Barends
By the
Numbers

Fred Barends coached track teams have produced ...

 145
conference champions

 22
All-Americans

 7
conference team championships

 4
individual national champions

 Head Track & Field Coach
Fred Barends
ph: (614) 236-6919
e-mail: fbarends@capital.edu
Fred Barends, entering his fourth season at Capital, has made the Capital University track & field teams an up and coming program in the highly competitive Ohio Athletic Conference.

Barends men's squad finished fifth at last season's OAC Indoor Championships, while on the women's side, Capital finished sixth.

Prior to coming to Capital, Barends spent nine years at Ohio Wesleyan University, the last five of those as head men’s track and cross country coach. During his tenure, the Bishop men won four consecutive North Coast Athletic Conference indoor championships and three outdoor track championships. 

Barends, a USATF Level I and II certified coach, was named NCAC indoor coach of the year four times, outdoor coach of the year three times and was regional coach of the year four times in indoor and three times for outdoor seasons.

During Barends’ tenure on the Bishop track staff, he coached the 2002 NCAA Division III Field Athlete of the Year, 2000 and 2001 national champions in the 400 meters, the 1997 national champion in the 200 meters, along with over 30 NCAC champions and 17 All-Americans.

Prior to his days at Ohio Wesleyan, Barends was at cross-town rival Otterbein College where he spent two years as assistant track coach. Barends began his coaching career at Pomona-Pitzer (Calif.) College in 1985, serving as head women’s track coach and also assisting with men’s and women’s cross country and men’s track. Barends has also served as the athletic director and assistant headmaster at Atlantic Friends School as well as the assistant dean of admissions in charge of athletic recruiting and assistant tennis coach at Earlham College.

Barends holds numerous track & field coaching credentials including the beginning of a four year term as the treasurer of the United States Track & Field and Cross Country Coaches Association (USTFCCCA). He just stepped down after nine years as the Great Lakes Regional Representative for the USTFCCCA and is currently the Secretary for the OAC Track & Field coaches.

A longtime Bexley resident and Columbus native, Barends graduated from Kenyon College in 1983. A student-athlete and team captain at Kenyon, he set nine indoor and outdoor records. Barends also holds a master’s degree in sport management from the University of Massachusetts-Amherst.


Assistant Coaches

Kempa Busby
Sprints (2nd Year)
Busby, a Columbus native and West High graduate, was a seven-time NCAA All-American at Abliene Christian University in Texas and a U.S. Olympic Trial Semi-Finalist in 2000.

 Reggie Cannon
Jumps (4th Year)
The Columbus native served as a coach at Ohio State, Bishop Hartley and Bexley high schools before coming to Capital.  Cannon attended the Air Force Academy and is a 1977 graduate of The Ohio State University.  While at Air Force, he set the indoor long jump record and as as a student at Eastmoor High School he finished second in the long jump at the 1972 OHSAA Class AAA meet.

 Greg Lee
Distance (3rd Year)
Lee is in his first year as the Head Men's and Women's Cross Country Coach. Prior to coming to Capital, Lee had successful coaching stints at Thomas Worthington and Dublin Scioto High Schools.  While at Dublin Scioto, Lee’s cross country team posted four league championships, along with qualifying for the state meet four times in five seasons.  Lee, a 1989 Anderson (Ind.) University graduate, currently teaches U.S. History at Dublin Scioto.

Rick Meindl
Throws (4th Year)
Meindl, a 1978 Capital graduate, was a three-time All-American in both shot put (twice) and discus (once), while winning six Ohio Athletic Conference individual championships. The Columbus native and Eastmoor High School grad has also twice been a National Master’s Champion in the shot put.

 Adam Ridenbaugh
Pole Vault (4th Year)
The Mount Vernon, Ohio, native and Capital graduate followed Coach Barends from Ohio Wesleyan to Capital.  Ridenbaugh has coached several pole vault NCAA national qualifiers, two OHSAA pole vault placers, and four state qualifiers in coaching stints at Capital, Ohio Wesleyan, and Mt. Vernon High School.

 Gene Weil
Throws (3rd Year)
Weil competed in throws as a student at the University of Colorado in the 1950's and spent years on the East Coast as a javelin and discus coach. 



This site is written and designed by the
Capital University Sports Information Office
Click here to send comments and suggestions