The longest-tenured member of the University of North Dakota coaching staff, Michael Grandall enters his 28th season as head coach of the Fighting Sioux men's cross country and track and field teams.
Grandall took over the men’s cross country and track and field coaching position in 1982-83 and additionally coached women’s cross country at UND from 1980-84.
Last season, UND's first as a Division I program, Grandall led the Fighting Sioux to a sixth-place finish at the Great West Conference Championship. The track and field team placed fourth at the GWC Indoor Championship and seventh at the outdoor championship. Junior Creighton Schroyer won an indoor conference title in the shot put.
Academically, Grandall's student-athletes also enjoyed another strong year in 2008-09. His track and field team was named a 2009 Division I Men's All-Academic Track and Field Team by the U.S. Track and Field and Cross Country Coaches Association (USTFCCCA) after posting a 3.098 team grade point average.
Four of Grandall's student-athletes were named to the 2009 Great West Conference Winter/Spring All-Academic team, while another was named to the conference's fall all-academic squad.
Additionally, Josh LaBlanc earned a summer internship from the NASA North Dakota Space Grant Consortium.
Numerous Fighting Sioux athletes have attained All-America status during Grandall’s tenure. Most recently, Matt Litzinger won the national title in the javelin at the 2008 NCAA Division II outdoor championships. Litzinger became UND's first men's individual national track & field champion since 1989 by finishing first and his national title was the ninth in UND men's track and field history, and the sixth national outdoor title. Matt Fick took third in the event at the championships. Both Fick and Litzinger repeated as All-Americans in 2008, after Litzinger took sixth place in the event while Fick came in eighth in 2007.
Other recent All-Americans include Tyler Stoltz, who finished fifth in the javelin at the 2005 outdoor championships, 2004 outdoor All-American Jason Cook, who finished fifth in the discus one year earlier, and most recently prior to that 2002 indoor All-Americans Aaron Berndt and Mike Backes.
2002 indoor All-Americans Aaron Berndt and Mike Backes placed fourth and fifth nationally in the 800-meters and triple jump, respectively.
Norm McGee was a five-time national champion and 13-time All-American in the sprint events in the mid-to-late 1980’s under Grandall, and Dave Levos was a two-time national champion and five-time All-American in the mid-80’s in the throws. Both were inducted into the UND Athletic Hall of Fame; Levos was enshrined in 2000 and McGee in 2001.
Steve Burian, Scott Jemtrud, Mark Murdock, Marc Sondreal and Brian Emerson also won multiple All-American honors under Grandall’s guidance. Burian and Murdock each won four All-American honors in the shot put, while Sondreal was a four-time honoree in the high jump. Emerson was a three-time outdoor All-American, twice in the discus and once in the shot put. Other All-Americans under Grandall include Tracy Martin, Chuck Torrence, Bryan Greenwood, Jon Wrzesinski, Rory Beil, Jared Bruggeman, Jim Mallory and Chad Heltemes.
In May, the U.S. Track & Field and Cross Country Coaches Association (USTFCCCA) selected the UND men’s team was selected as the 2008 Outdoor Track and Field Scholar Team of the Year.
Grandall is a native of Lignite, N.D., where he won the North Dakota State Class B title in the 100 and 220-yard dashes. Grandall is a 1970 graduate of Minot State. Grandall coached and taught at Mohall (N.D.) High School from 1970-1976 and 1977-79 until coming to UND in 1979 to complete a master’s degree in physical education. He served as a graduate assistant in physical education at UND from 1979-81 and assisted in cross country and track. In 1981-82, Grandall was the intramural director at UND.
Grandall is certified as an Education Level II with the United States of America Track and Field (USATF) Coaches Association. Grandall was also named a referee for the prestigious Drake Relays in 1995.
