By: James Garcia, Sports Information Director
INSTITUTE, W.Va. – The West Virginia State University women's cross country team will be led by a new head coach,
Michael Ruhnke, when runners are able to take their mark again. Ruhnke is a recent graduate of Concord University where he competed at a high level in both track and cross country.
"I have been trained by some of the best coaches in the state and will bring what I have learned in my experience as a distance runner to the WVSU women's cross country team," said Ruhnke. "As a member of the first MEC team to qualify for the NCAA Championships, I know what it takes to push runners to the next level."
Ruhnke was a First Team All-MEC selection in 2017 and a Second Team All-MEC honoree in both 2015 and 2018. In 2016, he ran in all eight meets for the Mountain Lions that led up to qualifying for the cross country national championships for the first time in conference history. He was also an integral part of men's cross country teams at Concord that captured three consecutive Mountain East Conference titles from 2015-2017.
As a distance runner on the CU track team, Ruhnke's best events included the 3,000-meter steeplechase and the 5,000-meter run. In his senior season, he came in first place in the 3,000-meter steeplechase at the Jasmine Claggett Invitational and set a personal record of 9:48.63 in the same event at the MEC Championships for a fourth place finish. In three out of his four years on the track team, he qualified for two events at the conference championships. The only year that he didn't qualify was his junior season which was cut short due to injury.
Ruhnke received a Bachelor of Science in Environmental Geosciences from Concord University in May of 2019. Upon graduation, he temporarily worked as a Hydrologic Field Technician for the United States Geologic Survey. He is currently enrolled in an online Graduate Certificate in Solar Energy program at Penn State University.
Ruhnke is originally from Charleston, W.Va. where he attended Capital High School and starred on their track and cross country teams. His father, Timothy Ruhnke, is a professor in the Biology Department at West Virginia State.
