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Women's Coaches: John Frazier Assistant Coach

	John Frazier is in his second season as throws coach for the Lady Volunteers. He joined the Tennessee staff in August 2006 after serving six years as an assistant men’s and women’s track & field coach at the University of Arizona. Frazier’s reputation in his profession earned him the honor of coaching on the international stage for the United States. In August, he traveled to Osaka, Japan, and worked with the U.S. women’s throws contingent as it competed at the IAAF World Track & Field Championships. Demonstrating how he earned that reputation and awards such as 2005 USTCA National and West Region Assistant Coach of the Year for Throws, Frazier immediately produced results in his initial season with the Lady Volunteer program in 2007. Though his first group was small in numbers, it made major noise in the way of All-America honors, All-SEC acclaim, school records and personal bests.
Junior Shanna Dickenson led the charge, garnering All-America distinction outdoors in both the discus (third place) and hammer (11th) throws at NCAAs. At the SEC level, Dickenson garnered a runner-up finish in the weight throw indoors and took second in the discus and third in the hammer outdoors. She also charted a school best in the hammer, stretching the tape measure to 198 feet, three inches at the Sea Ray Relays to earn the Tony Wilson Award for Field Events. Showing a knack for building the complete thrower, Frazier developed Dickenson into an SEC scorer in the shot put, as she placed seventh indoors and eighth outdoors. He also helped junior Amara McKell become a first-time SEC scorer, guiding her to eighth indoors in the shot and eighth outdoors in the discus, and shared shot put technique with rookie Nia Ali, who won an SEC Outdoor title in the heptathlon. Frazier joined the Big Orange from an Arizona program where he produced 11 All-Americans and two U.S. Junior champions. In his final year in Tucson in 2006, he had seven athletes qualify for the NCAA Championships. His pupils collectively accumulated five All-America certificates in the discus and shot put. Among them were Rachel Varner, Pac-10 champ and NCAA Outdoor eighth-place finisher in the discus; Adam Kuehl, Pac-10 and NCAA Outdoor runner-up in the discus; and Sean Shields, NCAA Indoor third-place finisher in the shot, Pac-10 runner-up in the shot, NCAA Regional champ in the shot and discus, and NCAA Outdoor third-place finisher in the shot and sixth-place point-getter in the discus. Varner also possessed a Pac-10 discus crown and an NCAA West Regional discus title in 2004, while Shields (shot put, ’02) and Kuehl (discus, ’03) won U.S. Junior Championships. Shields, meanwhile, claimed an American junior record in the shot and was the world junior record-holder for a time. Frazier also coached Sara Vigil, a former Lady Volunteer who transferred to Arizona after spending the 2004 season in Knoxville. Vigil qualified for the NCAA Indoor Championships in 2006 under Frazier’s guidance and set the Wildcats’ school record in the weight throw. During the 2005 campaign, in which he was recognized nationally and regionally by his peers at the USTCA, Frazier helped the Wildcats send three shot-putters to the NCAA Indoor Championships. Ilona Rutjes, Megan Howard and Shields competed, with the latter finishing in third place. Shields was also the Mountain Pacific Indoor champion in the shot put. During the indoor season, the Wildcats had four athletes who moved into the school’s all-time top-10 list for both the shot put and the weight throw. Vigil produced one of those top measurements, when she raised the University of Arizona women’s record in the weight throw to 63-4 3/4 and claimed victory at the Mountain Pacific Indoor Championships. The Wildcat throwers continued their successful tear during the outdoor season, with six athletes qualifying for the NCAA Championship meet (Kelli Burton, Howard, Rutjes, Varner, Kuehl and Shields). To cap off the campaign, five Arizona throwers earned All-America accolades, including Howard, Rutjes, Varner, Kuehl and Shields. Before joining the Arizona staff, Frazier spent two seasons at the University of Florida, where he worked alongside J.J. Clark. During his tenure in Gainesville, Frazier helped Emily Carlsten earn a runner-up finish in the javelin at the 2000 NCAA Outdoor Championships and a third-place showing at the U.S. Olympic Trials that season. His athletes at UF also set school records in the javelin, hammer throw and 20-pound weight throw under his tutelage. Frazier’s coaching career dates back to 1988, when he joined the staff at UC Irvine. He also spent some of his formative professional years at Humboldt (Calif.) State, Cal State Northridge and Cal State Los Angeles before making the jump to the Pac-10 and Southeastern Conference level. During his 19 years in the track & field coaching community, Frazier’s athletes have attained 34 All-America awards, including 13 at the NCAA Division II level. Additionally, he coached four NCAA Division II national champions and has tutored several athletes in the professional ranks. Post-collegiates who have trained with Frazier include Dawn Dumble (59-2 in the shot and 201-6 in the discus); Shaun Pickering, a 1996 British Olympian who owns the No. 3 shot put mark in his country’s history; Matt Pentecost, the 1995 U.S Junior National shot put champion; and Steve Albert, who finished seventh in the shot put at the 2000 U.S. Olympic Trials. As a collegiate performer from 1982-86, Frazier was a three-time All-American at UCLA in the shot put and also competed in the hammer throw. He is the second Bruin track & field standout to grace the UT staff, as former sprint/jumps coach Caryl Smith Gilbert (2002-06) graduated from UCLA in 1991 after a successful career on the oval. Frazier earned a bachelor’s degree in political science from UCLA in 1986, and he has a master’s in kinesiology from his time at Cal State Northridge. A product of Lancaster, Calif., Frazier is married to the former Julia Barnes. They have two daughters, Lana (10) and Courtney (7), and one son, John Jr. (5). FRAZIER’S HIGHLIGHTS • During his career, athletes Frazier has coached have achieved a total of 34 All-America honors and won four NCAA championships • Lady Vol Shanna Dickenson earned All-America acclaim in the discus and hammer throws in 2007, setting a school record in the hammer • Named 2005 USTCA National and West Region Assistant Coach of the Year for Throws • Prepared seven athletes for NCAA Track & Field Championships appearances in 2006 while coaching at the University of Arizona • Directed Arizona’s Rachel Varner to Pac-10 discus titles in 2004 and 2006, an NCAA West Regional title in 2004 and a placing of eighth at the 2006 NCAA Outdoor Championships • Helped UA’s Adam Kuehl chart runner-up efforts in the discus at the Pac-10 and NCAA Outdoor Championships in 2006 •Tutored Wildcat Sean Shields to third-place NCAA Indoor and Outdoor finishes in the shot and a sixth-place effort outdoors in the discus in 2006 • Guided Shields (shot put, ’02) and Kuehl (discus, ’03) to U.S. Junior Championships and Shields to an American junior record in the shot • Shields also held the world junior record in the shot for a time • While at University of Florida, Frazier led Emily Carlsten to a runner-up finish in the javelin at the 2000 NCAA Outdoor meet and to a third-place effort at the U.S. Olympic Trials that season • His athletes at UF set school records in the javelin, hammer and weight throws.