Carnegie Mellon University Men's Track

Aldrich, who has been honored by the U.S. Track & Field and Cross Country Coaches Association (USTFCCCA) on six occasions including the 2015 Mideast Regional Mens Head Coach of the Year, will be starting his third year at the helm of the Carnegie Mellon University Men's and Women's Track and Field program in 2016-17. The season will also mark his 11th on staff as he served eight seasons as the associate head coach. During Aldrich's time on staff, he has mentored four athletes to nine All-America honors and the men's program has won three University Athletic Association (UAA) Championships while it has finished second eight times. Known for his work in field events, hurdles and strength and conditioning, Aldrich has also motivated a mid-distance and distance cohort to NCAA Championship competition. In 2016, junior Owen Norley raced to a sixth-place finish in the mile at the indoor championships while freshman Rai Walters became the first jumper in school history to compete at the indoor championships. In Aldrichs first season in charge, senior Thomas Vandenberg took fifth-place in the both the 400- and 800-meter dashes at the indoor championships before closing his career with an eighth-place finish in the 800-meter dash at the outdoor championships. Joining Vandenberg at both championship events was senior George Degen who competed in the 3,000-meter run and the 10K and senior Erin Kiekhaefer who raced in the mile and the 1,500-meter run. In eight seasons as the associate head coach, Aldrich was named the USTFCCCA Mideast Regional Assistant Coach of the Year five times (2008 outdoor men, 2011 outdoor women, 2012 indoor men and women and 2012 outdoor women). His career started with nine UAA Championship performances in 2006-07 with two individuals earning UAA Outdoor Field Rookie of the Year and UAA Outdoor Field Performer of the Year honors, with one female competing at the NCAA Indoor Championships. For his career, Aldrich has coached eight UAA Rookies of the Year, nine UAA Performers of the Year and watched as individuals won 57 UAA titles in the field and hurdle events. In 2014 Zachary Erra-Hernandez became the first Carnegie Mellon thrower to earn All-America honors while he and James Hulley combined to compete at six NCAA Championships under Aldrich. Aldrich also mentored Jacqueline Guevel to three All-America honors (55-meter hurdles, 100-meter hurdles and 400-meter hurdles) as a freshman in 2011, helping to put the women's track and field team on the national map. Guevel added to her All-America numbers with a fourth-place finish in the 60-meter hurdles at the 2012 NCAA Indoor Championships while only an illness kept her off the track at the NCAA Outdoor Championships as she once again qualified for both the 100- and 400-meter hurdles. While at Carnegie Mellon, Aldrich has had four opportunities to coach on the international stage with his most recent appointment coming at the 2016 World Indoor Championships where he was the U.S.A. Mens and Womens Throws Coach. Prior to the World Indoor Championships in Portland, Oregon, Aldrich served as the mens throws coach at the 2015 Pan American Games in Toronto, Canada. His first international experience came as the mens throws coach for the NACAC (North American, Central American, and Caribbean Athletic Association) Under 23 Team in July 2010 before he served as the mens throws coach for the United States at the World Junior Track and Field Championships in Barcelona, Spain in July 2012. Aldrich came to Carnegie Mellon from Rhode Island where he was the Mid-Atlantic Sales Manager for M-F Athletic Company/Perform Better. As a sales representative for the largest track and field distributing company and functional training company in the United States, he lectured for state track and field coaches association clinics on various topics including throwing and jumping events and strength and conditioning. He is also currently the vice president of the National Throws Coaches Association and is responsible for aiding in the organization of the national convention and putting on throws clinics around the country. A graduate of Slippery Rock University, Aldrich has previously coached at Slippery Rock, Allegheny College, and most recently Alfred University in New York from 1995-1998. While at Alfred, Aldrich was the head coach for mens and womens track and field and also the mens and womens cross country teams. He led the teams to numerous conference runner-up finishes and was named the Mens Coach of the Year following the 1997 mens conference championship season in track and field. Seven members of his cross country teams were named Academic All-Americans and he coached the womens teams first NCAA individual qualifier. Aldrich graduated with a Bachelor of Science degree in physical education and health, with an emphasis in coaching and teaching certification K-12, in 1982 and finished his Master of Science in Kinesiology/Biomechanics in 1989, also from Slippery Rock. He currently holds the school discus record and was inducted in October 2006 to the Slippery Rock University Athletic Hall of Fame and is a member of the Somerset (Mass.) High School Athletic Hall of Fame. He qualified for the 1983 Division II NCAA meet in the discus and is a Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference (PSAC) champion in the shot put. Aldrich has published a discus video and DVD through M-F Athletic Co. called Come to Practice, has written numerous articles about the various aspects of throwing events published on web sites such as www.mfathletic.com and holds his Level II USAT&F Coaching Certification in both jumps and throws and is a lead instructor for Level I USAT&F Coaching Certification.