Kent State Track & Field Camps
Golden Flashes Coaching Staff
Nathan Fanger
Assistant Coach
Throwers
One of the longest tenured track and field coaches in the Mid-American Conference, Kent State graduate Nathan Fanger begins his 10th season as an assistant coach in charge of the throwers.
"Coach Fanger has coached the most champions and is respected nationwide as one of the top throwing coaches in the country," said Director of Track and Field and Cross Country Bill Lawson. "He is the backbone of our program and we are very fortunate and have Nathan Fanger here at Kent State."
A program already widely known for its success in those events, Fanger has taken the team to new heights in nine seasons. Under his guidance, 34 throwers have won MAC championships, 28 have qualified for regional track and field meets, 13 have qualified for the NCAA Championships and five have earned All-America status.
He also has one Academic All-American to his credit.
In 2009, Fanger coached five athletes to conference championships, including former softball standout Kim Hamilton in the javelin. Hamilton had only nine months of training under her belt when she finished fifth in the javelin to earn All-American accolades at the 2009 NCAA Outdoor Track and Field Championships.
Also in 2009, Matt Pfleger captured conference titles in both the weight and hammer throws. In the hammer, Pfleger recorded one of the best marks in the NCAA among sophomores (211'-9").
A KSU graduate in 2009, LeVania Henderson left her mark during her four-year Kent State track and field career. She won the MAC championship in the indoor shot put once and captured a pair of MAC championships in shot put outdoors. In her career, she is among career Kent State leaders in the shot put indoors (2nd-54'0.50") and outdoors (8th-53'-8"), the discus (9th-160'-4") and holds the school record in both the hammer throw (191'-4', 2009) and weight throw (167'-8.25", 2009).
Other athletes who have been coached by Fanger include Julie Ward, who qualified for three NCAA Championships and was an All-American and MAC champion in the javelin in 2005, and Breann Smith, who won an indoor conference championship in the indoor shot put and in the discus in 2005. Smith is also among the top performances in school history in the outdoor shot put (2nd, 54'-9.25"), indoor shot put (3rd, 52'-9.50"), the discus (5th, 175'-8"), the javelin (9th, 154'-10") and the hammer throw (10th, 160'-6").
For the men, Fanger guided such athletes as Andy Nicholas, who went from a walk-on to an all-American finish in the hammer throw in 2008 and won back-to-back MAC championships in the hammer in 2007-2008. He still ranks among the KSU bests in both the weight throw (67'-2.75") and hammer (223'-5").
Fanger also mentored two-time conference champion Jaroslaw Zakrzewski, who won the weight throw in 2007 and the hammer throw in 2008, and John Harper, who won four MAC championships in his KSU career (one in the weight throw and three in the hammer).
Finally, Fanger helped guide one of the best throwers in Kent State history in Brian Hallett. Hallett won a total of seven MAC championships with KSU (three each in outdoor and indoor shot put and one on discus), five of which came under Fanger's tutelage.
In 2003, Hallett earned All-American honors in the shot put. He still holds the school record in both the outdoor (62'-10") and indoor shot put (61'1.25").
Fanger, a 2000 graduate of Kent State, was a standout athlete for the Golden Flashes in his own right. He is the only four-time discus champion in MAC history and is one of three Kent State athletes to have won an individual event at the MAC championships in each of their four years. Twice he qualified for the NCAA championships in the discus and he holds the KSU school record in the event with a throw of 194'-3" He also helped Kent State to MAC championships in outdoor men's track and field in 2000 and '04 while the women won the outdoor tack and field championship in 2002 and the indoor track and field championship in 2003.
A native of Kalispell, Mont., Fanger graduated with a degree in education and resides in Brimfield with his wife, Lori, his son, Jonathan and his daughter, Savannah.
Mark Croghan
Assistant Coach
Distance & Middle Distance
When Bill Lawson was hired to oversee the track and field and cross country teams at Kent State, he turned to three-time Olympian Mark Croghan to head the cross country and distance programs. Five years later, Croghan has taken the cross country and distance programs to new heights.
“We are very excited to have Mark Croghan,” said Lawson. He has steadily improved the program. I believe now, in our distance and middle-distance programs, we are as strong as Kent State has ever been and I feel very confident of having someone of Mark’s expertise leading those groups.
