Eastern Michigan University Women's Cross Country

Parks Head Women's Track/XC Coach     The 2016 campaign marks the 11th season for Sue Parks as Head Coach of the Eastern Michigan University womens cross country program.      2015 was a banner season for the Eagles, as the Green and White captured their first-ever Mid-American Conference title  in program history. The squad, which finished with a total of 55 points, placed three harriers within the top-six. Leading the way was Alsu Bogdanova, who captured the  individual MAC title after clocking in at 20:39.26. Eastern finished the conference championships with three First Team All-MAC honorees, while Parks was also named MAC Coach of the Year.  The team also continued to improve at the NCAA Great Lakes Regional, finishing sixth after placing eighth in 2014. Bogdanova tallied another strong performance, coming in ninth and narrowly missing a berth to the NCAA Championships.     The 2014 season marked Easterns first MAC Champion since the 1997 campaign, as Victoria Voronko claimed her first conference crown. Additionally, she became just the second Eagle in program history to earn All-MAC First Team honors.  Sofie Gallein claimed third in the conference meet to garner First Team honors, and the pair ended the season on the national stage at the NCAA Championships, marking the first time two harriers have ever qualified individually for the Eastern program.             Under her tenure, the Eagles have shown vast improvements since she began her career at the helm in 2006. In 2007, the Eagles finished 11th (286 points) at the Mid-American Conference Cross Country Championships. Just three seasons later, the Green and White improved to a sixth place finish (157 points) in 2009, and eventually improved with back-to-back-to-back fifth place finishes in 2010 (157 points), 2011 (89 points) and 2012 (144 points) before improving to fourth place in 2013 (111 points) and having a breakthrough season in 2014 with a runner-up finish with 69 points.     Prior to EMU, Parks enjoyed tremendous success during her 12-year tenure at Ball State, winning eight Mid-American Conference titles and finishing runner-up 10 times in track and cross country. She was named MAC Womens Coach of the Year five times: In indoor and outdoor track three times, in 1996, 1998, 2001; in outdoor track once, 2000; and in cross country once, in 2003. In addition, she was selected as an NCAA Regional Coach of the Year in indoor and outdoor track in 1998. Her 2002 cross country team became just the third MAC team to ever qualify for the NCAA Championship  when it  accomplished that feat in 2002.     From 1990-94 she was an assistant cross country and track coach for both the mens and womens programs at the University of Arizona. Her UA womens cross country squads placed 11th, 14th, and 12th in the NCAA Championships in 1991, 1992 and 1993 respectively and her 1993 cross country team won the NCAA District 8 championship. She was named NCAA District 8 Coach of the Year after the 1993 cross country season. During her tenure at Arizona she coached seven All-Americans in womens cross country and track, including the 1994 5,000-meter champion in the NCAA indoor track championship.     Prior to heading to Arizona, Parks was the head womens cross country coach and assistant womens track coach at Michigan State University from 1988-90. She was graduate assistant coach for the EMU mens track team from 1987-88.     From 1984-87 she was the womens head cross country coach and womens assistant track coach at the University of Michigan she coached eight All-Americans in cross country and was selected as Big Ten womens cross country Coach of the Year in 1986. Her other coaching stints included serving as the head womens track coach at Ann Arbor Gabriel Richard in 1982 and the head womens cross country coach at Ann Arbor Huron High School from 1979-83.     Parks is certainly no stranger to EMU and the Ypsilanti area. She was raised in Ypsilanti and attended Ypsilanti High School where she was an outstanding cross country and track competitor. She was a state of Michigan high school champion and former record holder in the 800 meters and also competed on U.S. teams in the Pan American Games.     Parks went on to graduate from EMU with a bachelors degree in 1980 and a masters degree in 1988. While an undergraduate, Parks was a Mid-American Conference cross country invitational champion in 1976, 1977 and 1978 and was also an Olympic Trials qualifier. She was elected to the EMU Athletic Hall of Fame in 1992. Her father, Bob Parks, was the head mens track and field and head mens cross country coach at EMU for 34 years, from 1967-2000.