Sept. 21, 2006

WINSTON-SALEM, N.C. - Andy Bloom, who has served as UC Davis athletics' strength and conditioning coach since 2002, has been selected for induction into the Wake Forest Sports Hall of Fame. Induction festivities will take place on January 12-13, 2007, in Winston-Salem, N.C.

The 2000 Olympian is one of three individuals who will receive such an honor. Women's basketball great Jenny Mitchell and legendary soccer coach Walt Chyzowych will join Bloom among the 2006-07 inductees.

Bloom won four All-America awards and six Atlantic Coast Conference titles in the shot put and discus during his collegiate career from 1992 to 1996. In his senior year, he captured NCAA titles in each of his events, becoming just the eighth man in collegiate history to achieve such a double.

Bloom later won a silver medal in the discus at the 1998 Goodwill Games, then a gold medal in the shot at the 1999 World University Games. He also won back-to-back USA Track & Field indoor championships in the shot in 1999 and 2000.

Bloom represented the U.S. as a shot putter at the 2000 Olympic Games in Sydney, setting a personal record of 70-10.75 at the Olympic Trials in Sacramento. He went on to finish fourth in Sydney.

Bloom also was an outstanding scholar-athlete at Wake, earning the school's Edwin G. Wilson Student-Athlete of the Year honor in 1994, twice garnering Academic All-America honors and receiving a 1996 ACC Postgraduate Scholarship Award. He graduated in 1996, when completed his master's degree in education in 1998.

The Schenectady, N.Y. native joined the Aggie program as a volunteer coach in 2000, just shortly after his participation at the Olympics. He became a part-time strength and conditioning coach for the entire athletics program in 2002, then assumed that role on a full-time basis beginning with the 2005-06 athletics year.