Nathan Fanger

Class:
Redshirt

One of the longest tenured track and field coaches in the Mid-American Conference, Kent State graduate Nathan Fanger begins his 10th season as an assistant coach in charge of the throwers.

"Coach Fanger has coached the most champions and is respected nationwide as one of the top throwing coaches in the country," said Director of Track and Field and Cross Country Bill Lawson. "He is the backbone of our program and we are very fortunate and have Nathan Fanger here at Kent State."

A program already widely known for its success in those events, Fanger has taken the team to new heights in nine seasons. Under his guidance, 34 throwers have won MAC championships, 28 have qualified for regional track and field meets, 13 have qualified for the NCAA Championships and five have earned All-America status.

He also has one Academic All-American to his credit.

In 2009, Fanger coached five athletes to conference championships, including former softball standout Kim Hamilton in the javelin. Hamilton had only nine months of training under her belt when she finished fifth in the javelin to earn All-American accolades at the 2009 NCAA Outdoor Track and Field Championships.

Also in 2009, Matt Pfleger captured conference titles in both the weight and hammer throws. In the hammer, Pfleger recorded one of the best marks in the NCAA among sophomores (211'-9").

A KSU graduate in 2009, LeVania Henderson left her mark during her four-year Kent State track and field career. She won the MAC championship in the indoor shot put once and captured a pair of MAC championships in shot put outdoors. In her career, she is among career Kent State leaders in the shot put indoors (2nd-54'0.50") and outdoors (8th-53'-8"), the discus (9th-160'-4") and holds the school record in both the hammer throw (191'-4', 2009) and weight throw (167'-8.25", 2009).

Other athletes who have been coached by Fanger include Julie Ward, who qualified for three NCAA Championships and was an All-American and MAC champion in the javelin in 2005, and Breann Smith, who won an indoor conference championship in the indoor shot put and in the discus in 2005. Smith is also among the top performances in school history in the outdoor shot put (2nd, 54'-9.25"), indoor shot put (3rd, 52'-9.50"), the discus (5th, 175'-8"), the javelin (9th, 154'-10") and the hammer throw (10th, 160'-6").

For the men, Fanger guided such athletes as Andy Nicholas, who went from a walk-on to an all-American finish in the hammer throw in 2008 and won back-to-back MAC championships in the hammer in 2007-2008. He still ranks among the KSU bests in both the weight throw (67'-2.75") and hammer (223'-5").

Fanger also mentored two-time conference champion Jaroslaw Zakrzewski, who won the weight throw in 2007 and the hammer throw in 2008, and John Harper, who won four MAC championships in his KSU career (one in the weight throw and three in the hammer).

Finally, Fanger helped guide one of the best throwers in Kent State history in Brian Hallett. Hallett won a total of seven MAC championships with KSU (three each in outdoor and indoor shot put and one on discus), five of which came under Fanger's tutelage.

In 2003, Hallett earned All-American honors in the shot put. He still holds the school record in both the outdoor (62'-10") and indoor shot put (61'1.25").

Fanger, a 2000 graduate of Kent State, was a standout athlete for the Golden Flashes in his own right. He is the only four-time discus champion in MAC history and is one of three Kent State athletes to have won an individual event at the MAC championships in each of their four years. Twice he qualified for the NCAA championships in the discus and he holds the KSU school record in the event with a throw of 194'-3" He also helped Kent State to MAC championships in outdoor men's track and field in 2000 and '04 while the women won the outdoor tack and field championship in 2002 and the indoor track and field championship in 2003.

A native of Kalispell, Mont., Fanger graduated with a degree in education and resides in Brimfield with his wife, Lori, his son, Jonathan and his daughter, Savannah.