Tom Farden enters his sixth season at the helm of Southeast Missouri State gymnastics program. During his first two seasons, the recruiting and coaching staff were focused on one mission: to make the NCAA South Central Regional Championships as a team. During the 2006 campaign, his squad reached that goal.
In each of the past two seasons, Farden has been named Midwest Independent Conference Coach of the Year. His assistant, Brogan Jacobsen-Evanson, was named Co-MIC Assistant Coach of the Year following the 2007 season.
This past season, Farden's team reached the highest ranking for a Southeast squad in over a decade as they saw time ranked 22nd nationally and held fifth place in the south central region. The Redhawks finished 17-9 overall and 11-3 in the MIC while increasing their RQS on bars, beam, floor and overall team score from last season. The 17 wins overall marks the most wins for Southeast in over a decade and the 193.555 is a vast improvement over last year's 192.005. Nine Redhawks gymnasts also earned honors for first and second team All-MIC, with Rikara Turner being named MIC Newcomer of the Year. Turner was named MIC Gymnast of the Week three times in 2007.
Farden led the 2006 Redhawks to a record of 9-12 with a dual record of 3-2 as the team finished third in the Midwest Independent Conference season-ending meet. At the conference meet, for the second year in a row, Farden coached both the Athlete of the Year and Newcomer of the Year in freshman Sandy Blake. A young team that featured ten underclassmen performed well at home meets as they put together a 7-2 mark at Houck Fieldhouse. After competing at the NCAA Regionals against Florida, UCLA, Arkansas, University of Illinois and University of Illinois at Chicago, the team's national ranking was 35th, the highest final ranking in a decade.
Farden's second season in 2005 was solid having both the conference Newcomer of the Year, Alison Ezell, and Athlete of the Year, Tara Boldt. The team had a record of 6-8 and sent both Boldt and Katie Bloom to the NCAA Regional Championship as All Around competitors (AA).
In Farden's first season as head coach, the program had it's first winning season (15-7) since 1998 and the best winning percentage (.682 percentage) since 1991. Southeast went undefeated at home, compiling a 5-0 record at Houck. Three athletes qualified for the NCAA Regional meet: Ashley Godwin (AA), Tara Boldt (aa) and Alexis Traylor (Floor).
Since Farden took over, the Redhawks have written their names into the Southeast record books 26 times. In the 2004 season, the team made an assault on the Southeast record books as the team appears in the team and individual top-ten 23-times. Among those 23 entries are two individual records; under his tutelage Ashley Godwin broke the school's record in both the bars and floor exercise.
With assistance from assistant coach Brogan Jacobsen-Evanson, Farden has stepped up recruiting efforts as he has brought in some of the best and brightest athletes from around the country. His 2007 team represents eight states including; Illinois, Washington, Nebraska, Missouri, Minnesota, Wisconsin, South Dakota and Florida.
Coach Farden not only demands excellence in the gym, but also in the classroom where the 2006 squad compiled a cumulative GPA of 3.54 which ranked them an incredible, 5th nationally. The 2006 team was honored with eleven selections on the Ohio Valley Conference Commisssioner's honor roll. Since taking over the program Farden has had 24 NACGC/W Scholar Athletes.
As head coach, Farden oversees all aspects of the program, but primarily works with recruiting, uneven bars and vault. In addition to these duties, Coach Farden has done a tremendous job fundraising for the program. In 2005, the program unveiled a new $50,000 locker room facility upgrade completely funded by private donations.
Coach Farden is a graduate of Southeast and is originally from Dayton, Minn. He and his wife, Christina, enjoy traveling and partaking in events such as hiking, camping, whitewater kayaking and mountaineering. Farden is currently a competitive cyclist and has completee many marathons and triathlons.
