Coach Mike Poehlein

"In your life you know when you need a change. I need a change" Those were the words uttered by Oakland City University's new cross country coach Mike Poehlein at his June 15 press conference. Poehlein a 1961 graduate of then Oakland City College is bringing with him to OCU, one of the most prestigious coaching resumes in all of college athletics. For the past 31 years, Poehlein has been a coach in the track and cross country programs at Purdue University in West Lafayette.

As men's cross country coach from 1973-2003, Poehlein guided four Boilermaker teams into the NCAA meet. His teams were ranked seventh nationally in 1985 and 15th in 1986. He was voted Big Ten Coach of the Year in 1985 and NCAA Division IV Coach of the Year in 1986. Under his direction, 24 Purdue cross country and track athletes have earned All-America honors 30 times, and Academic All-American status from 1996-2001

In 2000, two years prior to adding women's cross country to his list of responsibilities, Poehlein was named BigTen Indoor Coach of the Year. His teams finished 2nd in the Big Ten's 1989 indoor and outdoor meets and second outdoors in 1990. These finishes still rank as Purdue's best under any coach, and as was rightfully so, Poehlein was named Big Ten Coach of the Year in all three campaigns.

The success that Poehlein achieved at the collegiate level paved the way for his success at the international level. In 1986, he coached the North track team in the 1986 United States Olympic Festival in Houston, was an assistant with the U.S. team in the 1990 Goodwill Games in Seattle, coached in the 1994 Pan-Am Games, and led the 1997 U.S. team in the Junior Pan-Am Games in Havana, Cuba. He was a former president of the Indiana Athletic Congress, a National Olympic Development Program coach, and was named an honorary member of the South Korean Olympic coaching staff after speaking at summer meetings from 1983-86.

Coach Poehlein and his wife of 41 years, Jill still reside in West Lafayette.