Kathleen Raske completed her fifth year as director of the YellowJacket track and field/cross country programs in 2023-24.
By the Numbers
- 3 NCAA Team Top 25 finishes
- 38 All-Americans
- 224 NCAA Final and Preliminary Qualifiers
- 20 Conference Team Championships
- 297 Conference Champions
- 690 All-Conference
- 1,416 All-Time Top 10 marks
"We are very excited to welcome Kathleen Raske to the LeTourneau University Athletic family," said then-athletic director Terri Deike at the time of Raske's hiring. "Her expertise and experience coaching track and field student-athletes will create a seamless transition for the two-year program that has been established. After a national search, we are very fortunate and blessed to have Kathleen take the lead and keep the momentum of the new program moving forward. Her energy and passion for student-athletes and track and field coaching, coupled with her strong Christian faith will provide a great learning environment for our student-athletes. We look forward to the growth and success of the Track and Field / Cross Country program under Kathleen’s guidance."
2023 was the best year in the history of the program, highlighted on the track by two top-three ASC Championships team finishes. The men were led by senior Jacob White as he was named the ASC Sportsmanship Athlete of the Year and scored 24.25 points while placing in the top-three in three events and scoring in four. On the year, he also set five new school records. The women were led by a tandem of Ellie Marsh and Victoria Wilson. The pair combined to score 34.5 points competing in a combined eight events. Marsh won the 400-meter hurdles in a school record of 1:04.30.
Cross country also had a terrific year in 2022. The men finished third at the ASC Championships and were led by fifth-place finisher and ASC Freshman of the Year David Dugan. Senior Spencer Gambrell was the YellowJackets' top national representative finishing in the top 50 at the West Region. The women led by freshman Briella Rose’s seventh and senior Sierra Benner’s 10-place finishes and the YellowJackets placed fifth overall at the ASC Championships. The men and women were named USTFCCCA All-Academic Teams. Combined, the programs collected six CSC Academic All-District honors. In all, the yearly accolades totaled two NCAA Championship participants, nine All-Region honors, four ASC champions, 14 All-Conference, 12 ASC Athletes of the week, 22 new program records, and 91 All-Time Top 5 marks.
2021 saw the program reach new heights. The men’s cross country season was the best in the history of the program. Senior Lorien Nightingale led a young team to a program first American Southwest Conference team championship. He did so by winning his second individual ASC conference title. Nightingale also finished 16th at the West Regional Championship earning second team All-Region honors, was named ASC Athlete of the Week five times, and earned NCAA DIII Academic All-America status. Freshman Pablo Lomeli Lluis finished third and transfer Nick Carter followed closely placing third and sixth both earning first team all-conference accolades. Both the men and women’s teams earned NCAA DIII All-Academic Team honors.
The track teams also faired extremely well in 2022. The YellowJacket women finished third at the ASC Championships. Sophomore Tashianna Gray led the team by scoring in five events. Her best finish was runner-up in the 200 and she set two new school records. Freshman Ellie Marsh had a terrific season. She scored in five events and won the ASC Freshman of the Year award. The men’s year was highlighted by Jack Miller. The junior claimed his second and third NCAA DIII All-American honors finishing as LeTourneau history highest national finish of fourth indoor and followed up with seventh outdoor. Miller also won the ASC pole vault title and set indoor and outdoor school records. He was also awarded the LETU male Co-Athlete of the Year award. In all the yearly accolades included two NCAA All-Americans, 13 All-Region honors, 14 ASC Athletes of the week, 34 new school records, 112 new All-Time Top 5 marks.
