Western Colorado University Men's Track

Grasmick begins her first season as an assistant coach with the Mountaineer track and field program in 2015-16. Her primary responsibilities will be working with the sprinters and hurdlers.   Grasmick begins her second stint with the Mountaineers after serving as a volunteer assistant coach during the 2012-13 season.   Prior to her return to the Gunnison Valley, Grasmick served as a graduate assistant coach for two seasons at Minnesota State University, Mankato. While working with the Mavericks, Grasmick formulated daily practice plans and facilitated workouts for 50 student-athletes while performing daily operations that included recruiting, equipment ordering,  managing study hall,  team travel and budget maintenance. She also assisted the coaching staff with home meet operations by scheduling workers and helping run events.   While in Mankato, Grasmick also served as an Athletic Academic Advisor Intern during the 2014-15 academic year, advising student-athletes from 18 sports.   As a graduate student, Grasmick was a recipient of the Sport Management Leadership Award and the Woman of Courage and Vision Award in 2015. She earned her master's degree in Sport Management in May. A native of Fowler, Colorado, Grasmick was an eight-time NCAA Championship qualifier and six-time All-American while running for Adams State University. During her time in Alamosa, Grasmick compiled an impressive 22 All-RMAC honors including nine individual conference titles. She was named the RMAC Freshman of the Year for both the indoor and outdoor seasons in 2009-10. Grasmick is a member of ASU's record-holding distance medley relay and is a former school record holder in the 400-meter hurdles.   Grasmick was also successful in the classroom, graduating cum laude with a Bachelor of Arts degree in Human Performance and Physical Education with an emphasis in Exercise Science and Sport Administration in May 2012. She earned eight Academic All-American honors and six RMAC Track and Field All-Academic awards. Grasmick was also an eight-time recipient of the Vice President's and Athletic Director's Honor Roll. Lindsey Grasmick Assistant Track and Field Coach - Sprints/Hurdles Lindsey Grasmick begins her first season as an assistant coach with the Mountaineer track and field program in 2015-16. Her primary responsibilities will be working with the sprinters and hurdlers.   Grasmick begins her second stint with the Mountaineers after serving as a volunteer assistant coach during the 2012-13 season.   Prior to her return to the Gunnison Valley, Grasmick served as a graduate assistant coach for two seasons at Minnesota State University, Mankato. While working with the Mavericks, Grasmick formulated daily practice plans and facilitated workouts for 50 student-athletes while performing daily operations that included recruiting, equipment ordering,  managing study hall,  team travel and budget maintenance. She also assisted the coaching staff with home meet operations by scheduling workers and helping run events.   While in Mankato, Grasmick also served as an Athletic Academic Advisor Intern during the 2014-15 academic year, advising student-athletes from 18 sports.   As a graduate student, Grasmick was a recipient of the Sport Management Leadership Award and the Woman of Courage and Vision Award in 2015. She earned her master's degree in Sport Management in May. A native of Fowler, Colorado, Grasmick was an eight-time NCAA Championship qualifier and six-time All-American while running for Adams State University. During her time in Alamosa, Grasmick compiled an impressive 22 All-RMAC honors including nine individual conference titles. She was named the RMAC Freshman of the Year for both the indoor and outdoor seasons in 2009-10. Grasmick is a member of ASU's record-holding distance medley relay and is a former school record holder in the 400-meter hurdles.   Grasmick was also successful in the classroom, graduating cum laude with a Bachelor of Arts degree in Human Performance and Physical Education with an emphasis in Exercise Science and Sport Administration in May 2012. She earned eight Academic All-American honors and six RMAC Track and Field All-Academic awards. Grasmick was also an eight-time recipient of the Vice President's and Athletic Director's Honor Roll.