“He is doing an outstanding job and we look for great things in the future from him,” Lawson added.
All of Croghan’s hard work paid off in 2009 as the men’s cross country team won its first Mid-American Conference title. In six races that year, the men claimed five overall team titles, including finishing ahead of a pair of top-10 teams in Wisconsin and Iona at the Iona Meet of Champions.
The women’s team also reached new heights in 2009. Kent State took home a pair of runner-up team finishes and the best finish at the MAC Championships (fifth) during Croghan’s tenure. Junior Alex Lizarribar tied Denise Bobby’s 1990 record for the best finish at the conference championships (second) and regional meet (ninth). She also became the second KSU women’s runner to qualify for the NCAA Championships and her 77th finish was 29 places better than Bobby’s finish in 1990.
The 2009 season was successful not only on the courses, but also in the classroom. On Nov. 6, Kent State swept the conference scholar athlete awards when Lizarribar and fifth-year senior Tony Jordanek earned the distinction.
Before coming to Kent State, Croghan served as an assistant coach at the University School from 2001-2006 and also served as the distance coach for the Ohio State men’s and women’s track programs from 1991-1993. Under his guidance, Robert Gary earned All-America status three times and qualified for the 1996 Olympics in Atlanta.
As a steeplechase runner at Ohio State from 1988-1991, Croghan won the national championship in that event in 1990 and 1991. He was also named the Jumbo Eliot Award winner in 1991 as the nation’s Outstanding Collegiate Track Athlete. He continued his success after college as he won the US National Championship in 1991 and 1994-97. Croghan as qualified for the Olympics 1992 in Barcelona, 1996 in Atlanta and 2000 in Sydney.
For his many career accomplishments, Croghan has been inducted into three hall of fames. In 1999, he was inducted into the Ohio State University Hall of Fame. In 2007, he was honored by the Ohio Association of Cross Country Coaches and most recently, he was elected into the Summit County Hall of Fame in 2009.
Brooke Demo
Assistant Coach
Brooke Demo begins her first season serving as an assistant coach and director of operations on the Kent State track & field coaching staff.
Demo, who will primarily mentor student-athletes competing in the jumps, comes to the Golden Flashes after assisting with the pole vaulting group at the University of Oregon during the 2009-10 season.
Demo owns strong credentials as a student-athlete at Wichita State University, where she advanced to the NCAA Outdoor Championships twice and was a four-time regional qualifier in addition to two provisional qualifications to the NCAA Indoor Championships. She set the school outdoor record in the pole vault with a 13’-9.25” mark at the 2008 Missouri Valley Conference Championships and earned top three finishes in the pole vault at seven MVC championships, taking home MVC gold in the event in ’05. She was a four-time indoor (’05-07, ‘09) and three-time outdoor (’05, ’08-09) All-MVC selection. A two-year team captain, Demo helped guide the Shockers to two indoor and three outdoor conference titles.
Demo graduated from WSU with honors in ‘09 while carrying a cumulative 3.80 grade point average as a mathematics education major. She garnered recognition as a First Team CoSIDA Academic All-District VII pick in ‘07 after earning honorable mention the previous year. Demo also earned MVC Scholar-Athlete selection three times, picking up first team honors from ’06-07 after honorable mention accolades in ’05. She was named to the MVC Honor Roll three times and twice to the Commissioner’s Academic Excellence list. The MVC recognized Demo as the Dr. Charlotte West Scholar-Athlete Award winner following her senior campaign.
Demo is a native of El Dorado, Kan.
Steven Rajewsky
Assistant Coach
A native of Blue Earth, Minn., Steve Rajewsky begins his second year as the men's and women's sprints, hurdles and relays coach.
In 2009, he helped take the Golden Flashes to new heights as his Men's sprints/hurdles group contributed 52 important points to Kent State's run to their first Mid-American Conference Indoor Championship. Two of his pupils Curtis Eaton and Princeton Bryson were named MAC Indoor Championship Track Performer of the Meet, and MAC Indoor Championship Most Valuable Athlete, respectively. Eaton won the 400m dash, anchored the 4 x 400 relay to victory and added a 200m dash third place medal to his collection. Bryson, in his first ever MAC Championship collected runner-up finishes in the 60m dash, 200m dash and led-off the 4 x 400 relay en route to victory.
