COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo.--Smith College assistant track and field coach Erica Wheeler has been named as the assistant coach for the upcoming Para Pan-American Games in in Guadalajara, Mexico.  

Wheeler will be the coach of ambulatory throws, which includes all throwing events for non-wheelchair throwers.  Paralympic track and field competition is open to male and female athletes with physical disabilities such as dwarfism, amputation/limb loss, blindness/visual impairment, spinal cord injury/wheelchair-users
and cerebral palsy/brain injury/stroke.

"This is quite an honor for Erica and for our program," said head coach Carla Coffey.  "We are looking forward to a great Para Pan-American games!"

Wheeler, who represented the United States at the 1996 Olympic Games in Atlanta, Ga., still holds the Stanford University and Pac-12 (formerly Pac-10) records in the javelin, with a throw of 192'2".  The games will take place from November 12-20.