University of California-Riverside Women's Track & Field

Eric Fremd joined the UC Riverside Track & Field program as an assistant coach overseeing jumps, multis and hurdles in August 2018. He enters his seventh full season at UCR in 2024-25. Fremd's inaugural outdoor season with UCR was quite the introduction. He led Quinn Williams to the 2019 Big West title in the 400mH, also leading Hana Johnson (TJ), Didi Amarasekara (LJ), and Ondrej Rapp (LJ) to podium finishes. In addition to her podium finish in the long jump, Amarasekara set a new school record in the Heptathlon. Prior to his current position with the Highlanders, Fremd spent three seasons at Sacramento State (2016-18) where he led the Hornets student-athletes competing in the horizontal jumps and multis. During his tenure with the Hornets, Fremd produced two NCAA All-Americans, 12 NCAA Prelim qualifiers, 41 All-Conference selections, 50 Top-10 All-Time marks, and four school records. Before his arrival at Sacramento State, Fremd spent two seasons as the Head Track & Field Coach at Yuba College, where the women's team won its first Conference title in 15 years in 2015. As a student-athlete, Fremd competed for Cal State Northridge (CSUN) while earning his B.S. in Kinesiology and played an integral role on the team's back-to-back Big West Conference team championships in 2009 & 2010. In 2013, he earned his M.S. in Kinesiology (sports performance) from Sacramento State. Fremd holds a USTFCCCA Jump Events Specialist certification and a USATF Level 2 Sprints/Hurdles/Relays certif

1996 Olympic silver medalist, 1990 World Junior champion and 1991 All African Games gold medalist Fatimat Yusuf-Olukoju is a volunteer sprints coach for UC Riverside's Track & Field program and enters her third year in 2024-25. In Yusuf-Olukoju's first year with the Highlanders, UCR's record book saw new top 10 entries to the 200m, 400m and 800m, including two new men's top-10 times in the 400m and 800m. Family ties entered the picture in 2023 with both her son (Daniel) and daughter (Raykiyat) signing for UCR. Raykiyat broke the school's 200m record four times and the 100m once, while winning a Big West title with the Highlanders' women's 4x400 relay squad. Yusuf-Olukoju, a fitness professional for over 30 years, owns Village Coach Fitness in Riverside. A decorated professional track athlete from 1988 to 2000, Yusuf-Olukoju is a 2x All-Africa Games gold medalist, also winning gold, silver and bronze at the African Championships while currently holding the African record for the 4x400. She earned a silver medal at the 1996 Summer Olympics in Atlanta in the 4x4 relay while placing sixth in the 400m final with a time of 49.77. She ran for Azusa Pacific from 1994 to 1996 and received her bachelor's in social work. She was a 10-time NAIA All-American and seven-time NAIA Champion in the 200 meters and 400 meters as a member of the Cougars' track and field program. She was inducted into the APU Hall of Fame in 2007.

Matthew Boone joined the UC Riverside Track & Field coaching staff in October of 2025. Boone, who comes to UCR with a wealth of track & field and cross count...

Nate Browne was named Director of Cross Country and Track & Field for UC Riverside in January of 2016 and enters his 10th full year in 2025-26. He stepped into the interim shoes in August of 2015 following the retirement of Coach Irv Ray. It was the third promotion in as many years for Browne, who was named associate head coach for Track & Field in January of 2013. He originally joined the Highlanders program in the summer of 2003 as a volunteer assistant coach after serving as a volunteer assistant at California Baptist from 2001-02. Browne was promoted to full-time assistant cross country and track and field coach in the summer of 2007. Under Browne's leadership, UC Riverside has achieved significant success including Vesta Bell's NCAA Division I national championship in the weight throw in 2016, the school's first national title in any sport. The program has won 20 Big West individual championships, with six Highlanders advancing to NCAAs and earning All-American status. In 2023, Browne led the UCR Men's Cross Country team to its first Highlander Invitational win since 2014, with both squads ranking No. 11 in the West Region. The women's track and field team achieved national prominence with No. 16 ranking in the 5000m relay in 2022. Browne was an 11-time collegiate All-American at California Baptist, where he was the national runner-up in the indoor 800m in 1999 and won five NAIA National Championships in the 4x800m and distance medley relays. He is a member of the Unit