On the women's side, Sha-tira Snell finished her indoor 60m hurdling career in the MAC final, running 8.66, just .01 off her lifetime best. Rachel Crafton helped lead the Flashes to the MAC distance medley relay title and a third place finish in the 4 x 400 relay.
The outdoor campaign was equally successful for Eaton as he defended his 400m title outdoors and added the 200m outdoor title to his already stellar resume. Rajewsky's men represented with scoring performances in all sprint, hurdle and relay races. The women had a strong showing at the MAC championship with a runner-up finish. Snell led an early charge with a fifth place finish in the 100m hurdles and Crafton finished with a lifetime best fourth place finish in the 400m hurdle final.
Prior to his arrival in Kent, Rajewsky served as the Interim Head Coach at Ball State University. In his two years in Muncie he was responsible for coaching the hurdles, jumps and multi-events. He produced a total of eight MAC Championship performances by six athletes. In his two years in Muncie, Rajewsky's athletes scored 194 points in four MAC championships, contributing almost seventy percent of BSU's championship point total.
In 2007, Rajewsky mentored Amber Williams to MAC all-time records in the 60m hurdles (8.19 seconds) and 100m hurdles (13.18 seconds), as well as the MAC championship record in the 100 meters (11.54 seconds) and gaining NCAA All-American honors. When all was said and done in 2007, Williams was named Indoor MAC MVP, Outdoor MAC MVP, collected three MAC titles, six All-MAC honors, seven MAC medals and two school records. In 2008, she followed her banner year with a 4th place showing at the USA Indoor Championships, while red-shirting to train for the 2008 Olympic Trails.
The 2008 campaign started with a strong indoor season, as three of Rajewsky's athletes found gold at the MAC Indoor meet. True freshmen Ra'Jae Marable and Thekla Lorenz surprised many upperclassmen on their way atop the medal stand. Marable won the 60m hurdles in front of her hometown crowd in a personal best time of 8.58 seconds. Lorenz competed through a strong pentathlon field to win her first MAC title and rewrite the Ball State record books totaling a personal best and school record score of 3,797 points. The excitement of the MAC championship got started with the long jump for Rajewsky's women as senior Teri Abraham led a trio of Cardinals as Abraham, senior Amanda Barnhart and freshman Lindsay Bangert swept the medals to finish 1-2-3 in the event.
Outdoors in 2008, two more Cardinals added themselves to Rajewsky's list of MAC champions. Barnhart, in her last career MAC championship won the long jump, while also qualifying herself for the NCAA Mid-East Regional Championship. Hurdler, Katie Johnson, won her first MAC championship, becoming the third different hurdler under Rajewsky to be crowned MAC champion in as many MAC championship meets. Her personal best time of 13.68 seconds was good enough to qualify her for her first NCAA Mid-East Regional Championship. At the NCAA Mid-East Regional, Johnson followed up her 100m hurdle MAC championship with a personal best showing of 13.61 seconds, for third all-time at Ball State. Barnhart was not ready to call it a career, as she leaped to a personal record of 20'-10" placing her in the top six at the Mid-East Regional finish and earning a berth to the NCAA Championships.
Nationally, Coach Rajewsky guided eight Cardinals to the NCAA Mid-East Regional, had three NCAA championship qualifiers as well as 2007 and 2008 USA Championship qualifiers and a 2008 United States Olympic Trials Qualifier.
Prior to his position at Ball State, he was a volunteer assistant with the University of Minnesota women's track and field team during the 2005 and 2006 seasons working with the sprints, hurdles, jumps and multi-events. During his time at Minnesota, Rajewsky assisted with six Big Ten champions and three Big Ten Freshmen of the Year honorees. In 2006, the University of Minnesota claimed the Big Ten Outdoor Championship. At the national level, Rajewsky helped guide sixteen athletes to the NCAA Midwest Regional Championships, crowned six Gophers as All-Americans and helped Heather Dorniden to the 2006 NCAA Indoor 800m title.
"Steven brings a lot of experience with being from the Big Ten and being a part of a Big Ten Championship Staff," Lawson said. "He brings in an expertise of sprints and hurdles as well as a great background of jumps and multi-events. Steven carries a professional demeanor about himself and he is very career-minded which definitely shows that this is the area he wants to excel in."