Jennifer Michel is entering her 17th season as head men's and women's cross country coach (22nd overall as a head or assistant coach) at Western Colorado University in 2023. She will also begin her 17th season as an assistant coach of the Mountaineer track & field team. Entering Fall 2023, Michel has coached 60 Mountaineers to 226 All-American honors between cross country and indoor/outdoor track & field.  A testament to the quality of these All-Americans, Michel has coached 10 individuals to a combined 19 National Championships. Standing tall amongst these individuals is Alicja Konieczek who recorded her ninth National Championship in 2019. Konieczek became the first female Mountaineer to win four National Championships in the same year as she took the Mile and 3k indoors and the Steeplechase and 5k outdoors in 2017. On the track, Michel has coached national champions David Goodman to the steeplechase title in 2011, Ryan Haebe (2012 Steeplechase), Tyler Pennel (2012 10k), Gabe Proctor (2013 10k & 5k), Vegard Olstad (2013 1500), and Alicja Konieczek (2017 Indoor Mile/3,000m and Outdoor Steeplechase/5,000m). National runners-up coached by Michel include Lauren Kleppin in the 10,000-meter run (2011 and 2012), Tyler Pennel in the 5,000-meter run (2009, 2011-12), Hillory Davis (2011 Steeplechase), Glen Watts (2010 Steeplechase), and Lisa Thomas (2009 Steeplechase). Additionally, Michel's distance runners have broken more than a dozen school records across the spectrum of indoor and outdoor races including 2017's monumental performances by Alicja Konieczek as she broke the indoor Mile, indoor 3k, and Steeplechase records. Konieczek's 9:49.74 effort at the Payton Jordan Invite also reset the All-Time NCAA DII Women's Steeplechase record.  In addition, 12 of her distance runners have gone on to capture 16 Academic All-America nods including first team selections Loren Ahonen (2010-11), Tyler Pennel (2012), Lauren Kleppin (2012), Ryan Haebe (2015), Georgia Porter (2017), and Alicja Konieczek (2018-19 and twice named Athlete of the Year). In 2019, Taylor Stack was named the USTFCCCA Division II Men's Cross Country Scholar Athlete of the Year. A two-time National Coach of the Year, Michel is also a five-time RMAC Coach of the Year, and earned both the men's and women's honors in 2011. In a strong year for Michel and the Mountaineers, she also was named USTFCCCA Central Region Women's Coach of the Year in 2011. During the 2017 outdoor track and field season, Michel was named USTFCCCA Central Region Women’s Assistant Coach of the Year before being named USTFCCCA Women’s National Assistant Coach of the Year in 2017 for outdoor track. During the historic 2018 indoor campaign, Michel was named USTFCCCA Women's National Assistant Coach of the Year.  Michel also made history when she became the first woman in any sport at any NCAA level to earn a National Coach of the Year honor for a men’s sport in 2007. Subsequently she would become the first woman to repeat this honor with her 2011 selection. Michel’s cross country teams have accumulated one national championship, six runner-up finish, and one third-place finish since 2007. In 2020, the Mountaineer women's cross country team won the RMAC title for the first time since 2012 (no nationals were held due to COVID-19). In 2019, Western's women's team took fourth place at nationals while the men finished seventh. In the 2017 cross country campaign, the Mountaineer men finished fourth, returning to the podium for the first time since 2013. During the 2016 season, the Mountaineer women rode an impressive top three finishing order of 8, 11, 22 by Porter, Konieczek, and Seward to a third place team. This was the first podium finish for the Mountaineer women since 2013. In a historic effort, Michel coached the 2011 Mountaineer men to the fourth-lowest team score in NCAA DII history en route to her first national championship. Simultaneously, she coached her first individual National Champion in cross country as Ryan Haebe broke the tape ahead of teammate Tyler Pennel, highlighting a 1,2,5,7,12 finish for the men. The top-ranked women were upset by a mere four points in 2011, finishing in second place for the second year in a row. The Mountaineers also swept the RMAC titles in 2011 with the women claiming their second-straight conference title for just the second time in program history. As a first year head coach she led the Western's men to a second-place finish at the NCAA Division II National Championships. The women finished sixth. Following the season, Michel earned a spot in Sports Illustrated's "Faces in the Crowd” segment based upon her historic achievements. As an athlete, Michel earned eight All-American honors in track and field and cross country. In track and field, Michel won Division II titles in the 3,000-meter steeplechase, 3,000-meter run and indoor mile, and held the national championship steeplechase record until 2008. She was a six-time RMAC champion. Michel earned RMAC All-Century honors in women's track and field as part of the conference centennial celebration in 2008-09. She was also a member of the NCAA 25th Anniversary Team for Women's Track and Field and was the 1999 NCAA Cross Country Runner of the Year. After her collegiate career, she finished fifth at the US Track and Field Championships in the steeplechase in 2002. She entered the Mountaineer Sports Hall of Fame in October 2010 for her national championship career as a Western student-athlete. Michel, a prep product out of Wheat Ridge, Colo., is a 2001 graduate of Western with a degree in History and Secondary Education. She went on to receive her master’s degree in Sports Management from California University of Pennsylvania in 2007.   She lives in Gunnison with her husband Bryan Wickenhauser and two daughters, Gianna and Eliza.      

