Bio

Gary Aldrich, the throws coach for USA Track and Field at the 2021 Tokyo Olympics, is in his 10th year at the helm of the Carnegie Mellon University Men’s and Women’s Track and Field programs in 2023-24. Aldrich has had as storied career leading the Tartans track and field programs, earning U.S. Track & Field and Cross Country Coaches Association (USTFCCCA) recognition nine times while coaching the first national indoor track and field champion in women’s program history when Liz Barre won the pentathlon with a school record 3,837 points at the 2023 NCAA Division III Indoor Track and Field Championships. Aldrich also led the men’s team to a sixth-place finish at the 2022 NCAA Indoor Track and Field Championships, the highest team finish in program history at the NCAA Indoor Championships.

In addition, Aldrich and his staff have earned University Athletic Association (UAA) Men’s Coaching Staff of the Year for both the indoor and outdoor seasons in 2017, the indoor season in 2019, and the outdoor season in 2023.

Major Team Highlights

• NCAA Indoor Appearances: 2015, 2017, 2020, 2022, 2023
• Best NCAA Indoor Finish: 2023 – 17th
• NCAA Outdoor Appearances: 2015, 2017, 2018, 2019, 2022, 2023
• Best NCAA Outdoor Finish: 2022 – 26th

Major Athlete Highlights

• NCAA Indoor Champions: 1
• NCAA Indoor Competitors: 10
• NCAA Indoor All-Americans: 5
• All-Region Indoor Honors: 67
• UAA Indoor Titles: 8
• UAA Indoor Most Outstanding Performers: 1
• All-UAA Indoor Honors: 34
• NCAA Outdoor Competitors: 12
• NCAA Outdoor All-Americans: 4
• All-Region Outdoor Honors: 47
• Region Outdoor Athlete of the Year Honors: 1
• UAA Outdoor Titles: 10
• UAA Outdoor Most Outstanding Performers: 1
• All-UAA Outdoor Honors: 55
• Academic All-American Honors: 9

Career Highlights

• Associate Head Coach at CMU for eight years (2006-2014)
• Named USTFCCCA Mideast Regional Assistant Coach of the Year five times (2008 outdoor men, 2011 outdoor women, 2012 indoor men and women and 2012 outdoor women)
• Seven opportunities as throws coach on the international stage
•    2021 Tokyo Olympics
•    2019 NACAC U23 Team
•    2017 World Outdoor Championships in London, England
•    2016 World Indoor Championships in Portland, Oregon
•    2015 Pan American Games in Toronto, Canada
•    2012 World Junior Track and Field Championships in Barcelona, Spain
•    2010 NACAC (North American, Central American, Caribbean Athletic Association) Under 23 Team
• Throws instructor at the Brazilian Olympic Committee Coaches Academy in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, in September 2017

Prior to Carnegie Mellon

Aldrich came to Carnegie Mellon from Rhode Island where he was the Mid-Atlantic Sales Manager for M-F Athletic Company/Perform Better. As a sales representative for the largest track and field distributing company and functional training company in the United States, he lectured for state track and field coaches association clinics on various topics including throwing and jumping events and strength and conditioning. He is also currently the vice president of the National Throws Coaches Association and is responsible for aiding in the organization of the national convention and putting on throws clinics around the country.

Aldrich previously coached at Slippery Rock, Allegheny College, and Alfred University in New York. While at Alfred, Aldrich was the head coach for men’s and women’s track and field and also the men’s and women’s cross country teams. He led the teams to numerous conference runner-up finishes and was named the Men’s Coach of the Year following the 1997 men’s conference championship season in track and field. Seven members of his cross country teams were named Academic All-Americans and he coached the women’s team’s first NCAA individual qualifier.

Education and Athletic Career

Aldrich graduated with a Bachelor of Science degree in physical education and health, with an emphasis in coaching and teaching certification K-12, in 1982 and finished his Master of Science in Kinesiology/Biomechanics in 1989, also from Slippery Rock. He currently holds the school discus record and was inducted in October 2006 to the Slippery Rock University Athletic Hall of Fame and is a member of the Somerset (Mass.) High School Athletic Hall of Fame. He qualified for the 1983 Division II NCAA meet in the discus and is a Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference (PSAC) champion in the shot put.

Aldrich has published a discus video and DVD through M-F Athletic Co. called “Come to Practice”, has written numerous articles about the various aspects of throwing events published on web sites such as www.mfathletic.com and holds his Level II USAT&F Coaching Certification in both jumps and throws and is a lead instructor for Level I USAT&F Coaching Certification.