During his collegiate career, Rajewsky attended the University of St. Thomas in St. Paul, Minnesota, where he was a provisional NCAA Championship Qualifier in 2003, a six-time all-conference winner in the 400m, 600m, relays and a captain leading the Tommies to Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference team championships in all four indoor and outdoor seasons in which he competed.
Rajewsky earned his Master of Arts in sports administration in higher education at the Ball State University where he graduated in May of 2008. While attending the University of St. Thomas, he completed his Bachelor of Arts degree in sociology, and earned his teaching licensure in secondary education with a focus on social studies all in 2004.
Rajewsky is a Level I and Level II USATF certified coach and has worked and spoken at various camps and clinics throughout the country.
Philip Rickaby
Assistant Coach
Former Kent State University track and field standout Philip Rickaby is in his second season as a member of the Golden Flashes' coaching staff. Rickaby works with the horizontal jumpers, mutli eventers and pole vaulters.
"Phil is a graduate of Kent State and brings inside knowledge about the programs," said Director of Track and Field and Cross Country Bill Lawson. "He has been a tremendous assistant to me, especially in the pole vault, the combined events and the jumps. He also is doing a wonderful job of recruiting."
The list of athletes Rickaby has mentored during his first season is quite impressive. The list includes Diana Dumitrescu, who as a freshman captured the outdoor heptathlon crown at the MAC Championships and in doing so qualified for the NCAA Track and Field Championship in that event. She also captured the outdoor MAC championship in the triple jump. Dumitrescu also posted the No. 2 all time mark in school history in the long jump with a distance of 20'-1.50".
On the men's side, Rickaby coached such athletes as Ruben Belen, Jeremy Brading and Mike Schober. Belen, as a freshman, finished fifth in the decathlon at the outdoor conference championships with 6,407 points, which is among the top-10 in the event in school history. Brading, a standout pole vaulter, took seventh in the outdoor MAC championships in the long jump, in only his second competition. Schober, finished with the fourth-highest total in school history during the indoor pentathlon at the MAC championships and finished with season bests in the long jump in both indoor and outdoor MAC Championships.
Rickaby also coached Rob Falchi, who overcame early season setbacks to post the teams best long jumps of the indoor and outdoor seasons. Falchi, as a freshman, placed third at both MAC championships and earned second team all-MAC honors in the triple jump indoors. Falchi ended his season ranked in the top 10 in school history for both the indoor and outdoor triple jump.
A native of Winmalee, Australia, Rickaby came to the United States and KSU in 2004. Prior to his arrival in the U.S., Rickaby was a three-time Australian Junior Triple Jump Champion in 2000, '01 and '02. During his collegiate career, Rickaby continued to add to his collection of athletic accolades in various events. Known for his triple jumping and long jumping abilities, Rickaby also proved to be a top contender in the javelin.
As a freshman, Rickaby claimed the Mid-American Conference champion title in the triple jump, which paved his way to an All-Conference First Team selection that same season. In 2005, 2006, and 2007 he again earned First Team All-Conference honors capturing three MAC Champion tiles in the javelin and qualified for the NCAA National Track and Field Championships in 2006 in the long jump.
In his final season of competition, Rickaby was named to the ESPN the Magazine and CoSIDA Academic All-American Second Team for his efforts.
During Rickaby's tenure at Kent State, he proved to be a top competitor making his way onto the all-time record lists of the track and field program. He is currently ranked in the 60m (5th), indoor and outdoor long jump (2nd and 4th), the javelin (4th) and indoor and outdoor triple jump (5th and 6th) respectively.
From 2006 to 2008, Rickaby served as a graduate assistant at Kent State. Currently, he is a term instructor for the Physical Education Department in the School of Exercise, Leisure and Sport. In addition, he served as a volunteer assistant coach in 2007 and was named Kent State's Track and Field assistant meet manager in 2006.
Rickaby earned his Bachelor of Science degree in human movement studies in 2006 from Kent State University. In May of 2008, he graduated with a Masters of Arts in sports management from KSU. He also earned his Level 1 United States of America Track and Field Coaching Certification in 2007.
