Steve Fritz (born November 1, 1967 in

Salina, Kansas Salina is a city in, and the county seat of, Saline County, Kansas, United States. As of the 2020 census, the population was 46,889. In the early 1800s, the Kanza tribal land reached eastward from the middle of the Kansas Territory. In 1 ...

) is an American retired

decathlete The decathlon is a combined event in athletics consisting of ten track and field events. The word "decathlon" was formed, in analogy to the word "pentathlon", from Greek δέκα (''déka'', meaning "ten") and ἄθλος (''áthlos'', or ἄ ...

. Fritz played

basketball Basketball is a team sport in which two teams, most commonly of five players each, opposing one another on a rectangular court, compete with the primary objective of shooting a basketball (approximately in diameter) through the defender's h ...

and competed in track and field for

Kansas State University Kansas State University (KSU, Kansas State, or K-State) is a public land-grant research university with its main campus in Manhattan, Kansas, United States. It was opened as the state's land-grant college in 1863 and was the first public insti ...

. He was an All-American and Big 12 champion decathlete in 1989 and 1990.''K-State Sports'': Four Former Wildcats Named to Kansas Sports Hall of Fame Class of 2020
/ref> Fritz set the Kansas State school record for points in the decathlon. Fritz represented the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 U.S. state, states, a Washington, D.C., federal district, five ma ...

on 10 national teams for decathlon, including a first-place finish at the

1991 Summer Universiade __NOTOC__ The 1991 Summer Universiade, officially known as the XVI Summer Universiade and generally referred to as the World Student Games, were held in Sheffield, England from 14 to 25 July 1991. The Games were the largest sporting event to be ho ...

Sheffield, England Sheffield is a city in South Yorkshire, England, whose name derives from the River Sheaf which runs through it. The city serves as the administrative centre of the City of Sheffield. It is historically part of the West Riding of Yorkshire and ...

and a fourth-place finish at the

1996 Olympic Games The 1996 Summer Olympics (officially the Games of the XXVI Olympiad, also known as Atlanta 1996 and commonly referred to as the Centennial Olympic Games) were an international multi-sport event held from July 19 to August 4, 1996, in Atlanta, ...

Atlanta, Georgia Atlanta ( ) is the capital and most populous city of the U.S. state of Georgia. It is the seat of Fulton County, the most populous county in Georgia, but its territory falls in both Fulton and DeKalb counties. With a population of 498,71 ...

. Fritz was named to the K-State Athletics Hall of Fame in 2000 and enshrined to the

Kansas Sports Hall of Fame The Kansas Sports Hall of Fame is a museum located in Wichita, dedicated to preserving the history of sports in the state of Kansas. The museum provides exhibits, archives, facilities, services, and activities to honor those individuals and te ...

on October 4, 2020. Fritz was an assistant coach for the Kansas State track and field team for 21 years, and is currently the assistant basketball coach at Wamego High School. He is also the track coach at Wamego High School.

Personal life

His wife, Suzie Fritz, is the current head coach of the

Kansas State Wildcats women's volleyball The Kansas State Wildcats volleyball program is the intercollegiate volleyball program of the Kansas State University Wildcats. The program is classified in the NCAA Division I, and the team competes in the Big 12 Conference. Kansas State's voll ...

team. His son, T.J. Fritz, played basketball for Wamego High School, where he averaged 22.4 points per game in 2018 as a senior, which led Kansas Class 4A. Fritz then

reclassified ''Reclassified'' is the reissue of Australian rapper Iggy Azalea's debut studio album, '' The New Classic'' (2014). It was released internationally on 21 November 2014 by Virgin EMI Records, and in the United States on 24 November 2014 by Def ...

from the class of 2019 to the class of 2020 and enrolled at Sunrise Christian Academy in Bel Aire, KS, considered one of the best basketball high schools in the world, to play for their

postgraduate Postgraduate or graduate education refers to academic or professional degrees, certificates, diplomas, or other qualifications pursued by post-secondary students who have earned an undergraduate ( bachelor's) degree. The organization and str ...

team. After his season at Sunrise, Fritz committed to the

University of Nebraska-Kearney The University of Nebraska at Kearney (UNK) is a campus of the public University of Nebraska system and located in Kearney, Nebraska. It was founded in 1905 as the Nebraska State Normal School at Kearney. History In March 1903 the Nebraska Stat ...

on April 15, 2020.''The Manhattan Mercury'': Former Wamego star TJ Fritz signs with Nebraska-Kearney
/ref>

Achievements

References

External links

*
GBR Athletics

{{DEFAULTSORT:Fritz, Steve 1967 births Living people Sportspeople from Salina, Kansas Track and field athletes from Kansas Kansas State Wildcats men's basketball players American male decathletes Athletes (track and field) at the 1996 Summer Olympics Olympic track and field athletes of the United States Universiade medalists in athletics (track and field) Goodwill Games medalists in athletics American men's basketball players Universiade gold medalists for the United States Medalists at the 1991 Summer Universiade Competitors at the 1994 Goodwill Games