Cross Country
- Title:
- Head Coach
- Email:
- michael.nelson@marquette.edu
- Phone:
- 288-5105
Mike Nelson is entering his 13th season as the head cross country coach and assistant track and field coach in 2019-20.
He has guided the cross country team since his arrival in August 2007 and overseen multiple Marquette record holders on the track, in addition to several top-freshman marks. Five of his student-athletes have also earned All-Great Lakes Region recognition in cross country.
Nelson led last year's men's team to a fourth-place finish at the 2018 BIG EAST Championships, which set program records for highest finish and lowest score for the men at the conference meet. His men's team had two All-BIG EAST honorees for the second straight year as junior Daniel Pederson (9th) and senior John Klaiber (14th) finished in the top 15 at the conference championship meet. The women's team placed sixth, led by Mary Hanson's 28th-place finish.
In 2017, Daniel Pederson (8th) and Alec Miller (17th) earned All-BIG EAST honors for the men's team. Pederson's eighth-place finish was the first-ever top 10 finish for a Marquette male at the BIG EAST Championships.
In 2016, three student-athletes earned All-BIG EAST honors, including Brittney Feivor (17th) and Jennifer Parker (20th) on the women's side and Alec Miller (18th) on the men's.
Under Nelson's guidance and dedication, Marquette has hosted the BIG EAST Conference Championships three times (2009, 2013 and 2017) and will once again in 2019 at the Wayne E. Dannehl National Cross Country Course. Nelson played a lead role in getting the winning bid to host a conference championship this fall.
Academically, four student-athletes have earned CoSIDA Academic All-District honors seven times, while both Peter Bolgert ('12) and Olivia Johnson ('12) earned Academic All-America honors in 2010-11 and 2011-12. The 2010-11 year was the first time athletes at Marquette had earned Academic All-America first team (Bolgert) honors in any sport at Marquette since 1996-97.
On the track, Nelson has coached five individual school-record holders and three relay school records. At the 2019 Grand Valley State "Big Meet," the men's DMR relay team of Alec Miller (2:59.5), Daniel Bendel (48.4), Derek Gross (1:53.4) and Brad Eagan (4:07.7) set the school record of 9:49.05, breaking a 38-year old program-best.
At the 2017 Big East Indoor Championships, Brittney Feivor broke the 5000m school record (16:26.32). Feivor lowered her own outdoor record for the 5000m to 16:27.03 at the 2017 Drake Relays. Jessica Parker broke both the indoor (2:10.08) and outdoor (2:06.97) school records in the 800m during the 2017 season. Kayla Spencer set the 1000m (2:50.21) record during the 2014 indoor season. Nelson has also coached school record setting relay squads in the women’s indoor and outdoor 4x800m along with the indoor distance medley.
In the women's outdoor 5,000 meters, Nelson has coached three school-record holders. Jayne Grebinski ('10) captured the 5,000-meter record in 2008 with a time of 16:45.96. In 2015, that record was broken multiple times. First, by Kellie Greenwood (16:34.11) and then bested seven days later by Brittney Feivor (16:32.93). Feivor would re-set the record once more in 2017 with a time of 16:27.03. Also in 2015, the 4x800-meter relay team of Nicole Ethier, Jennifer Parker, Kirsta McClure and Jessica Parker ran to a blistering mark of 8:46.70 to earn the school's top spot in the event.
Freshmen have flourished under Nelson in recent years with Alec Miller holding top rookie marks in the 800m (1:51.48) and 1000m (2:26.59) indoor events in 2015. Spencer Agnew set the 3000m freshmen record in 2010 running 8:27.09. On the women's side, Nelson’s athletes have set freshmen records in the indoor 600m (Jennifer Parker 1:35.55), 800m (Alison Parker 2:10.86), 1000m Meghan Carroll 2:50.60), Mile (Molly Hanson 4:48.79) and 5000m (Brittney Feivor 17:06.85). Alison Parker also notched the top-freshman time in the outdoor 800 (2:10.97) in 2014.
Nelson has worked with 15 NCAA West Preliminary Round participants. He also helped Jayne Grebinski (2008 and 2009) and Cassie Peller (2008) reach the Mid-East Regional.
LIst of NCAA West Preliminary Round Qualifiers:
Track and Field NCAA Outdoor Regional Participants Jessica Parker 2018 800 meters Sacramento, Calif. Brittney Feivor 2017 10,000 meters Austin, Texas Jessica Parker 2017 800 meters Austin, Texas Brittney Feivor 2015 5,000 meters Austin, Texas Spencer Agnew 2014 1,500 meters Fayetteville, Ark. Jack Hackett 2013 5,000 meters Austin, Texas Blake Johnson 2011 10,000 meters Eugene, Ore. Nick Szczech 2011 10,000 meters Eugene, Ore. Peter Bolgert 2010 Steeplechase Austin, Texas Blake Johnson 2010 Steeplechase Austin, Texas Nick Szcech 2010 5,000 meters Austin, Texas Jayne Grebinski 2010 Steeplechase Austin, Texas Olivia Johnson 2010 1,500 meters Austin, Texas Jayne Grebinski 2009 Steeplechase Louisville, Ky. Jayne Grebinski 2008 5,000 meters Fayetteville, Ark. Cassie Peller 2008 1,500 meters Fayetteville, Ark.
