Head Coach: Andrew Rock
Andrew was announced head coach of the Bethel University men's and women's track and field program in July 2012. Rock is excited to lead the group of student-athletes as he draws upon his experiences as a gold medalist at the 2004 Olympic Games, 2006 USA Track and Field National Championships, and 2005 World Championships.
Previous to Bethel Rock was an assistant coach for Carleton College's track and field as well as cross country programs. Additionally he was awarded a gold medal in the 2006 USA Track and Field National Championships (400m) and 2005 World Championships (4x400m). The Stratford, Wis., native also competed on the 4x400m gold medal relay team during the 2004 Olympic Games held in Athens, Greece, and captured the silver medal in the 2005 World Championships held in Helsinki, Finland (400m). His personal best time of 44.35 in the 400-meter dash ranked him third in the world in 2005 and fourth in 2006.
Rock also succeeded throughout his four years as a student at the University of Wisconsin-La Crosse. While competing for the Eagles, Rock captured nine NCAA Division III individual titles and participated on UW-La Crosse's eight national championships. Rock finished his collegiate career as a 17-time All-American, with four NCAA Division III national records and nine records at UW-La Crosse. In addition, Rock was also named a two-year first-team Academic All-American by CoSIDA (Collegiate Sports Information Directors of America).
The olympian and gold medalist is excited about the future for the Royals' track and field program, stating, “Bethel offers an incredible opportunity to continue to pass along my passion for track and field as well as mentoring young people in an atmosphere that, in my opinion, is unmatched."
Rock and his wife, Missy, live in Prior Lake, Minn. and have two children, Athulya and Isaiah.
Assistant Coach: Jim Timp
Entering his eighth season coaching the men's and women's track and field program at Bethel University, Timp is excited for the upcoming track & field campaign. In a new role this year as assistant men's and women's track and field coach working with the mid-distance and distance runners. Timp had been head track and field coach for the past seven years, where he enjoyed almost a complete revision of school records and produced 34 All Americans. Timp remains as the head men's and women's cross country coach. This allows the opportunity to harness his attention in greater detail toward the distance program and while continuing to build excitement for the track & field program.
Before coming to Bethel, Timp was the head boys and girls cross country coach and assistant track and field coach at Irondale High School in New Brighton, Minnesota, where he coached among others, Victoria Moses to the 1997 Minnesota Class AA 3200m title and Rob Siedenkrantz to a second place finish in the Minnesota Class AA State Cross Country Championships in 1985.
Timp brings more than 30 years of coaching knowledge and experience to the Bethel programs, having coached at all levels from middle school and high school to collegiate and post collegiate athletes. He is a USATF certified coach in the distances, hurdles, jumps, relays, sprints, and throws and a level II certified coach in distances. While at Bethel, Timp has earned the MIAC Coach of the Year honor for women's cross country in 2008, as well as men's and women's indoor track and field in 2007. In 2010 Timp earned the men’s Central Region Track Coach of the year which made him a nominee for national coach honors as well.
Coach Timp and his wife Tracy reside in Arden Hills, Minn. They have three sons: Matthew and spouse Huong; Daniel and spouse Brooke; Benjamin and spouse Sarah. Jim and Tracy also enjoy spending time with their five grandchildren: 7 year old grandson, Parker; 4 year old grandson, Julian (JP); 3 year old granddaughter Wren; 2 year old granddaughter Adali; and new born granddaughter Anya.
Sprints/Hurdles Coach: Mike Fregeau
Mike Fregeau, a 1984 graduate of Bethel, is entering his sixth year coaching with Bethel's men and women track and field programs. Fregeau’s primary responsibility with the Royal’s track program revolve around sprinters and hurdlers.
