oklahoma State’s outdoor women’s jumping records have been set under Pukstas’ watch; her work with the Cowgirls’ jumps specialists has been a staple of the program since her arrival.

Pukstas’ leadership has aided Finnish jumps athlete Saara Hakanen into Oklahoma State track and field history. Hakanen’s versatility has made her a skilled competitor in the high jump, long jump and triple jump. In 2019, Hakanen earned All-Big 12 honors at the indoor conference meet with a 6th-place, 12.78m leap in the triple jump.

With a special knack for the triple jump and another season spent under Pukstas, Hakanen broke the Cowgirls’ indoor triple jump record with a 13.18m/43-3 leap at the 2021 Texas Tech Shootout.

Hakanen closed out her sophomore indoor season with Pukstas as a two-time Indoor All-Big 12 honoree after placing eighth in the triple jump and finishing runner-up in the high jump with a 1.78m/5-10 height, which ties her for first all-time with Tammy Lienhard’s showing at the 1979 AIAW Championships.

Hakanen also rocketed herself up the OSU record books during the outdoor season. She sits at second all-time by a Cowgirl in both the high jump (1.82m/6-11.5) and the triple jump (13.17m/43-2.5).

Cowgirl high jumper Toni Young earned All-America honors by placing fifth at the 2012 NCAA outdoor meet. She became OSU’s first-ever female high jump All-American and shattered the school record by clearing 1.87 m/6-01.50 at the national meet.

Pukstas coached Clarissa Andrews to lengths never before reached for a jumper at Oklahoma State, as Andrews claimed the school record in both the outdoor long jump and the outdoor triple jump under Pukstas’ watch.

Andrews’ triple jump mark of 13.11 m/43-00.25 at the 2011 Big 12 Championships obliterated the previous school record of 12.89 meters/42-03.5.

In 2014, Pukstas coached Viktoriia Sadokhina to two big 12 titles at both the Indoor and Outdoor Big 12 Championships. She also broke Andrews’ school record with a 13.35m jump to take the outdoor crown.

In 2018, Pukstas brought in a young group of jumpers to add to her already impressive roster for OSU. Emily Rogers came in and nearly set the school record in the high jump, both indoor and out.

Jacob Fincham-Dukes once again starred, earning an All-Big 12 honor indoors and making it once again to the NCAA Outdoor Championships.

In the 2017-18 seasons, Pukstas made her impact felt through Jacob Fincham-Dukes, the star jumper for the Cowboys. Fincham-Dukes had a successful sophomore campaign, winning the 2017 Big 12 title in long jump and setting a personal best along the way, all under the guidance of Pukstas.

At the 2016 Big 12 Indoor Championships, Pukstas’ jumpers recorded a crucial nine points in the long jump when Fincham-Dukes finished second and Simon Imagbe claimed eighth.

Those 13 points helped push the Cowboys over Texas in a 1.5-point win at the Championships. It was the Pokes’ second conference indoor title in three years.

In 2009, Andrews and Baiba Blumbaha logged the two best outdoor long jump marks in school history at the Big 12 Championships and both went on to compete at the NCAA regional meet. Blumbaha then went on to suit up for the Cowgirls at the national meet.

Pukstas also had an impressive addition to her resume in 2011, as she coached men’s walk-on Taylor Buck to some of the best high jump performances in school history. Buck’s high jump of 2.14m/7-00.25 was the highest mark at Oklahoma State in decades and ranks third in school history.

During her career at Oklahoma State, Pukstas coached triple jumper Paula Ogunbanjo to a third-place finish at the 2004 Big 12 Indoor Championships and helped develop Ogunbanjo into an NCAA qualifier in 2005. Pukstas also coached heptathlete Tihana Sarac to a school record in 2005.

Pukstas attended Southern Methodist University after beginning her jumping career in her home country of Lithuania. Pukstas not only set the school record in the triple jump for the Mustangs, but also represented SMU at the 2003 NCAA Indoor and Outdoor Championships. Pukstas placed ninth in the Indoor Championships, while claiming a 12th-place finish at the Outdoor Championships.

Before completing her career at SMU, Pukstas was Lithuania’s national champion in the triple jump in 2001 and 2003. She set the Lithuanian junior national record in the triple jump in the under-18, under-20 and under-23 divisions.

Pukstas is married to Mindaugas Pukstas, a former Olympian who competed for OSU. The couple has two children, Rokas – born in 2004 – and Gabija – born in 2007.