Mike Collins is in his 28th seasons as coach of the Warrior Cross Country teams, and is in his 25th with the LC State Track and Field teams. When Collins took over the men’s and women’s cross country teams at Lewis-Clark State, they had only existed for one season, and he thought it would be a short-term engagement. He did not know that he would fall in love with coaching, and the student-athletes. After 27 seasons with the Warriors he has taken this short-term project and helped to turn it into one of the premier running programs in the country.
In the past 27 years Collins’ teams have produced 11 NAIA National Champions, 146 All-Americans, 15 conference Runner of the Year honorees, three Region I Runners of the Year and numerous all-conference and all-region selections. Additionally, the Education Division’s Student of the Year has been a cross country runner four times (2001, 2003, 2008 and 2010). In 2009, the President’s award, which goes to the outstanding graduate, was awarded to a cross country runner (Rosa Bautista), and in 2021 and 2022, the Cascade Conference Scholar-Athlete of the Year was a cross country/track athlete (Clayton VanDyke). LC State teams are among the best in team GPA and academic accomplishments year in and year out. 23 Warrior cross country/track and field student-athletes were named 2023-24 Daktronics NAIA Scholar-Athletes and 10 earned CSC Academic All-District. Warrior Cross Country/Track and Field has had five CSC Academic All-Americans.
Coach Collins has earned Frontier Conference Coach of the Year 20 times and earned the award on the men's side in the team's first year in the Cascade Conference. This honor is typically given to the coach of the winning men’s and/or women’s team at the conference championships.
For 15 years (from 2001-2015) the women’s cross country team placed in the top-25 at nationals, finishing (chronologically) 15th, ninth, 19th, 17th, 19th, 21st, 19th, 14th, 15th 18th, 11th, eighth, fourth, national championship runner up (2nd) in 2014 – their best finish ever, and 16th in 2015. After finishing 26th in 2016, they were 22nd in 2017 and 10th in 2018. Finishing in the top four, which they have done twice, receiving a national trophy.
A full men’s team qualified for nationals for the first time in 2003 and finished 23rd. The men’s squad has also competed at nationals in each of the past 15 years, finishing in the top 10 seven times, including five straight from 2013 to 2017. In 2017 they finished in fifth place, one shy of a trophy and followed it up last year with an 11th place finish. They won the first trophy for either program (men or women), in 2011 and produced the program's highest finish, third, in 2019.
Collins has had seven different athletes finish first in an NAIA national event, including Jennah Carpenter who won both the indoor and outdoor high jump in 2023. One of those athletes, current assistant coach Sam Atkin, turned pro and competed in the 10,000m for team Great Britain at the Olympics held in Japan in 2021.
Collins works hard to stay on top of the current research, science and methods in regards to coaching his runners. He has a Master’s degree in Exercise Physiology from the University of Utah and a Ph.D. in Sport Science from the University of Idaho. All of his research at both schools dealt with improving the performances of endurance athletes. He is also a USATF Certified Level II coach with a specialization in endurance and is working towards his Level III. Although Collins works hard to stay on top of the latest in the sport, he is a big believer in the hard and work ethic of his athletes. No matter what they may or may not have been “gifted” with, if they are willing to work hard, they will get faster.
He is the director of the Warrior Running Camp, the largest distance running camp in the state of Idaho and serves as the director, president and founder of the Confluence Elite Track Program. A USA Track & Field club located in the LC Valley that works to introduce young people to the sport of track and help them develop.
Coach Collins is a part of the leadership within the sport of running, serving as President for the NAIA Cross Country Coaches Association and has been a national rater for the past 13 years as well as a member of many coaching committees. He is also part of the leadership in track and field currently serving as the coach’s association’s vice president. This leadership also extends into his other campus work where he was a member of the Lewis-Clark State College Faculty Senate, a committee member on the athletic advisory board and other campus groups.
In 2014, Collins was elected to the Lewiston City Council, and in 2017 he was voted in as mayor.
From an athletic standpoint, Collins has qualified for the USA Triathlon National Championships eight times and completed his first Ironman Triathlon (2.4m swim, 112m bike, 26.2m run) in 2005, finishing in 11:06.24 after cramping up 13 miles into the run. He also completed Ironman competitions in 2009 and 2012.
Collins believes that he should be willing to walk the walk and not just talk the talk. In addition to the triathlons, he runs on a daily basis and pushes himself to stay fit. Although he doesn’t run at the same level of his athletes, he works to be a good example of what it means to be committed to your sport, to work and train hard to be better.
In his spare time Collins enjoys fly fishing, running, doing triathlons and spending time with his family. His wife Tracy is the head athletic trainer at Lewis-Clark State and assists with the team. His two daughters (Kassie and Emily) provide a great deal of fun. Both are actively involved in sports with Kassie being a former volleyball player for Walla Walla Community College, and Emily is a member of the LC State Track and Field team.
