Curtis Frye

Entering his 11th year as head cross country and track and field coach at South Carolina, Curtis Frye has established a program that is regarded as one of the nation's elite. Frye has coached or overseen over 53 NCAA champions and almost 350 NCAA All-Americans during his career.

Last season, the women's team had the highest finish of any team in the state of South Carolina when it placed third at the NCAA Outdoor Championships and saw Greenville native Amberly Nesbitt (100m) and Shalonda Solomon (200m) both win NCAA titles. It was the 11th straight year the women have finished in the top 10 -- matched only by Arkansas' men and Texas' women. The men were 30th behind the third-place finish of Jason Richardson in the 110m hurdles.

All told, the two teams collected 18 All-America honors in 2006, and the women won the NCAA East Region title for the second straight year. Academically, five USC athletes were named to the CoSIDA District III Academic All-America team (the most of any team in the SEC or ACC), and Shalonda Solomon was named the USTFCCCA National Indoor Scholar-Athlete of the Year along with being tabbed SEC Indoor Runner of the Year. As a team, the women were named USTFCCCA National All-Academic Outdoor Team of the Year.

With the No. 2 (women) and No. 5 (men) ranked recruiting classes in 2005, Frye coached nine athletes, including four freshmen athletes, Richardson for the men's team and Natasha Hastings, Nesbitt and Solomon for the women, to All-America honors at the 2005 NCAA Indoor Championship. Leading the men to a 19th overall finish, Richardson, the 2004 Gatorade Athlete of the Year, earned third place in the 60m hurdles, while Rodney Martin broke the school indoor record in the 200m with a third-place finish. Hastings and Nesbitt's semifinal performances in the 400m and 60m earned them All-America honors, while Solomon finished fifth in the 200m and anchored the women's 4x400m relay to another national title. The women's team finished fifth overall.

Outdoors in 2005, the USC women won the SEC title for the third time in the program's history. The Gamecocks continued on to New York City where they claimed the NCAA East Regional Championship for the first time since the meet was established. Carolina ended its season with the second best finish in the program's history, finishing runner-up at the NCAA meet. The men and women combined for 18 All-America honors, including a school record-breaking performance by Martin in the 200m and the first All-America honor in the 100m since Terrence Trammell in 1999, also earned by Martin. Frye was named SEC, USTCA Southeast District and East Region Women's Coach of the Year, while Tiffany Ross-Williams was named USTCA Southeast District Athlete of the Year.

Also in 2005, Frye coached nine athletes to the USATF Junior and Senior Championships, where two freshmen athletes, Hastings (400m champion) and Nesbitt (100m runner-up), made the Junior National Team, and Stephanie Smith and Solomon were selected for the relay pools for the World Championship in Helsinki, Finland. Shevon Stoddart made the Jamaican National Team and competed in Helsinki as well.

In 2004, Frye served as an assistant coach for the USA Olympic women's track and field team in Athens, Greece. His responsibilities included working with the sprinters and the relays. Nine Gamecocks, currently and formerly coached by Frye, were among the Olympians, three of whom received gold medals. Among the medalists were Otis Harris (USA), who won a silver in the men's 400m and a gold as part of the 4x400m relay. Former athletes Aleen Bailey (Jamaica) and Tonique Williams-Darling (Bahamas) won gold medals in the 4x100m and 400m, respectively. Adrian Durant (Virgin Islands), Stoddart (Jamaica) and Lashinda Demus (USA) also represented USC track and field in Athens.

During the season, South Carolina athletes gathered 27 All-America honors, four NCAA runner-up finishes, a first-team academic All-American and a second-team academic All-American. Frye guided his women's team to its ninth consecutive top-10 outdoor finish, while his men's team finished in the top-15 indoors. Tony Allmond and Demus were both runner-ups in the long jump and the 400m hurdles, respectively at the NCAA Outdoor Championship.

During the 2003 indoor season, the Carolina women placed second at the NCAA Championships, finishing in the top-five for the fourth consecutive season. The Gamecock men's team finished fourth, its highest finish since a fourth-place showing in 1999.

Individually, Frye had three women win NCAA titles in 2003: Bailey in both the 100m and 200m outdoors, and Demus in the 400m indoor. A pair of USC athletes combined to collect three U.S. Junior Championships (Kenneth Ferguson, 110m hurdles and 400m hurdles; Tawana Watkins, 400m hurdles) and both represented Team USA in the Junior Pan American Games. Additionally, Bailey went on to earn SEC Outdoor Athlete of the Year, and Ferguson was named the conference's Freshman of the Year.

Frye also coached athletes to international success in 2003 at the World Championships in Paris. Allen Johnson won an unprecedented fourth title in the 110m hurdles, while Trammell placed second in the event. Former Gamecocks Lisa Barber and Demetria Washington helped Team USA claim the 4x400m relay crown.

Continuing to build a program on the national and international level, Frye saw years of hard work pay off in 2002. The women carried home the national championship trophy from the NCAA Outdoor Championships, South Carolina's first national team championship in any sport. The Gamecock women also carried home the championship trophy from the SEC outdoor meet that same year. The men placed in the top 10 indoors and outdoors in 2002, finishing sixth in both.

