Now in his sixth year as head coach of men’s and women’s track and cross country at the University of Wisconsin-Parkside, Micah VanDenend expects his 2015-2016 cross country and track and field teams to continue on the path of incremental development that he has charted for the program since his first day on the job.
VanDenend has been a winner, in high school and in college, and he brought a winner’s confidence and attitude to UW-Parkside that’s been contagious. There’s no doubt that his first four campaigns were successful as both the men’s and women’s teams not only increased substantially in roster size but also showed marked improvement in both team and individual performances. However, for the ambitious young coach—who admittedly “hates to lose”—winning remains the first, best and only viable option.
His long-term goal is to establish the Ranger men’s and women’s cross country and track teams as perennial contenders in the strong and competitive Great Lakes Valley Conference. But VanDenend has no illusions about the enormity of the task, notwithstanding the progress his teams have made over the last four years, setting many school records, winning seven GLVC individual titles and taking to heart a positive attitude and a true “team-first” culture.
In 2014, VanDenend's men's cross country squad finished runner-up at the GLVC Championships while Evan Lewandowski went on to place 13th at the NCAA Championships, earning his second All-American certificate.
The previous academic year, Jessica Watychowicz finished second in the 10K at the 2014 NCAA Division II championships in her final meet as a Ranger, giving her a matched set of all-America honors in cross country and track. Three athletes have earned All-America recognition five times under VanDenend’s tutelage.
The 2012 cross country season marked the first time a Parkside male earned NCAA All-America status, with junior Evan Lewandowski finishing 34th in the national meet at Joplin, Mo., while Watychowicz became the second Parkside woman to become an All-American, placing 32nd.
Although he inherited a good base of veterans and some talented freshmen when he became coach in 2010, VanDenend knows that moving a program forward remains a formidable challenge in a strong conference. But his recruiting efforts are now paying off, with a third straight talented group of recruits who are expected to immediately contribute to both the men’s and women’s programs in both sports.
Certainly, VanDenend’s running and coaching experiences thus far indicate that he is more than up to the challenge. In his two years prior to joining the Parkside staff, he served as an assistant coach at Wisconsin-Madison (2008-09) and as director of operations at Iowa (2009-10) and contributed heavily to two programs in the upper half of the Big Ten.
An Illinois state cross country titlist and state 3200-meter champion in track for Glenbard South High School, VanDenend starred at the University of Iowa despite a career punctuated by injuries, resulting in surgeries which kept him from ever having a complete season of training.
Nonetheless, he set Hawkeye records in the indoor 3K (8:00.81), the indoor 5K (13:56.46) and the outdoor 5K (13:49.31). He won the 2006 NCAA Midwest Regional cross country title after taking third in that year’s Big Ten meet and during his career led Iowa to four NCAA berths. He also was the Big Ten 10,000-meter champion in 2007 in his first and only effort at the distance on the track and twice qualified for the NCAA outdoor championships in the 5K.
A native of Glen Ellyn, Ill., VanDenend earned a B.A. degree with majors in history, religious studies and health and sports studies at Iowa.