2020-21 was filled with continued growth for the Raske-led YellowJackets. The yearly accolades included one NCAA National Championship participant, 21 All-Region honors, two national athletes of the week, 19 ASC Athletes of the week, 32 program records, and 106 new all-time top five marks. LeTourneau’s men’s cross country team had a history best runner-up team finish and Lorien Nightingale won a first ever individual title. The women finished fourth, second best in program history. Indoor, the men were ranked as high as 15th nationally. The men and women combined for 16 All-Region accolades. Sarah Horan became the first YellowJacket woman to participate in the Outdoor NCAA Division III national championship. She finished 11th in the 400-meter. The men finished a program best third at the ASC championships. The women were ranked as high as 30th nationally and finished fourth at the ASC championships. Alexis Segura was awarded the ASC championship Outstanding Perfomer and Sportsmanship awards. Additionally, senior Bari Schunicht was awarded LETU Scholar-Athlete of the Year.
2020 was certainly a special year, even with COVID eliminating the outdoor season. Before it did, the indoor season was certainly a very good indicator of how the program is going to move forward and improve in the coming years. The yearly accolades included one NCAA All-American, three All-Region honors, six ASC Athletes of the week, 22 program records, and 40 new all-time top five marks. Additionally, Alexis Segura was selected as a CoSIDA Academic All-American and All-District, awarded the ASC women’s track and field Distinguished Scholar-Athlete of the Year, and the LETU Scholar-Athlete of the Year. LeTourneau’s men's cross country team finished fourth at the American Southwest Conference Championships. Two runners, Lorien Nightingale and Spencer Gambrell, qualified for the NCAA Division III South/Southeast Region meet. The women's cross country team was sixth at the ASC Championships, while Segura qualified for the regional. In the indoor track & field season, men's pole vaulter Jack Miller earned All-American honors. Along with Jack, Kaitlyn Reed and Sarah Horan earned All-South/Southeast Region indoor honors.
Her family-focused, team-oriented philosophy has provided her a plethora of successes throughout her career. Prior to LETU, Raske directed the programs at her alma mater Southern Illinois. While there she led the men’s team to its highest NCAA finish in 33 years placing 14th at 2017 indoor NCAA championships. Additional accolades included two top 25 NCAA team finishes, three MVC runner-up and three third place team trophies, one Olympian (eighth-place finish), two Olympic Trials Medalist, three Olympic Trials participants, one World Championship participant, one Junior Pan-American Championship participant, two NACAC participants / two NACAC Medalists, one CARIFTA Games participant, one Bowerman Award semifinalist, one NCAA Champion, one NCAA runner-up, one NCAA Meet Record, one NCAA All-Time Best, one NCAA American Record, 15 NCAA All-Americans, 18 NCAA Championship Final Round participants, 49 NCAA Championship Preliminary Round qualifiers, one National Athlete of the Week, 13 MVC Championships MVPs, five MVC Championship meet records, 61 MVC Conference Champions, 118 MVC All-Conference, four MVC Cross Country All-Conference, 11 SIU School Records, and 121 All-Time Top Ten marks.
Not to be outdone, the 2017-18 Salukis track and cross country student athletes also excelled in the classroom. In all, the academic accolades included men Academic All-America 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, 37 MVC Scholar Athletes, one Elite 18 honoree, and one CoSIDA award winner.
Prior to SIU, Raske 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, she coached three All-Americans, 19 conference champions, 49 all-league recipients, 20 NCAA championship meet qualifiers, and 53 school records were established. In 2002, she led CMU to its first Mid-American Conference Team 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.
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. She is a member of the NACAC Coaches Working Group, is currently the Vice Chair for the Coaches Advisory Committee with USATF and on the USATF Women’s Track & Field Committee. She is also a mentor for the USTFCCCA Female Coaching Mentorship Program and served on the executive committee of the Division I USTFCCCA for 10 years.
In addition to her committee responsibilities, Raske has lectured on the topic of hurdling and sprinting at coaching clinics throughout the United States and internationally. She is 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 created and served as the faculty advisor for the FCA huddle at Sacramento State.
An All-American in the 100-meter hurdles at SIU, 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 Athlete of the Decade by the Gateway Conference and was inducted into SIU’s athletic Hall of Fame in 1997.
Raske graduated from SIU with a double major in education and zoology. She is a certified strength and conditioning specialist with the NCSA and USTFCCCA 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 Masters of Coaching for sprints and hurdles certification program.
