Nebraska Wesleyan University Track and Field Head Coach Ted Bulling has been named the United States Track and Field and Cross Country Coaches Association (USTFCCCA) Central Region Men’s Coach of the Year. In addition, NWU assistant coach Derek Frese was named the USTFCCCA Central Region Women’s Assistant Coach-of-the-Year.

Bulling, who is in his 29th season coaching track and field this spring, has built the Nebraska Wesleyan track & field program into one of the top small college programs in the nation. This season, the NWU men have four athletes competing at the NCAA III Outdoor Championships this week. Nebraska Wesleyan is currently the No. 1 team in the USTFCCCA Central Region.

During his tenure at Nebraska Wesleyan, Bulling has coached 36 national champions and 129 of his athletes have earned a total of 574 All-America Awards.

Frese has had a huge impact on the NWU throwers in his third season as the throws coach for the Prairie Wolves. This season, he has helped coach three athletes to qualify for four events at the NCAA III Outdoor Championships.

Before Frese arrived, NWU did not have one thrower hit qualifying marks in any events. Just three years later, each thrower has hit personal best this season with four qualifying for the Outdoor Championships and two more hitting provisional marks to just miss making the meet.

He has coached Amanda Brichacek to the school record in the hammer throw while also qualifying in the shot put. He also guided freshman Deanna Dirkschneider to the NCAA III National Championships during both the indoor and outdoor season in her first year of competition. In addition, Frese coached Elliott Bulling to the men’s outdoor championships in the shot put as he improved his previous best by over six feet.