Andy Fryman enters his third season as an assistant coach afterspending one year as a graduate assistant at Sam Houston StateUniversity. Fryman works exclusively with the throwers. In 2010-11, Coach Fryman saw redshirt-senior ChristophHutschalik qualify for the NCAA East Regionals Meet and freshmanCarson Sears be named the 2011 Big South Freshman of the Year forthe outdoor track & field season. Sears also went on to post a fifth-place finish in the hammerthrow event with a mark of 65.46 meters at the 2011 USA JuniorOutdoor Track & Field Championships in late June, earning himJunior All-American recognition. His fifth-place finish isthe highest finish by a Gardner-Webb student-athlete at the USAJunior Nationals event. Hutschalik set the weight throw school record during the indoorseason with a mark of 19.27 meters and reset his GWU school recordin the hammer throw event during the outdoor season with a mark of61.08 meters (200'3.94) to qualify for the NCAA East RegionalsMeet. Not to be outdone, sophomore Ashlei Alexander set two schoolrecord marks as well in the 2010 indoor season, posting a distanceof 13.41 meters in the shot put and a mark of 16.19 meters in theweight throw event. During the outdoor season Alexander setthe GWU record in the women's shot put event with a mark of 13.88meters. Hutschalik, who was a Big South Indoor Track & Field Athleteof the Week in January, was also one of three throwers along withTravis Rogers and Alexander to earn all-conference honors duringthe indoor track & field season. Hutschalik tookfirst-place overall in the hammer throw event with a school recordmark of 19.27 meters, while Alexander placed first overall in thewomen's shot put event with a school record mark of 13.41meters. During the 2011 outdoor season, Alexander, Hutschalik andfreshman Carson Sears all earned all-conference honors for GWU, asAlexander took first-place in the shot put (13.88 meters) andsecond-place overall in the women's hammer throw event (49.97meters). Hutschalik went on to take first-place in the hammerthrow event (60.81 meters), while Sears earned all-conferencehonors with a second-place finish in both the hammer throw event(57.39 meters) and the discus throw event (46.60 meters). Besides the all-conference recognition, a slew of other throwerson both the men's and women's side posted personal best marks andtop-10 finishes throughout the year, bolstering the success thatthe Runnin' Bulldogs have had in the throwing events over the pastseveral seasons. In his first season at GWU in 2009-10, Fryman helped toestablish not only success, but also consistency for both the menand women's throwers throughout both the indoor and outdoor track& field seasons.
In 2009-10, the throwers for Gardner-Webb University set three newGWU school records, had one individual qualify and compete at the2010 NCAA East Regionals meet, had two earn all-conference honorsand a handful of other student-athletes set new personal bestmarks.
Redshirt-junior Christoph Hutschalik broke his own school recordin the men's hammer throw event, turning in a distance of59.05 meters (193'9") during the outdoor season. Hutschalik,who competed at the 2010 NCAA East Regionals meet, earnedall-conference honors during the indoor track & field seasonwith a third-place finish in the men's weight throw event, turningin a school record mark of 17.80 meters (58'04.75").
On the women's side, freshman thrower Ashlei Alexander picked upall-conference honors with a second-place finish in the women'sshot put event at the indoor conference championship meet, whilesenior Brieanna Thompson finished out her career on a high note,breaking the GWU school record in the women's hammer throw with amark of 51.25 meters (168'2") at the Georgia Tech Invitational. In his short stint at Sam Houston State, Fryman coached twoyoung men to a conference championship record, two individualconference titles, two school records, two NCAA Division 1 OutdoorTrack & Field Championship qualifiers, and two USA OutdoorNational Championship qualifiers. Under Fryman's guidance, Jonny Tipton threw a school record of196'6" in the discus and won first-place in the SouthlandConference and NCAA Midwest Region, before qualifying for the 2009NCAA Outdoor Track & Field Championships in Fayetteville,Arkansas and finishing ninth at the 2009 USA Outdoor NationalChampionships in Eugene, Oregon. At the same time, Frymanhelped Chris Cralle on his way to a school record of 215'0" in thehammer and a Southland Conference win with a conference recordperformance of 209'10". Cralle also advanced to the 2009Outdoor NCAA Track & Field Championships after finishing infifth-place in the Midwest Region and receiving an automaticbid. Although, Cralle's performance in the hammer qualifiedhim for the 2009 USA Outdoor National Championships, he decided notto partake in the event. Fryman also coached Kim Olison to abronze medal in the hammer throw at the Southland Conferencechampionships. Fryman, a graduate of the University of Kentucky, competed inthe hammer, discus, shot put and weight throw during his collegiatecareer with the Wildcats.
Upon finishing his eligibility, Fryman held the school record inthe weight throw. He was a two-time all American(discus/hammer), five-time all Mideast Region (shotput/discus/hammer), all southeastern conference (shot put) and aSoutheastern Conference Champion (shot put). Fryman alsoqualified for the Indoor NCAA Division 1 National Championships(2008) and the Outdoor NCAA Division 1 National Championships(2005, 2006, 2008).
Currently, Fryman is still training and competing in the hammerthrow and recently competed in the 2011 USA Outdoor NationalChampionships, recording an eighth-place finish in the hammer throwevent with a mark of 70.90 meters. At the 2010 USA Outdoor National Championships, Fryman took15-place in the event at Des Moines, Iowa. Fryman is married to the former Melody Vaught. The coupleresides in Shelby, N.C. and recently added a new addition to thefamily, as Caleb Andrew Fryman was born on June 12, 2011. | 