Men's Track and Field
- Title:
- Assistant Coach (Cross Country/Distance)
- Email:
- kfrnntte@memphis.edu
- Phone:
- 901-678-4782
Ken Frenette joined the University of Memphis as the assistant coach of the men’s and women’s cross country and track and field teams in September of 2015.
Frenette has made an immediate positive impact on the middle/long distance program. Since his arrival, his athletes established a record of success on the track in breaking every women's outdoor school record from the 1500m to the 10000m, in addition to every indoor school record from the mile to the 5000m. On the men's side, his athletes lowered long-standing indoor track records in the 3000m, 5000m and DMR.
The 2022-23 season saw the Memphis Men finish fourth at the American Athletic Cross Country Championships with Payton Gleason and Zach Wyatt earning All-Conference honors, finishing 11th and 12th, respectively. The men’s team finished 12th at the South Regional Cross Country Championship with Payton Gleason earning All Regional Honors in finishing 23rd. The women finished sixth at the Conference Championship meet with Chloe Figgins earning All-Conference honors, placing ninth. Chloe went on to compete and finish 31st at the South Regional Cross Country Championship.
On the track in 2023 saw a number of outstanding performances and PR’S including two school records set in the men’s 5000m by Payton Gleason and the men’s 3000m by Vincent Chenier. Zach Wyatt won the men’s steeplechase at the American Conference outdoor championship with Tate Wyatt and Liam Walsh also scoring in finishing 4th and 7th respectively. Vincent Chenier scored in the 800m and 1500m in finishing 6th and 7th respectively at the outdoor championship. Payton Gleason scored in the 10,000m with a 8th place finish. The women also turned in a number of outstanding performances lead by Chloe Figgins. Figgins recorded the number two time in the 5,000m for both indoors and outdoors in school history. She finished 5th in the 10,000m and 6th in the 5000m at the outdoor Conference Championship. Freshmen Ashleigh Anderson showed huge improvement in the 800m/1500m with a best time of 2:14.70 and 4:33.26. She advanced to the finials in the 1500m at the outdoor Conference Championship.
The 2020-21 season, like most, was affected greatly by the pandemic with the 2020 fall cross country season being canceled entirely. In the winter of 2021, the American Athletic Conference had an abbreviated cross country season of three weeks. The highlight of the season was Zach Wyatt earning AAC All-Conference for the first time on the trails, and Payton Gleason earning the same recognition for the second season in a row. The indoor season was reduced to one indoor meet which saw Zach Wyatt break the school record for the 5000m, along with Gleason and Tate Wyatt running the 4th and 6th best times in program history. Gleason went on to earn All-Conference honors by finishing third in the 10,000m at the AAC Outdoor Track & Field Championship. On the trails, fall 2021 saw Zach Wyatt return to the podium to earn All-Conference honors in finishing 11th. Gleason earned All South NCAA Regional Honors in finishing 24th, posting a time of 30:33 for 10km.
The 2022 Indoor season saw Zach Wyatt earn All-Conference honors in the 800m. Chloe Figgins finished 7th and 9th in the 5000m (17:14) and 3000m (9:48). The distance squad continued to show improvement as top-10 school performances were turned in on both sides from the mile to the 5000m.
Academically, both the men’s and women’s cross country teams earned U.S. Track and Field/Cross Country Coaches Association (USTFCCCA) All-Academic Team honors, along with Payton Gleason being recognized individually for the second year in a row.
One of the highlights of the 2019 outdoor season was Julien Sanchez Pinto advancing to the 2019 NCAA Division I Outdoor Track and Field Championship in the steeplechase to earn All-American honors. In addition, Zach and Tate Wyatt were selected to the 2019 Pan Am U20 Championship Team for Canada in the steeplechase, with Tate finishing third.
For the 2019 indoor season, the middle distance/distance men’s group had one of the best conference championship performance in program history, with the men winning the distance medley relay along with two individuals scoring twice in the mile, 3000m and the 5000m, including an All-Conference performer in the mile.
The 2018 track and field season saw both his athletes win the men’s and women’s 1500m at the American Athletic Conference Outdoor Championships. Martina Rodriguez Sala advanced to the NCAA Outdoor Championships in Eugene Ore., to earn All-American honors in the 1500m.
Frenette also was a part of the staff that guided Memphis to a record-setting season in 2017-18. The Tigers sent school-record contingents to the NCAA East Preliminaries (23 qualifiers) and NCAA Outdoor Championships (9 qualifiers). Memphis set 15 school marks in the indoor and outdoor seasons combined – a school record. In addition, the Tigers placed a school-record 17 student-athletes on the U.S. Track and Field/Cross Country Coaches Association (USTFCCCA) All-Academic Team.
The 2017-18 cross country season saw one male and female earned all-conference honors on the trails at the American Athletic Conference Championships. The women’s cross country team was recognized by American Athletic Conference for having maintain the highest team GPA of all the women’s programs in being awarded the 2017-18 Team Academic Excellence Award. In the classroom in 2018-19 the men’s cross country team 3.53 GPA was tied for 13th, and the women's cross country team 3.71 GPA was tied for 11thnationally by USTFCCCA.
The 2016 cross country season saw the women’s cross country team finish third at the American Athletic Conference Championships and 10th at the NCAA South Region Championships. Two of his women harriers earned All-American Athletic Conference honors in finishing third and fourth, respectively. The two runners also received USTFCCCA All-South Region distinction with seventh- and 20th-place finishes at the regional meet. The 2016 campaign was a historic season for the women’s program, as it posted the best team finish at both conference and regional championship races. The squad also had two runners earn all-conference and all-region honors in the same season for the first time in program history.
His previous coaching stop was at Valley City State University (VCSU) as the men’s and women’s track and field/cross country head coach from 2012-15.
Prior to his Valley City State stint, Frenette spent over 20 years with the Campbell University track and field/cross country program. He served as the track and field head coach from 1989-2003 and cross-country head coach from 1989-2011.
A five-time conference cross country coach of the year honoree, Frenette has 30-plus years of experience as a college coach both on the track and trails. Frenette coached the 2013 VCSU men’s cross-country team to the NAIA National Championships and was honored with conference coach of the year. In 2014, he helped guide Richard Langdeaux to an individual conference championship and an appearance at the NAIA cross country championships.
Frenette’ s athletes have earned NCAA Division I all-conference honors 60 times in cross country and 119 times in track and field. He has had several athletes compete nationally and internationally at the NCAA Division I cross country and track and field championships, world junior track and field championships, NAIA track and field championships, world cross country championships, NACAC track and field championships, under 23 European Championships,Pan Am U20 Championship and the Canadian track and field and cross-country championships.
Frenette’ s student-athletes have been recognized numerous times for academic success, earning conference All-Academic honors over 400 times.
As an NCAA Division I collegiate athlete, he established himself as one of the top distance/cross country runners from 1984-88. He was a two-time Big South Conference cross country individual champion and earned all-conference honors four times. He was named to the 1980 All-Big South Decade Cross Country Team.
He represented Canada at the 1991 Pan American Games in Havana, Cuba, where he was the top North American finisher and placed sixth overall in the marathon. He also qualified for the 1992 Canadian Olympic Trials in the 10,000 meters.
A certified USA Level II Track and Field coach in the middle- and long-distance events, Frenette has bachelor’s and master’s degrees in physical education.
