Head coach Mike Stevenson enters his ninth season after earning Mid-Continent Conference Coach of the Year honors five times at Western Illinois University, including men’s outdoor coach of the year in 2001, 2002 and 2003, women’s indoor coach of the year in 2002, and women’s outdoor coach of the year in 2005.
In Stevenson’s first eight years as head coach, he has claimed five conference crowns as the men won the indoor and outdoor Mid-Con titles in 2001 and 2002, while the women captured the Mid-Con Outdoor Championship in 2005. He has also coached 104 individual conference champions.
Stevenson has undertaken additional administrative duties with the
Athletics Department since 2004. Included in these tasks are all athletics
facility management as well as home event management and the direction
of all athletics concessions. Facility scheduling is a primary function
of these responsibilities, working directly with the Bureau of Cultural
Affairs, the University Union Board, the University Physical Plant,
Campus Recreation, and University Scheduling.
There has been a total of eight Mid-Con Athlete of the Year and six Mid-Con Newcomer of the Year recipients under Stevenson’s tutelage. The latest came in 2007 as Ashley Yancy earned Mid-Con Indoor Female Athlete of the Year honors, Nikki Klier claimed 2007 Mid-Con Indoor Newcomer of the Year, and Blair Hadnott claimed 2007 Mid-Con Outdoor co-Athlete of the Year honors. In 2001, Kristen Owens picked up the Indoor Athlete of the Year award, while David Zdunek was named both the Indoor and Outdoor Newcomer of the Year. Two-time all-American Amber Crumbo garnered the 2002 Outdoor Athlete of the Year honor and Desmond Bynum took home the Indoor and Outdoor Athlete of the Year awards. Chris Adams was also named the Outdoor Newcomer of the Year in 2002. Cordell Lewis took home the 2004 Indoor Athlete of the Year award. All-American Aubrey Martin was the 2003 Indoor and Outdoor Newcomer of the Year, and ended the 2005 outdoor season as the Mid-Con Women’s Outdoor Athlete of the Year.
In addition to overseeing the entire cross country and track and field programs, Stevenson specializes in coaching the sprinters and field events. Along with recruiting and home-meet management, Stevenson serves as the meet director for the Lee Calhoun Memorial Invitational.
Serving as an assistant coach at Western from 1991 until he was named head coach in 2000, Stevenson has accumulated some impressive numbers. He has coached Western athletes to 53 conference records, 47 school records and 393 listings on Western’s all-time top-10 lists. Since taking over as head coach, Stevenson has had five different athletes compete in the NCAA Championships. In 2002, Crumbo took ninth and 11th places in the shot put at the Indoor and Outdoor NCAA Championships, respectively. In 2005-06, Jennifer Gilson took 14th place at the NCAA Indoor Championships in the shot put. At the 2004 NCAA Outdoor Championships, Martin took sixth place in the shot put with a personal-best throw of 55’5.50”. She was named an NCAA All-American and also finished seventh in the 2004 USA Olympic Track and Field Trials. During the 2005 NCAA Indoor Championships, Martin earned NCAA All-American honors for her sixth place finish in the shot put, while teammate Robb Pfrank finished 10th in the weight throw. Martin also garnered a spot in the NCAA Outdoor Championships where she finished 16th in the preliminary trials of the shot put and went on to finish seventh in the shot at the USA Track and Field Championships. Martin and Gilson both returned to the 2006 NCAA Indoor and Outdoor Championships. Martin finished fifth at both championships in the shot put. Gilson finished seventh in the indoor championships in the shot put and 10th at the outdoor championships.
In 2001, Stevenson was selected to teach at both the NCAA’s YES (Youth Education Seminar) and the World Scholar-Athlete Games. A published author, Stevenson has had his work appear in Scholastic Coach and Administrator magazine. Stevenson is a USATF Level II certified coach.
A former Leatherneck standout in the classroom and on the track, Stevenson was a multiple all-conference academic and athletic selection. The two-time team captain still ranks among Western’s all-time top sprinters. Stevenson earned his B.A. in physical education in 1987 and his M.S. in physical education in 1991. Prior to coaching at Western, Stevenson coached at Monmouth and Dallas City high schools.
