Aldrich Set to Lead USA Throwers at 2015 Pan Am Games

(PITTSBURGH, Pa.) – The 2015 Pan American Games started July 10 and ten days later it's time for the track and field participants and coaches to depart for Toronto to prepare for their events which begin July 20. Carnegie Mellon University Head Track and Field Coach Gary Aldrich will represent the United States Track and Field team as the assistant throws coach at the games.

"It is a great honor to be representing the United States at the 2015 Pan Am Games," said Aldrich. "I am very excited that I have been selected as the men's throws coach for the USA Track & Field Team. I look forward to working with a number of the country's best athletes.  I hope this brings more world recognition to Carnegie Mellon University, the athletic department, and our track and field program."

You can follow the Carnegie Mellon Track and Field Facebook page for updates about Aldrich's experience and details about the competition as well as catch some of the action through television coverage by ESPN2.

As the third-largest international multi-sport Games, the 2015 Pan American Games will welcome over 7,000 athletes from across the Americas and the Caribbean. Team USA's track and field athletes earned 10 medals in the last Pan American Games, with eight of the 10 medals coming from the field events.

This international coaching experience will be Aldrich's third as he served as the assistant throws coach for the NACAC (North American, Central American, and Caribbean Athletic Association) Under-23 Team in 2010 and the throws coach for the United States at the World Junior Track and Field Championships in Barcelona, Spain, in 2012.

Most recently, Aldrich was honored as the 2015 USTFCCCA Mideast Region Men's Head Coach of the Year for indoor track and field and mentored 2015 graduate Thomas Vandenberg to three All-America honors, two for indoor track, this season.