Nathan Fanger Elevated to Director of Track and Field/Cross Country
7/13/2022 6:05:00 PM | Cross Country, Men's Track & Field, Women's Track & Field
KENT, Ohio — Kent State Director of Athletics Randale L. Richmond announced Monday evening that long-time throws coach Nathan Fanger has been selected as the Golden Flashes' next Director of Track and Field/Cross Country. Fanger has been part of the program since arriving to campus as a student-athlete in Fall 1996. He joined the coaching staff immediately after an outstanding four-year career and was promoted to associate head coach in 2015.
"After a national search, it became quite clear that the best candidate to lead our track and field and cross country program was right in our back yard," Richmond said. "Coach Fanger has been a staple of success as a student-athlete, coach, and ambassador for Kent State Athletics. He has done a tremendous job with our throws program in transforming them into a consistently elite group and I'm confident he will do the same for our entire programs."
Fanger has helped the Flashes capture 16 Mid-American Conference team championships during his time on the coaching staff and has twice been named U.S. Track & Field and Cross Country Coaches Association (USTFCCCA) Great Lakes Region Assistant Coach of the Year.
"I am extremely grateful for the opportunity to lead the charge as the next Director of Track and Field/Cross Country here at Kent State University," Fanger said. "I want to thank Randale Richmond and the hiring committee for allowing me to take the reins and lead this program to new heights. I'm looking forward to working with an awesome young coaching staff as Kent State Track and Field becomes a force to be reckoned with at the conference and national levels."
Regarded as one of the top throws coaches in the country, Fanger's student-athletes have totaled 34 All-America honors, highlighted by Matthias Tayala's hammer throw national title in 2014 and Danniel Thomas-Dodd's shot put national title in 2017. This past March, Jake Wickey posted the fifth national runner-up performance under his guidance with a second-place finish in the weight throw at the NCAA Indoor Championships.
The 2017 NCAA Outdoor Championships was one for the record books, as Kent State's combined 23 points were the second most by any school in the throwing events. Thomas-Dodd posted the second-furthest shot put mark in meet history to become the Flashes' first female national champion in any sport and added a fourth-place performance in the discus throw. On the men's side, Reggie Jagers III took second in the discus after being in the leading heading into the final round of throws.
Fanger's throwers have totaled 82 individual MAC championships and own the conference meet record in six events. Wickey became the conference's first four-time weight throw champion with his victory at the indoor meet in February.
The only four-time discus champion in MAC history, Fanger was inducted into the Varsity "K" Hall of Fame in 2013. A two-time NCAA qualifier, he set the school record in the discus (194'-3") with a mark that only one Flash has managed to beat in the 22 years since.
A native of Kalispell, Montana, Fanger graduated from Kent State in Dec. 2000 with a degree in education and resides in Brimfield with his wife, Lori. The couple are the proud parents to sons Jonathan and Adam, and daughter, Savannah.
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Coach Fanger by the Numbers
• 26 seasons at Kent State (4 as a student-athlete, 22 as a coach)
• 16 MAC championships (8 women's outdoor, 5 women's indoor, 2 men's outdoor, 1 men's indoor)
• 2 USTFCCCA Great Lakes Region Assistant Coach of the Year awards
• 1 MAC Assistant Coach of the Year award
• 2 individual NCAA Champions
• 5 individual NCAA runners-up
• 34 All-Americans
• 63 NCAA Championships qualifiers
• 82 individual MAC Champions
WHAT THEY'RE SAYING ABOUT NATHAN FANGER:
"Nathan Fanger has developed into a dynamic and forward - thinking leader that will be a perfect fit for continuing athletic success. Nathan is a devoted to his family and to the advancement of the Kent State Cross Country and Track & Field. There is no one more prepared or suited to carry out the Athletic Director's mission statement for Kent State athletics."
- Bill Lawson, former Kent State Director of Track and Field/Cross Country
"I have had the unique pleasure of being coached and mentored by Nathan Fanger. He is a truly rare coach whose confidence, passion, instincts, and sense of virtue are inspiring to behold. Coach Fanger believed in a kid from Cleveland who had only been throwing for a year at the time. He relentlessly advocated for me to receive a scholarship all from an hour-long conversation, and the rest was history. Having aided in my development into the person and Olympian I am today, I realized Fanger's greatest attribute is the way he faces everything in life with passion and integrity."
- Reggie Jagers III, United States Olympian
"Nathan Fanger is an outstanding choice to direct the Golden Flash program. He is a motivated coach known for building high level relationships while helping students rise to the next level. Nate has always been passionate about Kent State Athletics and the future of your program is bright with his leadership."
- Dale Cowper, Louisville track and field head coach
Players Mentioned