Coach Micah VanDenend’s record at UW-Parkside (2010-15)
Men
GLVC Regional NCAA Honors
2010 Cross Country 4th 6th 1 runner all-GLVC (2); all-region (1)
2011 Indoor Track 6th --- --- all-GLVC (1)
2011 Outdoor Track 7th --- --- all-GLVC (1)
2011 Cross Country 3rd 8th 1 runner all-GLVC (2); all-region (1)
2012 Indoor Track 6th --- 1 runner all-GLVC (3)
2012 Outdoor Track 8th --- 1 runner all-GLVC (1); all-region (2)
2012 Cross Country 3rd 6th 1 runner all-GLVC (2); all region (2);
all-American (1)
2013 Indoor Track 8th -- all-GLVC (1)
2013 Outdoor Track 8th -- all-GLVC (2)
2013 Cross Country 7th 9th all-GLVC (1)
2014 Indoor Track 9th -- all-GLVC (1 + relay)
2014 Outdoor Track 7th -- all-GLVC (1 + relay)
2014 Cross Country 2nd 5th 1 runner All-GLVC (4), All-Region (1), All-American (1)
2015 Indoor Track 8th -- All-GLVC (1)
2015 Outdoor Track 9th -- All-GLVC (1)
Women
GLVC Regional NCAA Honors
2010 Cross Country 4th 6th 1 runner all-GLVC (2); all-region (1)
2011 Indoor Track 5th --- 1 runner all-GLVC (3)
2011 Outdoor Track 8th --- 1 runner all-GLVC (3)
2011 Cross Country 3rd 8th 1 runner all-GLVC (4); all-region (1);
All-American (1)
2012 Indoor Track 8th --- 1 runner all-GLVC (2)
2012 Outdoor Track 6th --- 2 runners all-GLVC (2)
2012 Cross Country 5th 10th 1 runner all-GLVC (1); all-regional (1);
all-American (1)
2013 Indoor Track 7th --- 1 runner all-GLVC (2)
2013 Outdoor Track 8th --
2013 Cross Country 2nd 10th all-GLVC (3)
2014 Indoor Track 8th
2014 Outdoor Track 11th 1 runner all-GLVC (1), all-American (1)
2014 Cross Country 3rd 13th All-GLVC (2)
2015 Indoor Track 6th All-GLVC (1 + 1 relay)
2015 Outdoor Track 10th All-GLVC (2)
Honors under Coach Micah VanDenend
Men’s Cross Country
NCAA qualifiers
Evan Lewandowski (2011-12, 14)
Ben Orvold (2010)
USTFCCCA All-Midwest Regional
Jesus Escareno (2012)
Evan Lewandowski (2011-12, 14)
Ben Orvold (2010)
All-Great Lakes Valley Conference
Cody Kurscheidt (2014)
Jesus Escareno (2011-12-13)
Evan Lewandowski (2011-12, 14)
Alex Mena (2010)
Ben Orvold (2010)
Men’s Indoor Track
NCAA Qualifiers
Ben Orvold (2012)
Evan Lewandowski (2015)
All-Great Lakes Valley Conference
Jeremy Robinson (2014)
4x400 Relay (David Berry, Dylan Rivard, Justin Armstrong, Jeremy Robinson) (2014)
Jesus Escareno (2011-12)
Evan Lewandowski (2012)
Ben Orvold (2011-12)
Men’s Outdoor Track
NCAA Qualifiers
Ben Orvold (2012)
USTFCCCA All-Midwest Region
Jesus Escareno (2012)
Ben Orvold (2012)
All-Great Lakes Valley Conference
Jeremy Robinson (2014)
4x400 Relay (David Berry, Dylan Rivard, Justin Armstrong, Jeremy Robinson) (2014)
Jesus Escareno (2011-12-13)
Will Cranford (2013)
Women’s Cross Country
NCAA All-America
Jessica Watychowicz (2012)
Hope Christie (2011)
USTFCCCA All-Midwest Region
Jessica Watychowicz (2012)
Hope Christie (2011)
All-Great Lakes Valley Conference
Lindsay Rogers (2013, 2014)
Amanda Zittleman (2013)
Sam Montalbano (2013)
Hope Christie (2010-11)
Heidi Ertl (2010)
Taylor Miller (2011)
Moriah Palmer (2014)
Markelle Turk (2011)
Jessica Watychowicz (2011-12)
Women’s Indoor Track
NCAA Qualifiers
Hope Christie (2011-12)
Jessica Watychowicz (2013)
All-Great Lakes Valley Conference
Roxanne Stratenworth (2012)
Jessica Watychowicz (2012-13)
Hope Christie (2011)
Heidi Ertl (2011)
Whitney Olson (2011)
Women’s Outdoor Track
All-Americans
Jessica Watychowicz (2014)
NCAA Qualifiers
Hope Christie (2012)
Jessica Watychowicz (2012, 2014))
Heidi Ertl (2011)
USTFCCCA All-Midwest Region
Hope Christie (2012)
Jessica Watychowicz (2011)
All-Great Lakes Valley Conference
Hope Christie (2012)
Jessica Watychowicz (2012, 2014)
Hope Christie (2011)
Brittany Frederick (2011)
Whitney Olson (2011)
