ELLENSBURG (June 8) -- Dr. Gary Frederick, who has been the head coach of the Central Washington University fastpitch softball program for the past 16 seasons, has resigned from the position.

Frederick, 72, is coming off the two most successful seasons in the softball program's 18-year history. The Wildcats set school records for victories in a season with 33 in 2009, and then surpassed that mark with a 40-15 record and the program's first-ever conference championship this past spring. Frederick, who won or shared Great Northwest Athletic Conference Coach of the Year honors each of the past two years, led CWU to the 2010 NCAA Division II West Region Tournament, where the Wildcats lost to eventual national champion Hawaii Pacific in the championship game.

“I have enjoyed my many, many years coaching at Central,” Frederick said, “and I would like to remain active with the program in any way that I can. I am still healthy, still love coaching, and would like to be able to stay involved (with the program) should the opportunity present itself.”

“I appreciate all that Gary has brought to this university as a student-athlete, teacher, administrator, and coach over the past 50-plus years,” CWU Director of Athletics Jack Bishop said. “You don't replace a guy like Gary; you just look to find a quality individual that can continue to guide our program in the same way that Gary has.”

Frederick, a 1959 Central graduate who later added a Master's degree from the university in 1965 and a Doctorate in Education from Idaho in 1974, has been a head coach in the CWU Athletic Department for all but five years since returning to Ellensburg in 1967. He spent 11 seasons as the head baseball coach (1968-78) and 11 more as the head women's basketball coach (1982-93), and was the school's athletic director from 1980-99. A former Wildcat football student-athlete, Frederick also spent 17 seasons as an assistant football coach at Central.

Among the many accomplishments of Frederick's career include inductions into the CWU Athletics Hall of Fame as an individual and as the head coach of three Wildcat teams -- the 1968 and 1970 baseball teams, and the 1987-88 women's basketball squad -- as well as a 1997 induction into the National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics (NAIA) Hall of Fame. Frederick was also the NAIA National Administrator of the Year for 1988-89 and spent one year on sabbatical leave from CWU to serve as the Interim Director of Championships for the NAIA in 1992-93. The softball field on the CWU campus was also renamed in honor of Frederick and his late wife, Bobbi, in April 2009.

A nationwide search for a full-time replacement for Frederick will begin immediately.

FREDERICK'S YEAR-BY-YEAR SOFTBALL COACHING RECORD

YEAR OVERALL CONFERENCE RECORD; FINISH
1995 11-18 (.379) 4-12 (.250); 4th
1996 16-19 (.457) 9-7 (.563); 3rd
1997 13-23 (.361) 3-9 (.250); 3rd
1998 15-26 (.366) 2-10 (.167); tie-3rd
1999 12-27 (.308) 3-17 (.150), 5th
2000 20-24 (.455) 10-10 (.500), 3rd
2001 20-25 (.444) 8-12 (.400), 4th
2002 18-25 (.419) 11-13 (.458), 4th
2003 17-20 (.459) 12-12 (.500), 4th
2004 22-21 (.512) 12-12 (.500), 4th
2005 22-25 (.468) 14-10 (.583), 4th
2006 20-25 (.444) 10-14 (.417), tie-4th
2007 24-20 (.545) 13-7 (.650), tie-3rd
2008 17-27 (.386) 12-12 (.500), 4th
2009 33-20 (.623) 29-11 (.725), 2nd GNAC Co-Coach of the Year
2010 40-15 (.727) 32-8 (.800), 1st GNAC Coach of the Year, NCAA Division II Regional Tournament

FREDERICK'S HEAD COACHING EXPERIENCE AT CENTRAL WASHINGTON UNIVERSITY (ALL SPORTS)
Baseball: 1968-78 (11 seasons; 234-147-7 record)
Women's Basketball: 1982-93 (11 seasons; 164-146 record)
Softball: 1995-2010 (16 seasons; 320-360 record)