University of California - Riverside Women's Track

Eric Fremd joined the UC Riverside Track & Field program as an assistant coach overseeing jumps, multis and hurdles in August 2018. He enters his seventh full season at UCR in 2024-25.  Fremd's inaugural outdoor season with UCR was quite the introduction. He led Quinn Williams to the 2019 Big West title in the 400mH, also leading Hana Johnson (TJ), Didi Amarasekara (LJ), and Ondrej Rapp (LJ) to podium finishes. In addition to her podium finish in the long jump, Amarasekara set a new school record in the Heptathlon, scoring 5,157 points for a fourth-place finish. 2019 was also a record-breaking season for indoor; Purnima Gunarathna tied the high jump school record with a clearance of 5-7.75ft, Amarsekara broke the UCR school record in the long jump with a jump of 19-11.50ft, and Julian Read broke the school heptathlon record with a score of 4,697 points. In all, Fremd’s group accounted for one Big West Champion, two NCAA West Prelims qualifiers, four school records, four All-Big West honors, and 25 UCR top-10 marks achieved during the 2019 indoor and outdoor seasons. Prior to his current position with the Highlanders, Fremd spent three seasons at Sacramento State (2016-18) where he led the Hornets student-athletes competing in the horizontal jumps and multis. During his tenure with the Hornets, Fremd produced two NCAA All-Americans, 12 NCAA Prelim qualifiers, 41 All-Conference selections, 50 Top-10 All-Time marks, and four school records. During the 2018 outdoor season, Fremd coached triple jumper, Darius Armstead who became Sacramento State’s first NCAA First Team All-American in the triple jump after placing 7th at National Championships with a jump of 53-0.75ft. At the Outdoor Big Sky Conference Championships, Fremd help lead a dominant Hornet squad to overwhelming success in the Men’s and Women’s horizontal jumps, highlighted by the Women’s 30-point scoring effort in the triple jump, which including a 1st through 4th place sweep. Emilia Del Hoyo led the charge with 41-2.5ft, narrowly edging out her teammate Brittany Patterson’s best of 41-0.25ft, to land 1st place. Fremd also enjoyed equal coaching success on the Men’s side with four finalists in the men’s long jump, and three in the men’s triple jump, led by Darius Armstead’s title defense in the men’s triple jump. To highlight the depth of Fremd’s jumpers, in the final USTFCCCA Event Squad Rankings of the 2018 outdoor season, both Sacramento State’s Men’s and Women’s four-person triple jump squads were ranked third in the NCCA, with averages of 50-5.25ft. and 40-4.25ft., respectively.  The 2018 indoor season saw Emilia Del Hoyo earn Big Sky Conference MVP honors at the Big Sky Conference Championships for her efforts of placing 2nd in the triple jump (to her teammate Brittany Patterson), 3rd in the pentathlon, 4th in the long jump, and 7th in the 60m hurdles, to earn a meet high 22-points. In addition, Jah Strange led a podium sweep in the men’s triple jump with teammates Mohammed Abdullah and Darius Armstead rounding out the top three spots on the platform, respectively. Strange also set the triple jump school record during that season, with a mark of 51-3.5ft.  Overall in 2018, Fremd’s group accounted for one NCAA All-American, six NCAA West Preliminary qualifiers, four Big Sky Conference champions, 18 All-Conference honors earned, and 19 top-10 marks achieved during the indoor and outdoor seasons. During the 2017 outdoor season, Fremd coached long jumper, Cory Barger, who jumped a lifetime best of 25-3ft at the NCAA West Prelims to qualify to the NCAA National Championship Finals where he would earn honorable mention All-America honors by placing 17th. At the outdoor Big Sky Championships, Michael Turner was named Big Sky Conference MVP after winning the men's long jump with a mark of 25-8ft, placing 4th the 100m at 10.55, and 3rd in the 200m at 21.40. Elizabeth Venzon led a 1-2 finish with Kassandra Corrigan in the heptathlon (with scores of 5,322 and 5,163 points, respectively). Max Jette won the decathlon title with a score of 6,960 points. Darius Armstead won the men's triple jump title, setting a new school record and moving to 5th all time in Big Sky history in the event during the regular season with a jump of 53-1.5ft.  The 2017 indoor season was highlighted by Darius Armstead’s school record and Conference title winning jump of 51-2ft in the triple jump, and Elizabeth Venzon’s Conference title winning jump of 5-8ft (second-best mark in school history) in the women’s high jump.  Overall in 2017, Fremd’s group accounted for one NCAA All-American, six NCAA West Preliminary qualifiers, six Big Sky Conference champions, 18 all-conference honors earned, and 24 top-10 marks achieved during the indoor and outdoor seasons. The 2016 season was highlighted by Kassandra Corrigan’s school record in the indoor pentathlon, with a score of 3,794 points.  Prior to his success at Sacramento State, Fremd spent two seasons as the Head Track & Field Coach at Yuba College. During the 2015 season, the women's team won its first Conference title in 15 years, by winning the Golden Valley Conference Championship. For his efforts, Fremd was also named the 2015 GVC Women's Coach of the Year. Before his arrival at Yuba College, Fremd served as an assistant coach for the sprints/relays and jumps at Sacramento City College for two seasons. He began his coaching career during the 2011 season as an assistant coach at Pomona-Pitzer, where he coached the sprinters and jumpers. As a student-athlete, Fremd competed for Cal State Northridge (CSUN) while earning his B.S. in Kinesiology. While competing for the Matadors, Fremd played an integral role on the team’s back-to-back Big West Conference team championships in 2009 & 2010. In 2013, he earned his M.S. in Kinesiology (sports performance) from Sacramento State. Fremd also attended Sacramento City College, where he was a team captain for the 2007 State Championship Track & Field Team. Fremd holds a USTFCCCA Jump Events Specialist certification and a USATF Level 2 Sprints/Hurdles/Relays certification. Fremd is married to his former CSUN track teammate Crystal Fremd (formerly Spears), and the two have two sons, TJ and Tyson.