Jennifer Michel is entering her 17th season as head men's and women's cross country coach (22nd overall as a head or assistant coach) at Western Colorado University in 2023. She will also begin her 17th season as an assistant coach of the Mountaineer track & field team. Entering Fall 2023, Michel has coached 60 Mountaineers to 226 All-American honors between cross country and indoor/outdoor track & field.  A testament to the quality of these All-Americans, Michel has coached 10 individuals to a combined 19 National Championships. Standing tall amongst these individuals is Alicja Konieczek who recorded her ninth National Championship in 2019. Konieczek became the first female Mountaineer to win four National Championships in the same year as she took the Mile and 3k indoors and the Steeplechase and 5k outdoors in 2017. On the track, Michel has coached national champions David Goodman to the steeplechase title in 2011, Ryan Haebe (2012 Steeplechase), Tyler Pennel (2012 10k), Gabe Proctor (2013 10k & 5k), Vegard Olstad (2013 1500), and Alicja Konieczek (2017 Indoor Mile/3,000m and Outdoor Steeplechase/5,000m). National runners-up coached by Michel include Lauren Kleppin in the 10,000-meter run (2011 and 2012), Tyler Pennel in the 5,000-meter run (2009, 2011-12), Hillory Davis (2011 Steeplechase), Glen Watts (2010 Steeplechase), and Lisa Thomas (2009 Steeplechase). Additionally, Michel's distance runners have broken more than a dozen school records across the spectrum of indoor and outdoor races including 2017's monumental performances by Alicja Konieczek as she broke the indoor Mile, indoor 3k, and Steeplechase records. Konieczek's 9:49.74 effort at the Payton Jordan Invite also reset the All-Time NCAA DII Women's Steeplechase record.  In addition, 12 of her distance runners have gone on to capture 16 Academic All-America nods including first team selections Loren Ahonen (2010-11), Tyler Pennel (2012), Lauren Kleppin (2012), Ryan Haebe (2015), Georgia Porter (2017), and Alicja Konieczek (2018-19 and twice named Athlete of the Year). In 2019, Taylor Stack was named the USTFCCCA Division II Men's Cross Country Scholar Athlete of the Year. A two-time National Coach of the Year, Michel is also a five-time RMAC Coach of the Year, and earned both the men's and women's honors in 2011. In a strong year for Michel and the Mountaineers, she also was named USTFCCCA Central Region Women's Coach of the Year in 2011. During the 2017 outdoor track and field season, Michel was named USTFCCCA Central Region Women’s Assistant Coach of the Year before being named USTFCCCA Women’s National Assistant Coach of the Year in 2017 for outdoor track. During the historic 2018 indoor campaign, Michel was named USTFCCCA Women's National Assistant Coach of the Year.  Michel also made history when she became the first woman in any sport at any NCAA level to earn a National Coach of the Year honor for a men’s sport in 2007. Subsequently she would become the first woman to repeat this honor with her 2011 selection. Michel’s cross country teams have accumulated one national championship, six runner-up finish, and one third-place finish since 2007. In 2020, the Mountaineer women's cross country team won the RMAC title for the first time since 2012 (no nationals were held due to COVID-19). In 2019, Western's women's team took fourth place at nationals while the men finished seventh. In the 2017 cross country campaign, the Mountaineer men finished fourth, returning to the podium for the first time since 2013. During the 2016 season, the Mountaineer women rode an impressive top three finishing order of 8, 11, 22 by Porter, Konieczek, and Seward to a third place team. This was the first podium finish for the Mountaineer women since 2013. In a historic effort, Michel coached the 2011 Mountaineer men to the fourth-lowest team score in NCAA DII history en route to her first national championship. Simultaneously, she coached her first individual National Champion in cross country as Ryan Haebe broke the tape ahead of teammate Tyler Pennel, highlighting a 1,2,5,7,12 finish for the men. The top-ranked women were upset by a mere four points in 2011, finishing in second place for the second year in a row. The Mountaineers also swept the RMAC titles in 2011 with the women claiming their second-straight conference title for just the second time in program history. As a first year head coach she led the Western's men to a second-place finish at the NCAA Division II National Championships. The women finished sixth. Following the season, Michel earned a spot in Sports Illustrated's "Faces in the Crowd” segment based upon her historic achievements. As an athlete, Michel earned eight All-American honors in track and field and cross country. In track and field, Michel won Division II titles in the 3,000-meter steeplechase, 3,000-meter run and indoor mile, and held the national championship steeplechase record until 2008. She was a six-time RMAC champion. Michel earned RMAC All-Century honors in women's track and field as part of the conference centennial celebration in 2008-09. She was also a member of the NCAA 25th Anniversary Team for Women's Track and Field and was the 1999 NCAA Cross Country Runner of the Year. After her collegiate career, she finished fifth at the US Track and Field Championships in the steeplechase in 2002. She entered the Mountaineer Sports Hall of Fame in October 2010 for her national championship career as a Western student-athlete. Michel, a prep product out of Wheat Ridge, Colo., is a 2001 graduate of Western with a degree in History and Secondary Education. She went on to receive her master’s degree in Sports Management from California University of Pennsylvania in 2007.   She lives in Gunnison with her husband Bryan Wickenhauser and two daughters, Gianna and Eliza.      

