Frazier Named Track and Field Assistant at Northridge

Former UCLA All-American shotputter John Frazier has been hired as a Cal State Northridge track and field assistant coach.

He will be in charge of the shotput, discus, javelin and hammer throw.

Frazier, the 1981 state shotput champion at Antelope Valley High, placed sixth in the 1985 NCAA championships and eighth in 1986.

“We’ve been hoping for this for a long time,” Northridge track Coach Don Strametz said. “John is really going to help our program. He’s very knowledgeable about the throws and he has a great reputation in the track and field community. His name alone will attract kids who wouldn’t otherwise come here.”

A 1986 UCLA graduate, Frazier, 27, was an assistant at UC Irvine in 1989 and at Humboldt State this season.

He has competed for the Stars and Stripes Track Club since graduating from UCLA and improved his personal best to 65 feet 9 1/2 inches in 1987.

With Northridge moving to the NCAA Division I level in all sports except football beginning in the fall, Strametz hopes that the hiring of Frazier will shore up the Matadors’ recent weakness in several weight events.

A Division II men’s power in the weight events from the early 1970s to the mid-’80s, Northridge has not produced an All-American in the shotput, discus or javelin since 1985.

The Matadors have had four Division II All-Americans in the hammer throw in the last three years, but that success hasn’t carried over to the other weight events.

“We definitely need to improve in that area--especially in the shot and disc--if we’re going to be a successful Division I dual-meet team,” Strametz said. “And I think the addition of John is a big step in that direction.”

On Wednesday, Northridge distance coach Bob Augello resigned his position to become an assistant coach/director of the Escondido-based Subaru Cycling Team.

Augello, who coached City Section 3,200 champions Ian Alsen (1987) and Craig Lawson (1989) at Granada Hills High, coached at Northridge for two years.