Mike McDowell is entering his 9th season as the head men’s and women’s cross country coach as well as his 9th season as the men’s and women’s track and field coach at Olivet Nazarene University.
A native of Andalusia, IL, McDowell attended Blackhawk Junior College and was a graduate of the University of Iowa, where he was a standout sprinter, competing in the sprints. Throughout his career, he has accumulated numerous accolades including All-American honors. McDowell graduated with a Bachelor of Business Administration and recently secured his Master’s of Organizational Leadership at Olivet.
McDowell came to ONU after serving seventeen years as an assistant track and field coach at Augustana College. There he worked with legendary Coach Paul Olsen, focusing his work mainly with sprinters.
Since being named the head coach in 2001, ONU has seen its cross country and track and field programs become the respectable teams they are today. In the past eight seasons, McDowell’s cross country teams have placed first nine times at the NAIA regional championships and 11 times in the Chicagoland Collegiate Athletic Conference standings. Throughout those eight seasons, McDowell has coached four NAIA All-Americans, resulting in six All-American performances, and twenty NAIA Academic All-Americans. He has also had the privilege of coaching six National Christian College All-Americans, resulting in nine All-American performances.
McDowell’s track and field resume is just as impressive. On the track, McDowell has seen his teams dominate their competition. Under his helm, McDowell has coached a total of fourteen NAIA Indoor All-Americans, resulting in 23 All-American performances, and sixteen Outdoor All-Americans, resulting in twenty-four All-American performances. Included in these All-American efforts were six individual and one relay NAIA National titles, along with twenty-eight NAIA Academic All-Americans. The National titles were garnered by Carmin Green (Indoor 1000m, 07), Bethany McCoy-Carr (Indoor 1500m, 07 & 08, Outdoor Mile, 07), and Mark Hollis (Pole Vault, 06 & 07). Hollis also competed in the 2008 United States Olympic Trials with a qualifying pole vault height of 18’ 10¾”.
At the National Christian College Track and Field Championships, he has had the privilege of coaching fifty-five Indoor All-Americans and 30 Outdoor All Americans, resulting in one hundred and thirty-three All-American performances.
For four consecutive years (2005–08), he has coached the women’s Distance Medley Relay to victories at the Drake Relays. Each of the first three years, the team broke its own meet record, including the 2007 team that currently holds the record at 11:26.59. In 2008, his women’s team won the 4 x 800 Meter Relay, giving him his fifth Drake Relays title. In the previous three years (2005–07), the women finished second in the same relay.
To his credit, McDowell has earned thirteen NAIA Region VII Coach of the Year honors.
Mike and his wife, Janet, have one daughter, Kasey, who graduated from Olivet in 2004 with a degree in photography. Kasey and her husband, Mark Meinhart, have two children, Lillie and Miles.