Entering her second year in charge of the track & field and cross country programs in 2020-21, Christine Engel has already laid a strong foundation for her blueprint of success at the University of North Dakota, resulting in five new school records, 51 new entries on the track & field top-10 list and 13 All-Summit League honors during the cross country and indoor track seasons.
Engel made an immediate impact in the fall during the cross country season, adding former Arkansas Razorback and All-American Cale Wallace to the coaching staff for her first hire, and placing four runners on the All-Summit League team, including two-first teamers in Hannah Oscarson and Madison Overby.
Two weeks after a fourth-place showing that saw three runners collect All-Summit accolades, the women's cross country program set a new standard at the NCAA Midwest Region Cross Country Championship. Finishing 19th as team, UND recorded its highest team placing in its Division I history. On the men's side, Luke Labatte finished 83rd to record the program's first top-100 placer since 2016.
Another nine student-athletes earned All-Summit League honors at the indoor track & field championship, including Lucy Steinmeyer, who became the first Fighting Hawk to win a Summit League Championship on the track. Steinmeyer won the 400-meters with a personal-best time of 56.15. Distance runner Hannah Oscarson also had an outstanding Summit League performance as she scored 21 points for the Fighting Hawks, including a pair of runner-up finishes in the 3,000-meters and the 5,000-meters.
While the results on the track improved, the results in the classroom and the community did as well as the women's cross country and track & field programs finished in the top-10 in Helper Helper's Community Service Rankings. The Fighting Hawks mens and women's teams also received academic recognition from the U.S. Track & Field and Cross Country Coaches Association (USTFCCCA) with the women registering the THIRD BEST GPA IN THE NATIONA (3.87).
The new era in University of North Dakota Track & Field and Cross Country began on May 2, 2019 when Athletics Director Bill Chaves announced Engel as the new Head Coach of Men's and Women's Track & Field and Cross Country.
“We are extremely excited to be naming Christine as our new Track & Field and Cross Country Head Coach," said Chaves. "We believe that Christine will be an excellent leader for our program having had extensive experience working at several Division I institutions. Finally, her breadth and depth of coaching experiences will also be an asset for us. We look forward to her taking the reins."
Longtime Head Cross Country Coach Dick Clay added "I felt good from my standpoint with all of the candidates I met with, but I think Christine rose to the top and I just felt comfortable with her in this role. I think the kids will benefit from having her as their coach, and I think she can take where we're at now and build on that."
"I emphasized to Kyle in discussions that the coach should be someone who's going to focus on the team aspect but also someone who's going to treat student-athletes the way they should be treated, and I felt comfortable with Christine's ability in that aspect, too," he added.
Prior to her appointment at UND, Engel spent three seasons at Fresno State as the Head Men's and Women's Cross Country Coach and Assistant Track Coach, mentoring Annemarie Schwanz to All-America honors at the 2017 NCAA Track & Field Championships in the 1,500-meters. Under Engel's tutelage, Schwanz set program records in the 800-meters and the 1,500-meters while breaking the Mountain West Conference's all-time mark in the 1,500-meters (4:10.93). Her distance runners also set new standards in the indoor mile, indoor 3,000-meters and the indoor 5,000-meters.
In her two seasons at Duke as the Head Women's Distance Coach (2014-16), Engel helped guide Anima Banks to First Team All-America honors during the indoor and outdoor season in the 800-meters. Banks followed up her outstanding Blue Devil tenure as an Olympic Trial participant, advancing to the 800-meter semifinals at Historic Hayward Field in Eugene, Ore., running a personal-best 2:02.39. In addition to her work with Banks, Engel helped shape the distance medley relay team to All-America status at the 2016 NCAA Indoor Track & Field Championships.
Her most extensive program building experience, however, occurred at Elon where she spent six years building the women's cross country programs into perennial Southern Conference Championship contenders. Along with three runner-up finishes at the conference meet, the women's cross country team also finished ninth at the 2013 NCAA Southeast Regional Cross Country Championship, a 21-place improvement from her first season in charge.
On the track side, the men's (non-sponsored) and women's programs set a total of 18 new school records in her time, including SoCON conference champion Tereza Novotna (3,000-meter steeplechase), who was selected to compete for the Czech Republic at the 2014 European Team Championship. As a runner-up in 2013, Novotna was also part of a 1-2-3 podium sweep in the steeplechase.
Distance programs under Engel's tutelage have also achieved in the classroom as Schwanz earned CoSIDA Academic All-America honors, as well as USTFCCCA All-Academic Team accolades. Her distance group collected five Academic All-ACC honors in her two years at Duke while Banks was named to the USTFCCCA All-Academic team as well.
Engel cut her teeth at the University of San Francisco as an Assistant Cross Country and Track Coach (2004-07), helping the Dons men's and women's programs to runner-up finishes at the West Coast Conference Championships. She then spent a season at Columbia, helping qualify five Lions' runners for the NCAA East Regional Championship in four separate events, as well as guiding two all-region and one All-American in cross country.
The Flanders, N.J., product graduated from Clemson University, where she was a two-time All-Atlantic Coast Conference selection and a member of the 1995 ACC Championship distance medley relay team and 1993 NCAA Cross Country Championship qualifying teams.
A standout prep runner, Engel was the New Jersey's Gatorade Athlete of the Year, as well as the No. 2 ranked miler in the U.S., earning consensus All-America accolades. She was selected as one of New Jersey's Track & Field Athletes of the Decade.
Engel succeeded Kevin Galbraith, who took over the track & field program in 2011, and 34-year cross country veteran Dick Clay.
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