Daniel Michalski was named head cross country coach and assistant track & field coach at LeTourneau University in September 2020. If year one is any indication of how the future will go, then the Michalski led harriers have a bright one ahead! The 2021 accolades included: Three ASC Champions, Six - All-Conference, 21 All-Time Top 5, Seven - New School Records, Two - NCAA D3 National Athletes of the Week, Six - ASC Athletes of the Week, and One - ASC Championships Outstanding Performer. The Cross-Country season was one for the books. The men finished a program best Runner-Up led by junior Lorien Nightingale by winning the individual title, also a program first! He was followed closely by sophomore Spencer Gambrell who finished fourth. The women finished fifth which tied their second-best finish in ASC history. The successes continued on-the-track where Nightingale continued to lead the way. He broke three school records won the ASC 5000m and was runner-up in the 1500. For the women, senior Alexis Segura completed her Yellowjacket career by claiming the 1500m gold, was awarded the Championship Outstanding Performer accolade, and set new 800m and 1500m new school records.
In 2021 “Coach Mo” shined on the track himself. He finished fourth at the USA Olympic Trials in the 3000m Steeplechase. Additionally, he won and set a new Drake Relays record and finished runner-up at the Mt. Sac Relay’s running a personal best and Olympic standard time of 8:21.25. In 2019, he became a United States of America Track & Field World Championships Trials finalist, posting one of the Top 10 steeplechase times in the USA. Michalski was a four time NCAA Division II All-American in Track & Field and Cross Country at Cedarville University, where he earned a bachelor’s degree in Exercise Science in 2018. He went on to pursue a master’s degree in applied sports science at Indiana University where he finished his NCAA eligibility and was a 2 x NCAA Division I All-American and set two new school records.
He is married to Abby, and the couple welcomed their daughter, Daley Joy, in January 2021.
