Erica (Bartolina) Fraley joined the Washington State University Track and Field staff as a volunteer assistant during early 2020.
She started her athletic career as a cross-country runner at age fourteen, until she was advised by her high school track coach Joe Fulton to try out for pole vault. Since then, Erica developed into one of the top pole vaulters in the state, and earned a full scholarship at Texas A&M University, where she won two Big 12 Conference titles, and also, held the distinction of being the school's first female pole vaulter.
Fraley improved her marks in pole vault, when she finished ninth at the U.S. Olympic Trials in 2004, and fourth at the U.S. Indoor Championships in 2005. Shortly after the championships, She took a year off from pole vault, when she suffered a severe back injury from training at Texas A&M University. In 2008, she came out of recovery from injury, and competed at the U.S. Olympic Trials in Eugune, where she successfully cleared a height and set a personal best of 4.55 meters in the women's pole vault. Finishing third from the trials and reaching an A-standard height of 4.45 meters, Fraley automatically qualified for the Olympics.
At the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing, Erica competed as a member of the U.S. track and field team in the women's pole vault.
