Coach Spotlight: Erica Fraley

Mountain West Track Club is expanding opportunities for pole vault athletes by creating a pole vault specialty club with Coach Erica Fraley.

The purpose in adding this group to our club program is to provide in-depth, individual, small group pole vault training for those athletes who are dedicated to the pole vault event.

This program is for athletes wanting to pursue pole vault instruction in a progressive, skills learning practice and pole vault specific environment.

If you are interested in joining this group please contact Coach Fraley for information.

Erica.fraley@icloud.com
(985) 687 4354

Bio: Erica Fraley

Erica Fraley, 2008 Pole Vault Olympian and experienced vertical jumps coach, brings elite level experience and 20 years of coaching to

Mountain West Track Club. Her vast amounts of coaching experience spans from the developmental level to World Championship level, making Fraley uniquely qualified to assist athletes of all experience levels.

Currently coaching at University of Montana, Fraley has led the vertical jumps squad to new levels of success in her inaugural year, including Big Sky Conference high jump champion and Top 20 women’s pole vault squad ranking in 2023.

Fraley’s experience started as a pole vaulter in Oregon, winning a pole vault state championship (1997) for Philomath High School in the pioneer years of girls pole vault. As Texas A&M University’s first female vaulter (1998-2002), Fraley won two Big-12 titles and set a long-standing school record of 13’4”. Fraley represented Team USA in the 2008 Beijing Olympics at age 28 before retiring with a lifetime best of 4.55m (14’11”). Fraley founded the Louisiana Pole Vault Compound in 2009, developing the Indoor High School Record holder (Devin King, 17’10.5”, 2014), four Nike National Champions, six high school age USA U20 Championship qualifiers and many state champions. Fraley was awarded the National Development Coach of the Year by the National Pole Vault Summit.

Fraley eventually moved her focus to collegiate level coaching, with contributions at Southeastern Louisiana University, Washington State University, and now University of Montana. Fraley has a B.A. in Marketing from Texas A&M, master’s degree in Sport Management from WSU, and an MBA from DeVry University.

Fun fact: Fraley achieved success in the pole vault as a “one-eyed pole vaulter,” having lost her right eye as a baby. She encourages all athletes to strive for their best, and not limit themselves by potential barriers along the way.