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Cross Country

Mike Straubel

Head Coach

Wesemann 216

219-465-7812

Mike.Straubel@valpo.edu

The longest-tenured coach at Valparaiso University, Mike Straubel enters his 21st season leading the Crusader men’s and women’s cross country teams into the Horizon League. Straubel leads the Crusaders into the Horizon League after guiding both 2006 Valpo squads to their respective best finishes in the Mid-Continent Conference. Straubel led the Crusader men to a fourth-place finish, matching the best placement in team history, while the women finished second after three consecutive third-place finishes. The two teams combined to earn seven All-Conference honors, the most in a single season in Straubel’s career. Individually, many of Straubel’s runners have enjoyed tremendous success. The Crusader mentor has seen his runners earn 37 All-Conference awards, 10 All-Indiana honors, four All-Region commendations, two Newcomer of the Year awards, and one Runner of the Year award. Straubel has also coached two Indiana State Champions. None of Straubel’s runners have been more successful than Collette Liss and Aaron Crague, each of whom have continued to race since their graduation. Liss is a member of the Valpo Athletics Hall of Fame and was a two-time All-Region honoree, Mid-Con Individual Champion and named the conference’s Runner of the Year. Crague earned First Team All-Conference honors three times under Straubel’s guidance and set Valpo’s 8K and 10K records. A full-time professor in Valpo’s Law School, Straubel took three students from his Valparaiso Sports Law Clinic to Torino, Italy for the 2006 Winter Olympic Games. In Torino, Straubel and his staff provided free advice to any athletes in need of some type of legal support. An avid runner, Straubel ran collegiately at both Marquette University and McGill University in Montreal, Quebec. While in Canada, he was a member of Quebec’s national championship qualifying 4x800 relay team which won a Provincial Championship. Straubel became a Masters All-American in the mile in 1998 and in the 3,000m in 2000. In 1991, he took third place in the 3,000m steeplechase at the Track Athletics Congress (TAC) National Masters Championships. Also an assistant coach with the Crusader track and field team, Straubel earned his bachelor’s degree in 1979 from Western Michigan, picked up his J.D. from the Marquette Law School in 1982 and earned a LL.M. degree from McGill in 1987.