Newell joined the UC Riverside Track & Field staff as assistant coach for hurdles, jumps and multis in October of 2014 following following four years of working at his alma mater, Liberty University. Newell served as the director of operations for the track and field program at Liberty for two seasons before becoming an assistant coach for the Flames for an additional two years. During his time, Liberty won the Big South Championship in indoor and outdoor track and field in 2011, 2012, 2013 and 2014. Individually, athletes Mia Aghaji and Kyle Wheeler set school records in the women's triple jump and men's high jump respectively under his tutelage, while heptathlete Christiana Mitchell and decathlete Geren Woodridge both swept the Big South and IC4A championships in 2011. Newell also coached Anthony Bryant to a seventh place finish in the triple jump at the 2013 USATF Indoor Championships with a mark of 51'7". Additionally, he was the meet director for the 2013 Big South Outdoor Track and Field Championships. Newell was a standout decathlete during his time on the Liberty track & field team, graduating in 2008 with an English degree. He then remained at Liberty to earn a master's degree in English, concluding his studies in 2010. Newell capped off his tenure with the Flames competing in the decathlon at the 2009 NCAA Division I Outdoor Track & Field Championships where he placed 16th with a career-high 7,302 points, moving up to No. 9 on Liberty's all-time decathlon performance list. Upon graduation, he was one of only two Liberty athletes to sweep the Big South and IC4A decathlons in the same season, pulling off the feat in back-to-back years in 2008 and 2009. Newell also excelled indoors. His winning heptathlon score of 5,346 at the 2009 Liberty Open ranks second in Liberty and Big South Conference history. That same season, he helped the Flames win the 4x400m relay at the Big South Indoor Track & Field Championships. Newell earned numerous academic accolades as a senior, including third-team ESPN The Magazine Academic All-America recognition. He was a member of the U.S. Track & Field and Cross Country Coaches Association (USTFCCCA) All-Academic Team and the Virginia Sports Information Directors (VaSID) Academic All-State Team. Newell was also voted the Big South Scholar-Athlete of the Year for men's indoor track & field.

Pagel joined the Highlanders Track & Field program as throws coach in September of 2014 following coaching stops at both the national and international level. Pagel has worked with throwers at Fresno City College, LSU, Radford, Kent State, Long Beach State, San Diego State, and San Diego Mesa College, as well as for international competitions in Japan, Switzerland, Sweden, and England. Pagel most recently served as the track and field coach for the US Marine Corps Wounded Warrior Regiment, stemming from his three-year stint as the coach for the US Navy Safe Harbor / Wounded Warrior Program in Port Hueneme, CA from 2011-14. He was also an assistant coach at Dos Pueblos High School in Goleta, CA during those same years. Pagel served as the Head Men's Track & Field Coach and Assistant Women's Coach at Fresno City College from 2005-11. He was named the CCCAA California Community College Event Coach of the Year in 2011, and earned CVC Track & Field Coach of the Year honors in 2009, 2010, and 2011. Prior to working with the Rams, he was the athletic facilities director at Southeastern Louisiana University from 2004-05.   He came to Southeastern from LSU, where he was an assistant coach from 2001-04. During his time with the Tigers, Pagel guided four of his athletes to NCAA appearances, and produced LSU's first scorer in a throwing event at a national meet since the 1998 season.   Prior to joining the LSU track and field program, Pagel spent five seasons as the associate head coach at Kent State University in Ohio. There he worked with the throwers, designed and implemented the team's strength and conditioning program and served as the meet director at all home competitions.   Before his stint with the Golden Flash, Pagel coached extensively in the state of California between 1979-95, where he served on staffs at San Diego Mesa College, San Diego State, Long Beach State, and Fullerton College.   Pagel has also worked extensively with USA Track and Field as a national clinician in both the shot put and discus. He is certified as a USATF Master Coach and is qualified as a Level III instructor. Pagel also served as the coordinator for the Junior Olympic Hammer Program, in addition to directing the Junior Elite Hammer Camp at the United States Olympic Training Center in San Diego. Overall, Pagel has developed six Olympians, 36 NCAA Division I All-Americans, and 42 junior college All-Americans.   Also an accomplished athlete, Pagel was a four-year letterman at UCLA, competing on three NCAA national Championship teams (1971-73). He placed second in the shot put at the 1975 Pac-8 Championships with a throw of 61-11 and had lifetime bests of 62-11 in the shot put and 181-11 in the discus. A native of Fullerton, Pagel is married to four-time United States Olympian Ramona Pagel.