The two programs crowned three NCAA champions in Demus (400m hurdles outdoors) and Otukile Lekote (800m, indoors and outdoors) and also saw the women's 4x400m relay set the collegiate outdoor record with its national title victory. The women's 4x400m indoor relay and 4x100m outdoor relay teams, as well as the men's 4x400m outdoor relay team also won national championships. The two teams combined to collect over 52 All-America honors and put 33 athletes on the SEC Academic Honor Roll.

Frye earned 2002 National Coach of the Year and SEC Women's Outdoor Coach of the Year honors. In addition, Washington was named the National Indoor Female Athlete of the Year, while Track and Field News tabbed Demus as its National Female Athlete of the Year. Lekote was named National Scholar-Athlete of the Year.

Frye entered the 2002 season with the best recruiting class the Carolina women's track and field program has ever seen, including nine stars who made an immediate impact on the success of the team. The class was heralded by Track & Field News as the No. 1 class in the country.

Frye and the elite athletes he coached in 2001 had an extraordinary year, which earned Frye the prestigious 2001 Nike Coach of the Year Award. Allen Johnson won his third World Championship gold medal in the 110m hurdles, his fourth U.S. Outdoor crown in the event, as Frye sent a total of 11 athletes to the 2001 World Championships. Adding more coaching honors to his distinguished list, Frye was the men's coach for the United States at the 2001 Goodwill Games. He coached Johnson and Trammell to championships in their respective events. Johnson won the 110m hurdles and Trammell claimed the 60m hurdles at the World Indoor Championships.

The 2000 season was another stellar year for Frye, as the women's indoor team finished the season with an unprecedented second-place finish at the NCAA Championships. The outdoor women's team finished runner-up at the SEC meet and also went on to finish sixth at the NCAA Championships. The men's outdoor team finished the season with an 11th-place showing at the NCAA meet. Indoors, behind Trammell's 20 points, the men finished eighth.

To conclude the 2000 season, USC standouts Trammell and Miki Barber were both named National Outdoor Track and Field Athletes of Year. For his efforts, Frye was named the women's regional Coach of the Year.

Frye was not done yet, as he accompanied 12 former USC athletes and coaches to the Sydney Olympics. His athletes brought home four medals: a gold to former volunteer coach Monique Hennagan (USA, 4x400m relay); a silver for alum Charmaine Howell (Jamaica, 4x400m relay); a silver for Trammell (USA, 110m hurdles) and a bronze for volunteer coach Melissa Morrison (USA, 100m hurdles).

In 1999, Frye took the Gamecocks to unprecedented success, with the women winning the SEC Outdoor Championship. The women were a school-best third at the SEC Indoor Championship. After finishing fourth indoors, the women were seventh at the NCAA Outdoors. The men finished in the top-six both indoors and outdoors. Bringing home a trophy for its fourth-place finish at the NCAA Indoor Championships, the men finished sixth outdoors. The men ended a school-best second at the SEC Indoor Championships and were sixth outdoors.

The two programs combined to set 35 school records. The Gamecocks won three individual NCAA titles, an NCAA relay title, 14 SEC titles and crowned 29 All-Americans. USC also featured two academic All-Americans in Keith Hall and Michelle Fournier. Hall went on to Emory Medical School and Fournier was granted an NCAA Postgraduate Scholarship.

For the efforts of Frye and his staff in 1999, Frye was named the Men's Indoor National Coach of the Year and the Women's Outdoor National Coach of the Year. Frye also snatched the SEC Women's Outdoor Coach of the Year title. It was the first time in the history of the USTCA a coach won the award indoors (men) and outdoors (women).

In 1998, his second year at Carolina, Frye led the Gamecocks to national prominence. Indoors, the Gamecock men were seventh and the women finished 11th at the NCAA Championships. Outdoors, the two teams flipped places, as the women finished seventh and the men 11th at the NCAA Outdoor Championships. For his work, Frye was named the Outdoor USTCA Region Coach of the Year. Individually, Carolina won four NCAA titles, 13 SEC titles and garnered 23 All-America honors indoors and outdoors.

In his first season at Carolina in 1997, Frye hit the ground running and the fruits of his labors paid off as the women's team finished fourth at the NCAA Indoor Championships and fifth outdoors. The men also had an impressive track and field season, finishing seventh indoors with a team that had no seniors. Frye was named both the 1997 USATF and USOC Track and Field Coach of the Year.

Hired at South Carolina on July 29, 1996, Frye came to Columbia after serving as assistant head coach at North Carolina for four years. During his tenure at UNC, he was a part of 13 ACC championship teams.

Prior to his stint with the Tar Heels, Frye was an assistant coach at Florida from 1988 to 1992. While with the Gator program, he coached three NCAA individual champions and one relay champion team. In total, 29 All-America certificates were earned while Frye was in Gainesville.

From 1984 to 1988, Frye was an assistant coach for N.C. State, aiding the Wolfpack to four conference championships. He was instrumental in leading State to 27 All-America honors, four individual NCAA second-place finishes and 37 conference champions.

Frye began his coaching career as an assistant at his alma mater, East Carolina, in 1974. He also served as head coach for the men's soccer team and was director of facilities. Frye took a break from the collegiate ranks from 1979 to 1984 when he was head track and field coach for Douglas Byrd High School in Fayetteville, N.C.

Frye and his wife, Wilma, have three children: Crystal, C.J. and Curtrell.