Cross Country
- Title:
- Cross Country Coach/ Assistant Coach
- Email:
- kevin.cataldo@siu.edu
- Phone:
- 618-453-8375
By the numbers
• 12 SIU All-Time Top Ten Marks
• 9 MVC Track & Field Scholar
• 6 MVC Cross Country Scholar Athlete Team Members
• 4 NCAA West Regional Qualifiers
• 3 MVC Track and Field Champions
• 3 MVC Track & Field Runner-Ups
• 3 MVC Elite 17 Award Winners
• 3 MVC Cross Country All-Conference Honorable Mentions
• 2 MVC Cross Country First Team All-Conference Members
• 1 MVC Cross Country Champion
• 1 MVC Track & Field Championship Meet Record (Josh Maier 5K, 2019)
• 1 MVC Track & Field Freshmen of the Year (Kayla Schiera, 2019)
• 1 COSIDA Academic All-American
• NCAA Division I highest Men’s Team GPA 2018
Kevin Cataldo enters his fifth season as the SIU Cross Country and assistant distance coach for the track & field team.
Cataldo’s third season on staff was a stellar year for Southern’s distance program. Josh Maier won SIU’s 12th MVC individual cross country title, and first since 2010, while Megan Krolak and Cain Hassim earned All-MVC honors. In total, 11 of SIU’s 12 runners set personal-bests at the conference meet.
At the 2018 MVC indoor meet, Canoy Tyree became the first Saluki male since 2012 to reach the medal stand in the 800m. At the MVC outdoor meet, Maier took home both the 1500 and 5K titles to become just the sixth male runner in Valley history to win both at the same meet. That wasn't the only history that Maier made at the meet, as he also broke the Valley's 38-year old meet record in the 5K with his winning time of 14:04.78. On the women’s side, Kayla Schiera took second in the 3K steeplechase and added a seventh place finish in the 5K to earn MVC Freshman of the Year honors. Schiera went on to compete at the USATF U20 Championships in the 3K steeple where she placed fourth.
In the classroom, Cataldo’s cross country teams posted a combined 3.615 GPA, which ranked seventh nationally. SIU’s men’s team recorded the best GPA of any men’s cross country team with a 3.67 GPA. Josh Maier, meanwhile, won his fourth MVC Elite 17 award and went on to earn Academic All-America third-team honors to become the first Saluki men’s runner since 1992 to do so.
In his second season on staff, Josh Maier excelled under Cataldo’s tutelage. He placed fourth at the 2017 MVC Cross Country meet and later became the first Saluki since 2012 to earn All-Region honors. That momentum carried over to the 2018 indoor season, as Maier took second in the 3K and third in the 5K. Maier also claimed two MVC Elite 17 awards, the highest academic award given by the conference.
In just his first year, Cataldo’s group showed marked improvements. Under his leadership junior Josh Maier led the way. Maier’s claimed his first outdoor championships by taking the 5,000m MVC title. He did so in dramatic fashion after claiming the 10,000m runner-up place two days earlier. Junior Lucas Horton also had a breakthrough season running a lifetime best 1:49.83 to advance to the NCAA West Preliminary. Junior transfer Kelly O’Shea made big improvements in 2017 as she ran a 27 second personal best of 11:02.59 to place eighth in the 3,000m steeplechase at the MVC outdoor meet.
Cataldo was the assistant coach for the cross country and track and field programs at the University of Delaware from 2014-16. During that time, Cataldo helped improve middle and long-distance runners for both cross country and track & field. Some notable coaching accomplishments at Delaware include two school records, four freshman records, and six all-conference track performers.
The Michigan native began his coaching career at Michigan State University, working as a graduate assistant coach for both the men’s and women’s cross country teams for two seasons under head coach Walt Drenth.
During his two-year stint with the Spartans, the women’s cross country team won a Big Ten team title in 2011 and back-to-back NCAA Championship berths in 2011 and 2012. He also helped the men’s cross country team qualify for the national meet in 2012.
During that time, MSU standout Leah O’Connor won a pair of Big Ten steeplechase titles and the 2013 5000m outdoor title while teammate Sara Kroll went on to win the 2012 Big Ten cross country individual championship.
Following the 2013-14 season, Cataldo moved south to Indianapolis, Ind. to become an assistant coach for cross country and track and field at Butler University.
In his only season on head coach Matt Roe’s staff, both the men’s and women’s cross country teams to third-place finishes at the Big East Championships. The women’s team finished third overall at the NCAA Championships that year after placing second at the NCAA Great Lakes Regional.
Cataldo earned his Bachelor’s Degree in health sciences and pre-physical therapy from Oakland (Mich.) University in 2011 and received a master’s degree in education, sports leadership, and coaching from Michigan State.
He competed for the Golden Grizzlies from 2006-11 as a standout runner for the cross country team and an accomplished distance runner for the track and field team. He was named to the All-Michigan Team at the Michigan Intercollegiate Cross Country meet in 2010.
He is a certified USTAF Level I coach and has a USTFCCA Strength and Conditioning Coach certification.
He and his wife, Jessica, have been married for seven years.