The Fenton, Mo., native has also worked with eight USATF Junior National qualifiers and three individuals who earned All-American status at those championships.
Nelson spent two years at Saint Louis University where he was hired as the head cross country coach in 2005, and then founded the track and field program at SLU in the Spring of 2006. The Billikens encountered immediate success in both competition and the classroom, competing in the Atlantic 10 Conference.
Before arriving at SLU, Nelson spent two years as a graduate assistant for the Emporia State University cross country and track and field teams. He also worked with ESU's distance runners on the track and field team and served as the recruiting coordinator for the squads. Nelson helped lead the Emporia State men to a second place finish at the 2004 Mid-America Intercollegiate Athletics Association Cross Country Championships. His student-athletes won the men's 5,000 meter and 10,000 meter runs at the 2005 MIAA Outdoor Championships as ESU finished second in the team standings. Nelson coached women's school-record holders in the distance medley relay, the indoor 1,000 meter and a national qualifier in the 1,500 meter.
A 2003 graduate of Truman State University, Nelson was a four-time All-MIAA performer for the Bulldogs. He competed in the NCAA Division II cross country national championships as a junior and senior, and helped his team to a fourth-place finish in 2001 and a 14th-place finish in 2002 at the national meet. Nelson graduated cum laude from TSU with a degree in exercise science. He earned his master's degree in physical education from Emporia State in 2005. In 2018, Nelson completed a second master's degree in leadership studies at Marquette University.
He's served on the NCAA Track and Field and Cross Country sport committee since the fall of 2017. In addition, Nelson has his USA Track & Field Level I and II (endurance) Certification and earned his USTFCCCA Endurance Specialist certification in July 2011.
Nelson is married to the former Cassandra (Cassie) Peller, who graduated from Marquette University with a PhD in Biological Sciences in 2014. She is now a professor in the Life Sciences Department at Marquette University. Cassie is also a former Marquette track & field/cross country student-athlete having competed from the 2004-08. She is on several of the MU track & field top ten lists in the middle distance events and was captain of both the cross country and track & field squads her junior and senior seasons.
Mike and Cassie reside in Wauwatosa, Wisconsin and have three children, Brooke (born in July 2012), Wesley (born in August 2014) and Lori (born in January 2017).
NELSON'S CROSS COUNTRY HONOREES AT MARQUETTE
CoSIDA Academic All-Americans
2012 (M) Peter Bolgert (first team)
(W) Olivia Johnson (second team)
2011 (M) Peter Bolgert (first team)
(W) Olivia Johnson (first team)
2010 (M) Peter Bolgert (second team)
CoSIDA Academic All-District
2012 (M) Peter Bolgert
(W) Olivia Johnson
2011 (M) Peter Bolgert, Brice Cleland, Nick Sczcech
(W) Olivia Johnson
2010 (M) Peter Bolgert
| Nelson's Marquette Cross Country Coaching Record | |||
| Year | Position at MU | BIG EAST Championships | NCAA Great Lakes Regional |
| 2018 | Head Coach | M: 4/9; W: 6/10 | M: 15/29; W: 23/32 |
| 2017 | Head Coach | M: 5/9; W: 4/10 | M: 14/26; W: 12/31 |
| 2016 | Head Coach | M: 5/9; W: 5/10 | M: 13/30; W: 10/32 |
| 2015 | Head Coach | M: 5/9; W: 6/10 | M: 20/30; W: 17/31 |
| 2014 | Head Coach | M: 6/9; W: 5/10 | M: 18/30 ; W: 12/32 |
| 2013 | Head Coach | M: 5/9; W: 6/10 | M: 17/31 ; W: 14/33 |
| 2012 | Head Coach | M: 8/14, W: 7/15 | M: 15/30, W: 16/32 |
| 2011 | Head Coach | M: 7/14, W: 9/16 | M: 8/31, W: 17/33 |
| 2010 | Head Coach | M: 8/14, W: 10/16 | M: 10/31, W: 16/33 |
| 2009 | Head Coach | M: 7/14, W: 8/16 | M: 12/30, W: 11/32 |
| 2008 | Head Coach | M: t-7/14, W: 7/16 | M: 16/28, W: 7/34 |
| 2007 | Head Coach | M: 7/14, W: 7/16 | M: 8/30, W: 4/30 |
| Head Coach | 12 years | ||
