Cross Country

Feature: Taking the Helm    

By Amy Farnum Novin
NCAAsports.com staff writer

Western State College - one of the most successful Division II cross country programs in recent history - began a new chapter of their long tradition as the Mountaineers hired former All-American and assistant coach Jen Michel to head the squad.

Michel took the reigns from her former coach and colleague Duane Vandenbusche, who retired in May after winning 10 NCAA Championships while heading the men's and women's cross country team for the past 35 years at the college located in Gunnison, Colo.

"It's almost a little surreal," said Michel. "I've been coaching for a while and have been preparing in a lot of ways, but when I look back and think of putting myself where these athletes are, and thinking what my future would entail, I always wanted to coach in some capacity. What a great honor it is to be the chosen one to come in and take over."

As an athlete, Michel compiled a lengthy resume as a member of Western State's cross country and track and field teams, earning All-American honors eight times. She won the Indoor Mile and 3,000-meter steeplechase in 2001, and still holds the Division II record for the steeplechase with a time of 10:22.06.

Michel has been preparing for her first season as a head coach by going through years of Vandenbusche's paperwork, and keeping up with student-athletes with in-person meetings and through e-mail.

"It's been a lot of organizing, which has been good because I've gotten to see a lot of his (Vandenbusche's) documents from a long while that now I can save and file and put some on the computer and save for my reference in the future," said Michel.

After spending the last three seasons as an assistant coach for the track and cross country programs at Western State, Michel is also realizing that responsibilities of being a head coach go much deeper than just coaching.

"As an assistant coach, you don't really do all the little details on campus, so I'm becoming well aware of all the preparation that goes into a season - a lot more than the actual coaching," said Michel. "By the time the season actually starts, I'll be really excited to do the coaching part of it and get out of the office a lot more." Michel would also like to continue the atmosphere of hard work, sacrifice and discipline that has been a part of the program's tradition for so many years.

"The reason that we have been good is because Vandenbusche has given so much of his personal time and dedication and heart to this program," said Michel. "That's the No. 1 reason they have been good - because he's done so much personally. That's something I want to carry on and make sure the athletes feel."

Along with upholding the program's winning tradition, the 29-year-old Michel hopes her experience as a runner will help forge a good relationship with the current student-athletes. She would also like to experiment with various types of coaching techniques she has learned over the last few years.

"I'd like to have a little specialization with some of the different personalities we have on the team," said Michel. "I've learned a lot from also working with the track team and coaching sprinters and jumpers and hurdlers. They take a little bit of a different approach to training as opposed to distance runners. I'm excited to try all different types of approaches to coaching."

Michel is excited about her team's aspirations for the upcoming season. Although 2006 Division II national champion Esther Komen left the women's team for personal reasons last spring, the Western State has their next best five runners returning this year. Michel also believes the men's squad will be stronger than last season between their returnees like All-American Kim Hogarth, who finished fifth at the 2006 NCAA Championships, and five redshirt freshmen.

Western State opens the 2007 season at the Adams State Open on Sept. 1.