Browne was named director of Cross Country and Track & Field for the Highlanders in January of 2016 following four months as the program's interim director. He tepped into the interim shoes in August of 2015 following the retirement of Coach Irv Ray, who held the post for the previous 12 years. It was the third promotion in three years for Browne, who was named associate head coach for Track & Field in January of 2013. He originally joined the Highlanders program in the summer of 2003 as a volunteer assistant coach after previously serving as a graduate assistant at Cal Baptist from 2001-2002. Browne was promoted to full-time assistant cross country and track and field coach in the summer of 2007. This fall, Browne coached sophomore Faith Makau to the individual Big West Cross Country Championship. Coupled with sophomore Weslie Totten's fourth place finish, the Highlanders Women's Cross Country Team finished in fourth place. Cody Jordan earned all-conference honors on the men's side with a tenth place finish. Since joining the Highlanders, Browne has assisted the track & field team in the training of six national qualifiersthree of whom earned All American honorsand coached six All-West Region performers, 27 NCAA Regional Qualifiers, 12 Big West Conference Champions, and 27 All-Big West Conference performers. Since taking full control of the sprints and relays in 2009, Browne has coached one Big West Conference Champion in the 400m, five NCAA first round west region qualifiers, and 11 All-Big West performers in those events. Additionally, his athletes have set 16 indoor school records, five outdoor school records and 53 UCR All Time Top 10 marks (28 women/25 men). In cross country, Browne trained four national qualifiers, six All-West Region performers, and 15 All Big West Conference athletes. Additionally, Chad Hall (2008) and Emmanuel Ngula (2009) were named Big West Cross Country Freshmen of the Year. Browne was the assistant coach in 2008 when UC Riverside won the Big West Womens Cross Country Championshipthe first such title in the programs history. He also assisted with 92 Big West Academic All Conference honorees since being promoted to full time in 2007. Additionally, UCR Mens Cross Country earned All-American Academic Team recognition in seven consecutive years (2007-2014); Mens Track & Field earned that distinction in 2009 and 2010; while Womens Cross Country received the award in four consecutive years (2009-2012).   Browne was an 11-time collegiate All-American at Cal Baptist. He was the national runner up in the indoor 800m in 1999, the same year the Lancers won the NAIA Indoor National Track & Field team titlethe first national title in the schools history. His other career highlights include winning five NAIA National Championships in the 4x800m and distance medley relays and winning back-to-back conference 800m titles in 1999 and 2000. He has a personal best of 1:49 in the 800m and 47.2 in the 400m. Browne graduated from CBU in 2000 with a bachelors degree in business administration. He was a Golden State Athletic Conference Scholar Athlete. Browne attended Victor Valley High School (Victorville, CA), where he graduated in 1995. He was a CIF Finalist in the 800m. He is a member of the United States Track & Field and Cross Country Coaches Association, and has his USATF Level 1 Coaching Certification, USATF Level 2 in Sprints, Hurdles and Relays. Additionally, he was selected for the USATF Emerging Elite Coaches Camp in the same event disciplines in 2012. Browne's hobbies include Cross Fit, running, playing basketball, reading, cooking and mentoring young people. He is also involved in online commerce. He resides in Riverside.

