The 2014-15 season marks Michael Smith’s 15th season as head coach of the women’s cross country and track & field programs at Robert Morris University.
In a 14-year career, Smith has led the Colonials to a pair of runner-up finishes at the Northeast Conference outdoor championships. In cross country, Smith led RMU to one of its highest finishes in school history with fourth-place tallies in both 2010 and 2013.
Smith also led the men’s cross country and track & field teams at RMU from 2001 to 2014, leading Robert Morris to second place during the cross country season in 2013, the indoor track & field campaigns in 2001 and 2006 and the outdoor season in 2011.
During his tenure with the Colonials, Smith has been named NEC Coach of the Year a total of five times. Last season, Smith was tabbed both the 2013 NEC Men’s Cross Country Coach of the Year as well as the 2014 NEC Women’s Outdoor Track & Field Coach of the Year. Those two honors go along with being selected as the 2011 and 2013 NEC Men’s Outdoor Track & Field Coach of the Year as well as the 2006 NEC Men’s Indoor Track & Field Coach of the Year.
A total of eight RMU student-athletes have qualified for the NCAA Division I championships during Smith's tenure, either provisionally or automatically. They include former Colonials Genita Dickey, Stephanie Kuhn, Nicole Downing and Josh Ghaly. Dickey participated in the high hurdles in 2001, followed by Kuhn in the javelin in 2004. Downing qualified in the 20-pound weight throw in 2005, while Kuhn became the first athlete at Robert Morris to qualify twice for the NCAA Championships, earning a spot in the javelin in 2007. Ghaly also participated in 2007 in the pole vault.
In the spring of 2013, Chris Carper and Rachael Kotula each qualified for the NCAA Championships in the javelin, earning Honorable Mention All-America accolades.
Carper became the first student-athlete in school history to earn NCAA All-America First Team honors in 2014 when he finished fourth the NCAA Championships in the javelin. During the same season, Kotula took part in the NCAA East Prelims for the women in the javelin, while Richard Njenga did the same for the men in the triple jump.
In addition, three RMU student-athletes have qualified for their country's Olympic Trials or National Championships. They include former Colonial Christian Lemke for Germany in 2004 in the long jump, Kuhn for the United States in 2007 in the javelin and former Colonial Melitta Brown for Canada in 2008 in both the long and triple jumps.
In the summer of 2014, Carper qualified for the prestigious NACAC Under-23 Championships as a member of Team USA. He also was invited to a throw symposium at the Team USA Olympic Training Center in Chula Vista, Calif.
In addition, four East Coast individual champions have been crowned at the annual IC4A/ECAC Championships under Smith's guidance. Former Colonial Jarrad Pencek won the individual title in 2001 in the high jump at the indoor championships, and the following spring Dickey won the 100-mter high hurdles at the outdoor championships. In 2008, former Colonial Jeff Witmyer won the high jump at the outdoor championships, and he was followed by Bethany Ledford in 2014, who finished first in the pole vault.
In all, over 50 RMU track & field student-athletes have represented Robert Morris at the NCAA Division I East Regional Championships since 2003 when the regional format began.
Over 200 student-athletes have earned All-Northeast Conference honors during Smith's tenure, while more than 65 student-athletes or relays have won individual NEC championships. Meanwhile, over 200 Robert Morris school records have been established during Smith's time guiding the program.
Smith is an instructor for USATF, the sport's governing body in the United States. He holds three USATF Level II certificates in endurance, jumps and sprints/hurdles. He is also a Track & Field Technical Certification (TFTC) course instructor for the United States Track & Field/Cross Country Coaches Association (USTFCCCA).
Before coming to RMU, Smith was an assistant track & field and cross country coach at the University of North Carolina at Wilmington, an NCAA Division I member of the Colonial Athletic Association from 1992 until 2000. At UNC-Wilmington, Smith was a part of four straight CAA track & field championships on the men's side from 1997 to 2000.
A graduate of Southern Connecticut State University, Smith earned a Bachelor of Science degree in marketing and business administration in 1992. In 1995 he earned a Master's of Education Administration from UNC-Wilmington.
Smith and his wife, the former Koren Woy of Everett, Pa., reside in Coraopolis, Pa., with their son, Kooper.
