Cross Country
- Title:
- Director of Track & Field/Cross Country
- Email:
- raske@siu.edu
- Phone:
- 618-453-5460
- Alma Mater:
- Southern Illinois, 1990
By the Numbers
• 19 NCAA Division 1 Team Championships
• 32 All-Americans
• 200 NCAA Championship Final and Preliminary qualifiers
• 257 Conference Champions
• 608 All-Conference
• 1067 All Time Top 10 marks
• 3 NCAA Team Top-25 Finishes
• Member of SIU's Hall of Fame
Kathleen Raske begins her third year at the helm of the Saluki Track & Field / Cross Country programs. SIU Director of Athletics Tommy Bell’s statement, “To hire a head coach of Kathleen’s stature is a great accomplishment for Saluki Athletics. We’re bringing home a Hall of Famer and replacing a Saluki legend with another Saluki legend. Our track program remains in good hands.” continues to ring true.
Her family-focused, team-oriented philosophy in just two seasons has produced: 1 top 15 (the best in 33 years) and two top 25 NCAA team finishes, three MVC Runner-Up and three Third place team trophies, 1 Olympian (8th place finish), 2 Olympic Trials Medalist, 3 Olympic Trials participants, 1 World Championship participant, 1 Junior Pan-American Championship participant, 2 NACAC participants / 2 NACAC Medalists, 1 Bowerman Award Semifinalist, 1 NCAA Champion, 1 NCAA Runner-Up, 1 NCAA Meet Record, 1 NCAA All-Time Best, 1 NCAA American Record, 12 NCAA All-Americans, 14 NCAA Championship Final Round participants, 33 NCAA Championship Preliminary Round qualifiers, , 1 National Athlete of the Week, 8 MVC Championships MVP’s, 4 MVC Championship meet records, 34 MVC Conference Champions, 19 MVC Runner ups, 68 MVC All-Conference, 3 MVC Cross Country All-Conference, 8 SIU School Records, and 89 All-Time Top Ten marks.
Not to be outdone, last year the Salukis Track & Cross Country student athletes also excelled in the classroom. In all, the academic accolades included: Men Academic All-American Team with a GPA of 3.02, Women Academic All-American Team with a GPA of 3.35, Men Cross Country team GPA of 3.35, Women Cross Country team GPA of 3.24, Seven MVC Scholar Athletes of the Week, 18 MVC Scholar Athletes, one Elite 18 Awardee, and one Co-SIDA Award winner.
This past season under Raske’s charge, the sprinters and hurdlers had another terrific year. Highlighting the group’s accomplishment was the outdoor MVC sweep of the women’s 4 x 100 and 4 x 400m relays. The two relay victories were the first time since 1989 that the women swept the MVC relays. The winning 4 x 100 time of 44.33 was both an SIU and MVC Conference record which qualified for the West NCAA Preliminary championship meet. Incidentally Raske was a leg on those two relay championship quartets. Athletes leading the way were junior Warren Hazel and sophomore Tyjuana Eason. Hazel improved significantly over the previous year as he claimed one MVC championship, 3 All-Conference awards, and two All-American NCAA finishes. Along the way he lowered his St. Kitts national record to 45.68 and participated in the IAAF World Championships. Eason also improved greatly in her second year. She finished 3rd and 6th respectively in the 200 and 60 meters at the indoor MVC championship. At the outdoor MVC’s she finished 2nd and 6th in the same events and was a key member of the 4 x 100m relay championship teams.
The 2016-17 accolades for the Salukis totaled: 1 NCAA Runner-Up, 6 NCAA All-Americans, 1 World Championship, 1 Jr. Pan American, and 4 USA Championship participants, 22 Conference Champions, 15 MVC Runner-Ups, 41 MVC All-Conference, 5 Conference MVP’s, 4 SIU School Records, 43 All-Time top 10 marks.
