2010 Men's and Women's Cross Country/Track and Field Media Guide

HEAD COACH FRED HARVEY
Fred Harvey enters
his eighth year
as the Director
of Men’s and Women’s Track
and Field and Cross Country.
After 15 years as an assistant
and associate head coach at
The University of Arizona,
Harvey took the reigns during
the 2002-03 school year and
has led the men’s team to six
consecutive top-25 finishes
outdoors and the women to
top-25 finishes in each of the
last two seasons both indoors and outdoors. Harvey and his
coaching staff have enthusiastically recruited another strong
batch of freshmen this season and the chances of continuing
the top-25 streaks looks to be in good shape.
Over the years of his productive coaching career, athletes
have earned 143 All-American honors under Harvey, including
the 11 that UA athletes were awarded during the
2008-09 season.
Harvey is one of the finest coaches in the nation, and in 2004
was named to the United States Track Coaches Association
Executive Committee. In 2005, Harvey was also named
as a Vice Chair for the United States Track and Field
Coaches Advisory Board.
Arizona athletes earned 11 All-American
distinctions last season under Harvey. The list
included Liz Patterson – the high jump national
champion during her sophomore campaign –
who finished as the runner-up both indoors and
outdoors at the NCAA Championships last season
and returns as a senior this year. Luis Rivera-
Morales, one of the most accomplished
long jumpers in UA history, will also
return for one last indoor season after
earning All-American honors in the
long jump last outdoor season.The
UA also earned 34 All-Conference
honors at last years Pac-10
Outdoor Championships
and 20 All-Region honors
at the NCAA West Regional
Championships during the
2009 season.
The 2007-08 season saw Coach
Harvey lead four athletes indoors and
five athletes outdoors to All-American status,
including an impressive showing in the
shot put where the UA placed three men
in the top eight at the NCAA Outdoor
Championships. Harvey added another
National Champion to his constantly growing list when
sophomore Liz Patterson took the high jump title at the NCAA
Outdoor Championships.
His coaching expertise, combined with his enthusiastic
recruiting, has continually kept Arizona ranked among the top
teams in the nation since his inception as the head coach.
In 2007, Harvey coached 10 athletes to All-American honors
during the outdoor season and four athletes were indoor All-
Americans. The men’s team finished in 11th place at the NCAA
championships outdoors and 14th indoors. In addition 17
Wildcats earned All-West Region Honors for their performances
at the regional meet in Eugene, Oregon.
2006 marked the season that Harvey coached the Wildcats
to their most successful season in recent memory. The
men’s squad placed third in the Pacific-10 and went on
to an impressive fourth place finish at the NCAA National
Championships. Six men and one woman earned all-America
honors for the Wildcats on the year. The team was also
successful in the classroom, with 12 athletes being named to the
Pac-10 All-Academic teams.
Over the past couple years, Harvey has worked countless
hours to create his “Template for Success.” The top three factors
in this template include recruiting the top athletes, recruiting
the top staff and having the total support of his
athletic department.
In recruiting the top athletes, Harvey and
his staff have been able to land many of the
world’s best young talents and bring them
here to “Wildcat Country”. During this period,
the Wildcats have signed over 25 U.S. high school
state champions, three U.S. Junior Champions,
one Chinese Junior National Champion, three
Junior College National Champions, and one NCAA
Division III National Champion.
In recruiting the top staff members, Harvey has
been able to lure some of the top coaches in the
world to Arizona. Of these include Dr. James
Li who joined Coach Harvey’s staff in 2002,
and has returned the UA distance program
to elite status while
also making a mark
internationally,
serving as the
U.S. Track and Field
Team Manager for the
2008 Beijing Olympics.
Under Li, UA alum Robert
Cheseret ran his way
to numerous school
records and national
championships bring
Arizona back to prominence
in the distance events.
10
2009-10 Arizona TRACK & FIELD Media Guide