John Frazier - Track & Field Coach

John Frazier

Title:
Assistant Coach - Throws
Email:
jfrazier@athletics.ucla.edu

John Frazier enters his seventh season on staff at UCLA, serving as throws coach for the men and women.

The 2020 indoor season further underscored the strenght of Frazier's throwing program. Alyssa Wilson had a dominant season for the Bruin women, winning 10 of her 14 throwing competitons. She set the school record in the weight throw at the Don Kirby Invite, going 17.43m (57-02.25). Frazier also helped guide Wilson to NCAA Indoor Qualification and USTFCCCA All-America honors in the weight throw and shot put. On the men's side, sophomore Jacob Wilson finished fourth at the MPSF Championships in the shot put with a throw of 18.34m (60-02.00). Junior Nate Esparza launched a pair of 63+ foot throws in 2020, going 19.40m (63-07.75) at the UNM Team Open and 19.22m (63-00.75) at the UW Indoor Preview.

The 2019 season saw Frazier continue to display his coaching prowess through the success of his athletes. Frazier helped guide Alyssa Wilson two a pair of Indoor All-America honors (shot put, discus) while Dotun Ogundeji picked up All-America status with an 11th-place finish in the shot put at Indoor Nationals. The 2019 outdoor campaign saw Alyssa Wilson notched her first-career Pac-12 title in 2019, notching the win in the discus with a mark of 186-09. Simon Litzell picked up his second-straight league title in the javelin, going 244-03 for the victory. Senior Dotun Ogundeji finished fourth in the discus at the NCAA Outdoor Championships, earning First-Team All-America status.

Wilson was sensational at Outdoor Nationals, earning First-Team All-America honors in the shot put, discus, and hammer throw to become the first athlete to garner three first-team honors at the same national meet since the First and Second teams were initiated in 2013.

In 2018, UCLA saw four Bruins collect USTFCCCA All-America honors during the outdoor season - Alyssa Wilson, first team (shot put, hammer), Simon Litzell, second team (javelin), Marian Spannowsky, second team (javelin) and Justin Stafford, honorable mention (hammer). WIlson also earned honorable mention honors in the discus.

Indoor, the Frazier helped produce four All-Americans - Ashlie Blake (first team, shot put), Nate Esparza (second team, shot put), Dotun Ogundeji (second team, shot put) and Alyssa Wilson (second team, shot put).

At the 2018 Pac-12 Championships, Litzell took home title in the javelin, as he threw a collegiate-best 74.46m (244-3).

Frazier helped coach the Bruin men to a third-place finish at the 2017 Pac-12 Championships. Two of his throwers - Dotun Ogundeji and Ashlie Blake - earned All-America honors.

In 2016, Frazier was named the USTFCCCA West Region Men’s Assistant Coach of the Year. The UCLA men placed third at the Pac-12 Championships and finished 18th at the NCAA Championships. The throws program continued to thrive under his watch. Nicholas Scarvelis, Braheme Days and Ogundeji qualified for the both the NCAA Indoor and Outdoor National Championships. Scarvelis won his third straight Pac-12 shot put title and then later went on to win the NCAA West Prelim title and also qualified in the discus. Days was third in the region in the shot put, while Ogundeji competed in the shot put and discus at the national meet.

In Frazier’s second season in 2015, the men’s team finished fourth at the Pac-12 championships and had four earn All-American honors and two more earn honorable mention accolades. During the indoor campaign the Bruins had two All-Americans and another named honorable mention. Individually the throws were one of the top units for UCLA in 2015. Scarvelis earned NCAA Championship berths in both the indoor and outdoor seasons and won the MPSF and Pac-12 titles in the shot put. Torie Owers tossed the eighth-best shot put mark in school history at 55-2.75 and was also a NCAA indoor and outdoor qualifier. Days was a NCAA qualifier during the outdoor season and was the runner-up at the Pac-12 Championships.

In his first season at the helm of the men’s program, Frazier helped lead the Bruins to a dual meet win over rival USC and some impressive individual performances on the national stage. At the Pac-12 Championships, Scarvelis won the shot put title with a throw of 63-10.25. Senior Julian Wruck defended his Pac-12 discus title with a mark of 210-9. En route to earning All-American accolades, Wruck placed second at the NCAA meet in the discus, Scarvelis finished 10th in the shot put, Matthew Kosecki was 12th in the discus, Cody Danielson was 14th in the javelin and Nick Hartle was 16th in the 800m. During the indoor season, Marcus Nilsson and Mike Woepse earned USTFCCCA All-American honors after Nilsson placed eighth in the heptathlon and Woepse was 13th in the pole vault.

Frazier returned to his alma mater as men’s head coach after most recently spending seven seasons on the coaching staff at the University of Tennessee, where he was an associate head coach and coach for men’s and women’s throws. With over 25 years of experience in the track & field coaching community specializing in coaching throwers, Frazier brings with him experience from stops at the University of Florida, the University of Arizona and Tennessee, among others. Throughout his career at the collegiate level, Frazier has produced 43 All-American athletes as well as four NCAA champions.

Frazier’s return to Westwood was a well-deserved homecoming for one of the great Bruin throwers ever to compete at Drake Stadium. Frazier was a three-time All-American in the shot put during his UCLA career, earning first team honors at both NCAA Indoors and Outdoors in 1985 as well as at the 1986 Outdoor Championships.

In his four years of Bruin collegiate competition (1982/1983/1985/1986), UCLA was 38-1 in dual meet contests, including an unbeaten 3-0 mark vs. USC (the 1982 UCLA-USC dual meet was non-scoring). As a freshman in 1982 and a senior in 1986, the Bruins were the top-ranked dual meet team in the nation. He holds two all-time UCLA records--first, the No. 9 mark all-time in Bruins shot put history (65-2.75) and second, the No. 10 mark all-time in the men’s hammer throw (208-6).

Frazier graduated from UCLA with a bachelor’s degree in political science in 1986.