In Raske’s first year as SIU's Director of Track and Field/Cross Country, the Salukis list of accomplishments was as long as it was impressive and included: 1 Olympian (8th place finish), 2 Olympic Trials Medalist, 3 Olympic Trials participants, 1 NCAA Champion / 1 NCAA Meet Record / 1 NCAA All-Time Best / 1 NCAA American Record, 6 NCAA All-Americans, 8 NCAA Championship Final Round participants, 15 NCAA Championship Preliminary Round participants, 1 NACAC participant / 1 NACAC Medalist, 1 Bowerman Award Semifinalist, 1 National Athlete of the Week, 3 MVC Performers of MVC Championships, 1 MVC Championship meet Record, 12 MVC Track Champions, 6 MVC Track Runner ups, 27 MVC Track All-Conference, 2 MVC Cross Country All-Conference, 4 SIU School Records, 46 All-Time Top Ten marks.
Under Raske's tutelage, the sprinters and hurdlers had an outstanding year. Every sprinter/hurdler posted a lifetime best in at least one event, set two new school records, had two MVC Champions, earned 13 All-Conference honors and posted 16 All-Time top-10 marks. Carbondale native Chrissa Harris led the way for the women, as she claimed the MVC 400m title with a personal-best time of 53.28 and advanced to the NCAA Outdoor Championships. In doing so she became the first Saluki to advance in the sprint events to the NCAA Championship since Raske did so in 1989. To make it a 400m sweep, freshman Warren Hazel claimed the men’s MVC title. Hazel qualified for the NCAA West Regional meet and later ran a personal best of 45.81 to claim bronze at the NACAC Under-23 Championships.
An All-American in the 100-meter hurdles at Southern, Raske set conference records in the 100-meter hurdles, 200-meter and 55-meter hurdles. She also competed in five U.S. National Championships, including the 1992 Olympic Trials in the 100-meter hurdles. Raske was named the Most Valuable Player of the Decade by the Gateway Conference, and was inducted into SIU’s athletic Hall of Fame in 1997.
Raske, a 1990 graduate of SIU, served as the Director of Track & Field/Cross Country programs at Sacramento State for 12 seasons. She was named Big Sky Conference Coach of the Year 16 times, produced 15 NCAA All-Americans, eight USATF Junior All-Americans, 128 NCAA National Championship participants, 191 conference champions, and 483 all-Big Sky performers during her tenure. The Hornets' men's and women's teams combined to win 17 Big Sky team championships under Raske and finished in second place eight times. Raske is the only woman to coach a Division I men's team to five conference championship titles in NCAA history in any sport. Prior to her arrival in 2004, neither program had finished better than fourth as a team at a conference championship meet.
From 1997-2003, Raske was the head coach of the women's track & field and cross country programs at Central Michigan. While at CMU, Raske coached 19 conference champions, 49 all-league recipients, 20 NCAA championship meet qualifiers, three All-Americans and 53 school records were established. In 2002, she led CMU to its first Mid-American Conference championship. For her efforts, she was named MAC Coach of the Year, Great Lakes NCAA Regional Coach of the Year and Central Collegiate Coach of the Year.
From 1992-1997, she served as an assistant coach at Miami University, overseeing the men and women in sprints and hurdles. Six of her athletes won Mid-American Conference titles and three advanced to the NCAA Championships, including two-time All-American hurdler Becca Williams, who was ranked 20th in the world in the 400h with a time of 54.98. Her coaching career began at SIU in 1990, when she mentored the team's sprinters, hurdlers, and relay teams.
A respected teacher, Raske has extensive experience coaching at the national level. In 2009, she was named the head coach for Team USA at the World University Games. She was also the head women's coach for Team USA at its quadrangular meet against Great Britain, China and Russia in 2006, and at the NACAC Games in 2012. Raske serves on the executive committee of the Division I USTFCCCA and is vice chair for the Coaches Advisory Committee for USATF. In addition to her committee responsibilities, Raske has been a speaker on the topic of hurdling and sprinting at coaching clinics throughout the United States and internationally. Raske is also an active member of Athletes in Action and Fellowship of Christian Athletes. In the summer of 2002, she led an AIA team to Thailand and Laos. She served as the faculty advisor for the FCA huddle at Sacramento State.
Raske graduated from SIU with a double major in education and zoology. She is a certified strength and conditioning specialist with the NCSA and has earned Level I, II and Level III USA Track and Field coaching education certification. She was also a graduate of the inaugural IAAF Level 5 Master's of Coaching for sprints and hurdles certification program.
