Cross Country
Head Coach Mike Collins
mcollins@lcsc.edu

Coach Mike Collins enters his 11th year at the helm of the Warrior running program.  In that time he has taken a program that scrambled to just field teams to one of the nation's premier distance running programs. In the past eight years the teams have produced 33 All-Americans, multiple All-Conference and All-Region selections and numerous other honors, including the LCSC outstanding student of the year (2001 & 2003). 

For the past seven years, the women’s team has placed in the Top 25 at nationals. In 2001. the women were 15th at the national meet and then improved to No. 9 a year later. In 2003, the team was mainly composed of freshmen but still finished No. 19 at nationals. In the past three seasons, LCSC  has finished 17th,19th, and 21st, respectively.

In addition, 2003 was the first year the entire men's
team qualified for nationals and it finished 23rd.
In 2006, the Warrior men were 21st at nationals.

Collins prides himself on staying on top of the current science and education involved in becoming a better coach as well as the aspects necessary to help runners get better and faster.  He has a master's degree in Exercise Physiology, a Ph.D. in Sport Science, and he is a USATF Level II Coach with a specialization in endurance.  Although he works hard to make himself better to help his runners, he stills believes that athletes who work hard and are smart about their training can get faster.

In his spare time, Collins does triathlons.  He has qualified for the US National Championships five times and competed in his first Ironman (2.4m swim/112m bike/26.2m run) in June of 2005 (Finish time of 11:06:24 after cramping on the run).  He also enjoys fly fishing and spending time with his wife (Tracy), his daughters (Kassie & Emily) and the big brown dog (Einstein).

Collins is a national cross country rater for the NAIA women’s polls.. He is also second vice president for the NAIA  Cross Country Coaches Association.

Collins also tries to be a coach that walks the walk by going out and competing and training hard for some of his competitions.  “I enjoy coaching here in Lewiston and love the climate where I can run outside year-round and still enjoy the other activities that are important to me like fishing, cycling, etc.,” Collins says.  This is a great community to live in and raise a family.”