Bradford begins his sixth season as head track and field coach at Western State in 2014-15. In 2012, Bradford coached the Mountaineer men's outdoor team to a fifth place finish at the outdoor national championships. It was also the second consecutive year the Mountaineer men were named the Division II Academic Team of the Year by the USTFCCCA. Bradford's 2011 teams both finish in the top 10 of the outdoor national championships for the best combined men's and women's scores since 2004, while the women also finished in the top 10 of the indoor season. Bradford has coached 14 national champions and 75 All-Americans in his first five seasons. He's also had seven student-athletes earn a combined eight Academic All-America honors and his teams have won six All-Academic team awards from the U.S. Track & Field and Cross Country Coaches Association. Bradford coached four years at Augustana College in Sioux Falls, S.D., and had eight All-Americans and 26 national qualifiers. He coached sprinters, jumpers, hurdlers and multi-event athletes while assisting with Augustanas cross country program. He served as the Vikings recruiting coordinator since 2005. In his tenure at Augustana, Bradfords athletes broke 12 program records. He was a part of the staff that coached 12 United States Track and Field and Cross Country Coaches Association All-Academic Teams. Bradford established and coordinated the Augustana Sprint and Jump Camps and was working on the planning for a new track and field facility. Bradford is USATF Level 1 Certified and a member of the USTFCCCA. He was active in the Sioux Falls Park District as a volunteer. Bradford is a 2002 graduate of Elmhurst (Ill.) College, where he earned a bachelor of science in business administration. He is completing graduate work in education at Augustana. Chris Bradford Head Track and Field Coach Chris Bradford begins his sixth season as head track and field coach at Western State in 2014-15. In 2012, Bradford coached the Mountaineer men's outdoor team to a fifth place finish at the outdoor national championships. It was also the second consecutive year the Mountaineer men were named the Division II Academic Team of the Year by the USTFCCCA. Bradford's 2011 teams both finish in the top 10 of the outdoor national championships for the best combined men's and women's scores since 2004, while the women also finished in the top 10 of the indoor season. Bradford has coached 14 national champions and 75 All-Americans in his first five seasons. He's also had seven student-athletes earn a combined eight Academic All-America honors and his teams have won six All-Academic team awards from the U.S. Track & Field and Cross Country Coaches Association. Bradford coached four years at Augustana College in Sioux Falls, S.D., and had eight All-Americans and 26 national qualifiers. He coached sprinters, jumpers, hurdlers and multi-event athletes while assisting with Augustanas cross country program. He served as the Vikings recruiting coordinator since 2005. In his tenure at Augustana, Bradfords athletes broke 12 program records. He was a part of the staff that coached 12 United States Track and Field and Cross Country Coaches Association All-Academic Teams. Bradford established and coordinated the Augustana Sprint and Jump Camps and was working on the planning for a new track and field facility. Bradford is USATF Level 1 Certified and a member of the USTFCCCA. He was active in the Sioux Falls Park District as a volunteer. Bradford is a 2002 graduate of Elmhurst (Ill.) College, where he earned a bachelor of science in business administration. He is completing graduate work in education at Augustana.