Erica Fraley - Men's Track and Field Coach - University of Montana Athletics

Erica Fraley

Title:
Assistant Coach (Vertical Jumps)
Email:
erica.fraley@mso.umt.edu

Erica Fraley is in her third season as an assistant coach with the University of Montana track and field team. A world-renown pole vaulter, she works with the Grizzlies’ vertical jumps groups and is Montana’s director of operations.

In just a short period of time at Montana, Fraley has left a huge mark on the Grizzly jumping program. She has had athletes break three school records - including both the men’s and women’s outdoor pole vault – and has also coached athletes to three Big Sky Championships.

Fraley has had huge success working with Erin Wilde in the women’s high jump. Wilde broke a 30-year old Montana school record in the event with a mark of 5-10.5 on May 4, 2024 at the Montana Open.

Wilde is not only the Montana school record holder, but in just two years at Montana she is also a three-time Big Sky Champion in the event. She has won three consecutive titles dating back to the 2023 outdoor season, and has also reached the NCAA First Round meet in both chances. She placed 38^th in the West as a freshman and 27^th as a sophomore.

Fraley has also led Patrick Kremer to two All-Big Sky performances in the men’s high jump. Kremer cleared 6-5 in difficult conditions at the 2024 Outdoor meet for a 3^rd place finish. Kremer was the runner-up in the event indoors with a clearance of 6-8.75.

The pole vault group has been one of the strengths of Montana’s program since Fraley took over as well. Shealyne McGee (13-2.5) and Zane Johnson (17-3.5) both broke outdoor Montana school records in the event in her two years leading the group.

Johnson finished 4^th at both the indoor and outdoor Big Sky Championships in his first season working with Fraley, and then made the jump onto the podium in 2024 with a 3^rd place finish indoors and a runner-up finish outdoors to earn a pair of All-Conference honors. Johnson has also competed in two NCAA First Round meets under Fraley, finishing 22^nd in the West as a senior.

McGee broke the school record at the 2023 Big Sky Championships where she finished in 4^th place. McGee also earned a trip to the NCAA First Round where she finished 41^st before missing most of 2024 with injuries.

At the 2024 Big Sky Outdoor Championships, Fraley led the men’s team to two All-Conference performances and a 4^th place finish to score 19 points for the men’s team. In addition to Johnson, Carson Hegele had a breakthrough performance to earn All-Conference honors with a PR of 16-8.25 and Carter Petersen finished 4^th with a mark of 16-2.5.

Fraley also coached three different point scorers on the women’s side in pole vault at the 2023 Outdoor Conference Championship.

Fraley has extensive coaching experience at the international, collegiate and high school levels. Most-recently, she served as a volunteer coach at Washington State, where she was in charge of the pole vaulters and assisted with the high jump and multi-event athletes.

Highlights from her time in Pullman include coaching Jacob Englar, the 2022 Pac-12 champion in the pole vault and a nationals qualifier where he earned All-America status. Fraley also coached eight other Pac-12 point-scorers, including All-Americans Mitch Jacobson, Susie Pace and Ashlyn Overby.

Prior to her time in at Washington State, Fraley was a volunteer coach at Southeastern Louisiana, coaching the pole vault and assisting with the decathletes. She coached Devin King to a school record in the pole vault (19-0.25), where he also earned NCAA All-America recognition and qualified for the U.S. Olympic Trials.

Fraley was on the coaching staff for the 2013 World Youth Championships in Donetsk, Ukraine, and was named the 2014 USATF Club Coach of the Year by the National Pole Vault Summit.

For more than a decade, she has owned and operated the Louisiana Pole Vault Compound, where she has trained and developed numerous state champions and high school All-Americans, including four high school national champions. Among them was King, who broke a national high school indoor record in 2014 and placed fourth at that year’s U20 World Championships as a high school senior.

Success as a coach should come as no surprise considering Fraley’s accomplishments as a student-athlete and professional.

Fraley (then Erica Bartolina) was a two-time USA Olympic Trials qualifier in the pole vault and finished her competitive career with a best mark of 4.55 meters (14-11.5). The 2008 Beijing Olympics was the pinnacle of Fraley’s athletic career, as she represented Team USA in the pole vault.

Fraley (then Erica Boren) started pole vaulting in high school as girls pole vault was first introduced, winning the Oregon Class 3A state championship. As the pioneer female pole vaulter at Texas A&M, she was a two-time Big XII champion and three-time NCAA qualifier.

Fraley is a native of Philomath, Oregon, where she grew up on a sheep farm. She lost her eyesight as a baby, but despite being blind in one eye and having limited depth perception, she found great athletic success in the pole vault. She holds a bachelor’s degree in marketing from Texas A&M and a master’s degree in sport management from Washington State.

She lives in Lolo with her husband, Doug, and dog, Ellie.