Fregeau brings 11 years of track coaching experience to Bethel. He spent seven years coaching at the high school/middle school level in the Centennial school district and then three years at Meadow Creek Christian School before coming to the collegiate level. Fregeau has helped develop one of the top sprint and hurdle groups in the MIAC. Under his leadership, Bethel has produced 18 All-American performers, 28 athletes that participated at the Division III National Championship meet, 62 All-Conference and 72 Honorable Mention runners. In addition, the sprints coach has trained 18 school record performances, three MIAC records, 26 MIAC champions, and 22 MIAC runner ups. Finally, under Fregeau's direction Taylor Ferda (2010) and Jordan Spronk (2011) had the outstanding performance of the MIAC meet.
As a high school track and field athlete, he qualified for the New York Section II state meet in the long jump and also ran track for Bethel from 1981-83 as he competed in the jumps and short sprints. He was also a running back on Bethel's football team.
In addition to coaching the sprinters and hurdlers, Fregeau has been an assistant coach on Bethel's football team since 1999. He has coached several all-conference players, including 2012 All-American Seth Mathis, 2006 MIAC MVP Kirby Carr, 2002 NCAA Division III sack leader Jon Foss.
Jumps Coach: Kyle Leaf
Coach Leaf is in his tenth season as an assistant with the Bethel Track & Field program. Leaf graduated from Bethel in 2002 with a degree in business, emphasis on marketing, and minored in political science. While at Bethel, he participated in baseball as well as track and field where he received All-Conference honors in the high jump. From 2004-2006 his exclusive focus was high jump, though, since 2007 he has overseen both the men's and women's horizontal jumps as well.
In his time at Bethel, Kyle has had the opportunity to work with many talented jumpers. Over his previous nine seasons Bethel can boast 4 All-American performances, 11 participations at the Division III National Championship meet, and 45 All-Conference (23) and Honorable Mention (22) performances.
Kyle and his wife Jamie (Bethel ’04) reside in Ramsey, MN, and spend the majority of their free time being entertained and by their three children - Abigail, (Seven), Isabella (Five), and Andrew (Three) – and the Leaf’s are excited to add number four in early 2013.
Coach Leaf is excited about the strides that both the men's and women's teams have made under Coach Timp’s leadership, and is excited to watch Coach Rock take the program to the next level. "Building on the successes of the last few seasons is going to be challenging and exciting for both the athletes and the coaching staff. I know that the jumpers, as well as myself, are very eager to contribute to the continued improvements and accomplishments that Bethel Track and Field has enjoyed in recent seasons," said Leaf.
Vaulting Coach: Doug Novak
Coach Doug Novak has more than 20 years of experience coaching pole vault at the high school and collegiate level. During his time at Bethel , Novak has coached, among others, All-American and school indoor record holder Kevin Mosely. This season Novak has a stable of talented, young vaulters to work with this year. "This makes coaching a lot of fun when you have great young people to work with for both men and women." Last season, Novak guided senior Brandon Johnson to a fourth place finish at the indoor MIAC Championships.
Doug brings a strong commitment, desire and wealth of knowledge to the sport. Doug is a 1981 graduate of Minnesota State Mankato and was a three-time NCAA All American, conference record holder, and school record holder during his competitive days. Doug works as an Account Manager during the day.
Coach Novak and his wife Jo Ellen reside in Centerville, Minn. They have three children: Jake, Jennifer, Jill and three grandchildren: Zach, Blake, and Allie. It should also be noted their daughter Jennifer has caught the pole vault coaching bug from her father and coaches at Burnsville High School.
Throws Coach: Bob Jones
Coach Jones is entering his sixth year as throws coach for Bethel Track and Field. With over a decade of experience coaching the throwing events, Jones is fielding one of the best throwing teams in the history of Bethel University. According to Jones, 2010 could turn out to be one of the best ever for Royal throwers. “The team is young, but our overall talent level is as high as I’ve seen at Bethel. I expect a lot of long throws this year!”
Jones previously coached high school throwers in Colorado. In just three seasons he coached six state meet qualifiers including four medal winners.
Jones is a Minnesota native and began his collegiate career at the University of Minnesota where he competed on the track team for two seasons. He received a BA in Communication from the University of Colorado in 1987. Bob lives in St. Louis Park with his wife Anne and their four cats.
Travis Birklid
