Richard Fox

Few programs can compare to the continued tradition of having multiple athletes provisionally qualifying for the NCAA championships. Fox is proud of the team concept he has built where the pole vaulters combine to outscore their competitors at the MW championship meets.

Teaching solid technique in the art of the pole vault along with building strength through gymnastics, the weight-room and conditioning are the Aztec's strong points. Fox has coached every athlete on the pole vault Top 10 indoor and outdoor list for SDSU.

Fox also volunteered for seven seasons (1998, 2003-2008) as an assistant cross country coach. During this time Fox worked with four all-Mountain West runners - Sophia Hawker, Marie Nilsson and Lital Azulay - who earned first team all-MW and all-district honors and Christal Cuadra, who earned second team all-MW accolades. Hawker also competed at the NCAA Cross Country Championships.

Mountain West Championships:

• 31 pole vault champions (indoor and outdoor) at the MW championships among 11 vaulters (Crabtree, Balentine, Asay, Bagan, Hintz, Waseloff, Brown, Draxler, Berry, Heri & Callahan)
• 23 MWC Championship runner-up places among 13 vaulters (Crabtree, Gutierrez, Asay, Draher, James, Hintz, Draxler, Berry, Heri, Allen, Scharmann, Callahan and Nilsen).
• 141 pole vaulters have scored MWC all-conference performances.
• 15 indoor school records
• 12 outdoor school records
• Seven Indoor MW Championship meet records
• Six Outdoor MW Championship meet records
• SDSU vautler currently holds the MW indoor All-Time Record
• SDSU vaulter currently holds the MW outdoor All-Time Record
• SDSU vaulter currently holds the MW championship Indoor Meet Record
• SDSU vaulter currently holds the MW championship Outdoor Meet Record
• At the MW championships, SDSU vaulters have been awarded the Outstanding Female Performance of the Meet on four occasions (2004i - Asay, 2005i - Balentine, 2007i & 2010i - Bagan).
• 2015 Outdoors, the SDSU Pole Vault squad became the only SDSU Aztec event group to go 1 thru 4 and only the 4th Event group of any Team in the MWC to complete this feat.
• 2020 Indoors, the SDSU Pole Vault squad became the only SDSU Aztec event group to go 1 thru 4 and only the 4th Event group of any Team in the MWC to complete this feat.

NCAA Championships:

• 77 times SDSU vaulters have provisionally qualified for the NCAA
• 23 times SDSU vaulters have competed at the NCAA Finals
• 21 All-American honors earned by seven different vaulters (Aimee Crabtree – 1999, 2001, Shayla Balentine – 2002, 2004, 2005i, 2005, Erin Asay – 2005i, 2006i, 2006, Stephanie Bagan – 2007i, 2008i, 2008, 2010i, Kelsy Hintz - 2012i, 2012, Kristen Brown – 2014 & 2015, Bonnie Draxler – 2017, 2018i, 2019i, 2019).
• No. 1 vault mark for the outdoor season (Balentine - 2005)
• NCAA Runner-Up, Shayla Balentine – 2005
• NCAA Runner-Up, Stephanie Bagan – 2008
• NCAA Runner-Up, Bonnie Draxler - 2019i
• NCAA Runner-Up, Bonnie Draxler - 2019

USATF National Championships:

• 20 combined times; Fox has coached his athletes while competing at the USA National Track and Field Championships.
• Two Aztecs competed at the 2000 Olympic Trials, placing 5^th and 12^th
• Two Aztecs competed at the 2008 Olympic Trials, placing 12^th and 26^th
• One Aztec competed at the 2016 Olympic Trials, placing 11^th
• Four SDSU Alumni have vaulted 4.60m (15’ 1”), Erin Asay, Kristin Brown, Kortney Ross & Ashley Callahan.

USATF Junior National Championships:

• 13 of his freshman athletes have qualified for the Junior USATF National meet.

NCAA History:

During his tenure Fox coached the fifth collegiate all-time vaulter to reach the 13-foot barrier and the 14th, 16th and 26th collegiate vaulter to reach the 14-foot mark. During their era, Bagan held the No. 7 all-time outdoor NCAA mark, Balentine held the No. 9 best mark in the NCAA for outdoors, and Erin Asay had the No. 11 -best all-time mark for indoors.

Historically, the SDSU vaulters are among the best programs in the nation for producing 14 footers with eight (Balentine, Asay, Bagan, Hintz, Brown, Draxler, Heri and Callahan). The pole vault squad was the first team in the nation to produce three different 14-foot vaulters (Balentine, Asay and Bagan).

In addition, the Aztec pole vault squad ranks as a top program for producing individual NCAA All-Americans. The Aztec pole vaulters have a strong Top 10 all-time performance record among the nations great colleges.

Shayla Balentine was inducted into the Aztec Hall of Fame class of 2014.

Personal:

Prior to joining the Aztec staff, Fox coached the pole vault for one year at Torrey Pines High School, leading his student-athlete to the school record.

He was a four-year track and field team member and varsity letter winner at San Diego State from 1988-1992. He is a 1992 graduate of SDSU with a Bachelor of Science in Finance and earned a postgraduate Master's degree of criminal justice from Boston University.

Fox was a special agent with the Drug Enforcement Agency (DEA) for one year and had been with the San Diego Police Department as an officer from 1994 to 2025. A former member of the SDPD SWAT Team, Fox now works at the Police Academy as a Core Instructor and Training Sergeant out of Miramar College in San Diego.

Fox is a certified member as a USATF official and volunteers as a pole vault official at the CIF Championships each year. Fox ran for the police department Baker to Vegas 120 mile, 20-man relay team where they won 3 titles and finished in the Top 5 over ten times.  Fox ran his best open 5K road run in 17:16 during a turkey trot in Balboa Park. He has also competed in the triathlon and the decathlon at the Police & Fire Games.  Currently, Fox holds the American Record in the USA Police & Fire Games for his 50-54 age group in the pole vault.

Fox lives in San Diego with his 18-year old son, Garrett, who competes for the cross country team, wrestles and runs track & field at Patrick Henry HS and 14-year old daughter, Addison who plays softball.