Michael Smith is in his 14th season as head coach of the cross country and track & field programs at Robert Morris University in 2013-14.
In a 13-year career at Robert Morris, Smith has led the men's and women's track teams to four runner-up finishes at either the Northeast Conference indoor or outdoor championships. In cross country, Smith led the women's team to one of its highest finishes in school history, a fourth-place tally at the 2010 NEC cross country championships.
A total of seven RMU student-athletes have qualified for the NCAA Division I championships during Smith's tenure, either provisionally or automatically. Included in the group are 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.
Current Robert Morris student-athletes Chris Carper and Rachael Kotula each qualified for the NCAA Championships in the javelin in the 2013, earning Honorable Mention All-American accolades.
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.
Three 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. Seven other student-athletes have finished with runner-up finishes at the IC4A/ECAC Championships from Robert Morris.
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 75 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). Smith is currently holding a three-year appointment as the Northeast Conference's Track and Field Coaches representative for rules, interpretations and administration.
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 UNCW 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.