Nate Browne was named Director of Cross Country and Track & Field for UC Riverside in January of 2016 and enters his 10th full year in 2025-26. He stepped into the interim shoes in August of 2015 following the retirement of Coach Irv Ray, who had held the post for the previous 12 years. It was the third promotion in as many years for Browne, who was named associate head coach for Track & Field in January of 2013. He originally joined the Highlanders program in the summer of 2003 as a volunteer assistant coach after serving as a volunteer assistant at California Baptist from 2001-02. Browne was promoted to full-time assistant cross country and track and field coach in the summer of 2007. In 2023, Browne led the UCR Men's Cross Country team to its first Highlander Invitational win since 2014. UC Riverside also dominated at the Big West Preview and the famed Bill Dellinger Invite in Eugene before both the men's and women's squads moved up to No. 11 in the West Region USTFCCCA rankings. UCR ended the cross country season with the women placing 11th at NCAA West Regionals - its best finish since 2017 - and Ashraf Abdelmagid earning NCAA All-Region. In the 2024 Track & Field season, Browne oversaw two Big West champions and countless school record holders in addition to Monea Jennings being named a recipient of the Big West Service and Leadership Award. 2025 brought more success with the Highlanders' 13th, 14th, and 15th entries to the NCAA West Preliminaries since 2021. Additionally, UCR also brought home the MPSF women's 200m title and Big West podium finishes in the men's and women's 4x400 relays. Program records have fallen time and time again with Browne at the helm, and the women's track and field team entered national prominence in 2022 with a No. 16 ranking in the 5000m relay and No. 13 in the West region. In spring 2023 alone, Browne presided over multiple fallen school and Big West women's 10k records, as well as new all-time school marks in the 5k, 100m, 200m, 60m and 60mH.  Browne helped guide Faith Makau to the 2015 Big West individual cross country title, UCR's second in as many years after Raquel Hefflin's win in 2014. In 2019, Browne led UC Riverside to represent two of the league men's meet's top five finishes in Johnathan Lee (3rd/24:34.8) and Arman Irani (5th/24:41.0). The duo later finished 50th and 51st, respectively, at the NCAA West Regionals in Colfax, Washington. Most recently, in 2021 in Davis, Linda Perez became UCR's seventh All-Conference honoree since 2016.  On the cross country side, Browne has led UC Riverside to collect seven Big West All-Conference awards, countless Big West All-Academic awards and seven individual trips to NCAA West Regional meets since being named director in 2016. Most recently in 2025, the men’s cross country team earned its best NCAA West Regional result, finishing 15th. UC Riverside has reached new heights in track and field with Browne at the helm. He led the program to make school history in 2016 when Vesta Bell captured the NCAA Division I national championship in the weight throw, the school's first national title in any sport. Breana Jemison also earned Second Team All-American honors that year. Prior to NCAAs, Browne coached Asha Giles to the 2016 Big West 400m title, helping the women to their best league meet finish in eight years.  Browne has presided over 20 Big West individual championships, including Jemison's Big West-record 56-11.50 in the shot put in 2016. Six Highlanders have advanced to NCAAs since 2013 and six have earned All-American status. UCR has won a Big West Freshman of the Year award on the men's and women's side with Browne on staff, most notably from Perez. In 2022, she gave UCR its 20th individual league meet title since 2013 with a 10k title in 2021 that crowned her the Big West Freshman of the Year.  In 2009, Browne was given full control of the sprints and relays, which resulted in him coaching a Big West Conference champion in the 400m, five NCAA West Region Qualifiers and 11 All-Big West performers in those events. Additionally, his athletes set 16 indoor school records, five outdoor school records and 64 UCR All Time Top 10 marks (34 women and 30 men). In cross country, Browne assisted with four NCAA Nationals Qualifiers, six All-West Region Performers and 15 All Big West Conference athletes. Additionally, Chad Hall (2008) and Emmanuel Ngula (2009) were named Big West Cross Country Freshmen of the Year and UC Riverside won the 2008 Big West Women’s Cross Country Championship, the first such title in the program’s history. He also assisted with 92 Big West Academic All-Conference honorees after he was promoted to full time in 2007, UCR Men’s Cross Country earned Academic All-American Team recognition in seven consecutive years (2007-2014); Men’s Track & Field earned that distinction in 2009 and 2010; and the Women’s Cross Country received the award in four consecutive years (2009-2012).   Browne was an 11-time collegiate All-American at California Baptist. He was the national runner up in the indoor 800m in 1999, the same year the Lancers won the NAIA Indoor National Track & Field team title—the first national title in that school’s history. His other career highlights include winning five NAIA National Championships in the 4x800m and distance medley relays and winning back-to-back Golden State Athletic Conference 800m titles in 1999 and 2000. He graduated from CBU in 2000 with a bachelor’s degree in business administration and was also a Golden State Athletic Conference Scholar Athlete. Prior to that he attended Victor Valley High School (Victorville, CA), where he graduated in 1995 and that same year was a CIF Southern Section Finalist in the 800m. He is a member of the United States Track & Field and Cross Country Coaches Association, and has his USATF Level 1 Coaching Certification and USATF Level 2 in Sprints, Hurdles and Relays. Additionally, he was selected for the USATF Emerging Elite Coaches Camp in the same event disciplines in 2012. Browne's hobbies include Cross Fit, running, playing basketball, reading, cooking and mentoring young people. He is married to Celene Gutierrez as of July of 2016, and the couple live in Riverside with their daughters Marianna and Eliana.