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Mick Byrne Position: Head Coach Experience: 3rd season

Mick Byrne Photo Gallery

The storied Wisconsin men's cross country program welcomed a new head coach in 2008, but the results under Mick Byrne have been nothing but the same dominating success. In Byrne's first two seasons at the helm, the Badgers have taken their traditional spot atop the Big Ten twice and in the NCAA winner's podium adding even more hardware to an already impressive trophy case.

Contact Coach Byrne: mgb@athletics.wisc.edu

Byrne by the Numbers
Men's Coach of the Year Honors: 30
2011	National
	Great Lakes Regional
	Big Ten Conference
2010	Big Ten Conference
2009	Big Ten Conference
2008	Great Lakes Regional
	Big Ten Conference
2007	Northeast Regional
	MAAC Conference
2006	Northeast Regional
	MAAC Conference
2005	Northeast Regional
	MAAC Conference
2004	MAAC Conference
2003	Northeast Regional
	MAAC Conference
2002	Northeast Regional
	MAAC Conference
2001	MAAC Conference
2000	MAAC Conference
1999	Northeast Regional
	MAAC Conference
1998	MAAC Conference
1997	MAAC Conference
1996	MAAC Conference
1995	MAAC Conference
1994	MAAC Conference
1993	MAAC Conference
1992	MAAC Conference
1991	MAAC Conference
Championships
• 16 NCAA appearances
•7 Podium Finishes
•21 Team Conference Championships
• 10 Team Regional Championships
Individual Awards
• 39 All-America Honors
• 135 All-Conference Honors
• 17 Conference Champions
• 2 Big Ten Freshmen of the Year
Academic Awards (since 2001)
• 108 Academic All-Conference Honors

Byrne's debut season at Wisconsin featured a record-setting 10th-consecutive Big Ten championship, the school's seventh-straight NCAA Great Lakes Regional title and a fourth-place finish at the NCAA championship. In guiding his team to conference and regional team titles, Byrne earned both Big Ten and Regional Coach of the Year honors.

The Badgers followed up that success by following Byrne to an 11th-consecutive Big Ten title and eighth-straight NCAA Great Lakes Regional championship as well as a seventh-place finish at the NCAA championship. Byrne took home Big Ten honors for the second-consecutive year.

In addition to the team success, Byrne's impact can also be seen in the individual development. Under Byrne's tutelage, Landon Peacock enjoyed his best campaign in 2008, finishing first for the Badgers in all four of his meets. Peacock vaulted to All-American and first-team All-Big Ten status for the first time in his career.

Last season, Elliot Krause, Maverick Darling and Mohammed Ahmed all experienced breakout success for the Badgers. Krause jumped improved 23 spots at the Big Ten championship, finishing in second place in 2009. Darling earned Big Ten Freshman of the Year honors after finishing fourth at the Big Ten championship, while true freshman Ahmed turned in an all-american performance at the NCAA championship meet in his first year of eligibility.

Prior to his arrival in Madison, Byrne spent 24 years in the Division I coaching ranks at Iona College. After taking over Iona's head coaching duties in 1989, he built the Gaels' men's cross country program into not only a conference powerhouse, but also a consistent national contender. The Gaels' tradition of excellence produced an astonishing 17 consecutive Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference (MAAC) titles and 12 trips to the NCAA Championships.

Over his final five seasons at Iona (2003-07), few schools experienced success on the level of Byrne's squad. With four NCAA podium finishes in five seasons, Iona registered the highest finish in school and conference history by placing second in the 2007 NCAA Championship. The Gaels also earned a third-place finish in 2006 as well as fourth-place showings in 2003 and 2005. The runner-up finish in 2007 marked the sixth-straight top-10 finish at NCAAs for Iona and its third consecutive appearance on the winner's podium.

Byrne, who was inducted into the Iona Goal Club Hall of Fame in 2008, has been named the U.S. Track and Field and Cross Country Coaches Association Northeast Regional Coach of the Year in five of the last six years. He piloted the Gaels to NCAA Northeast Regional Championships in each of those seasons. In all, he owns seven regional coach of the year honors.

Individual success has followed Byrne, as well. In two seasons at UW he has guided four runners to All-American status, 10 have earned all-region honors and 11 have been named to the Big Ten first and second teams. Under his tutelage at Iona, the Gaels captured 15 MAAC individual cross country titles, 13 men's cross country All-America honors (28 including track athletes), 29 IC4A champions and 163 All-East selections (includes track).

In addition to his team's strong showing in competition, Byrne has also proven his ability to develop student-athletes in the classroom. Iona was named the NCAA Division I All-Academic Men's Cross Country Team of the Year in both 2006 and 2007. Including last season at UW, his cross country teams have combined to register 100 academic all-conference honors from 2001-09.

Byrne began his coaching career as an assistant at Iona in 1984 and held that post for five seasons until being promoted to head coach prior to the 1989 season. He also piloted both the men's and women's track and field teams and developed the Iona women's cross country program from its inception in 1991. In just over a decade he catapulted the women's cross country team to three MAAC titles in 2004, 2006 and 2007. In 2006, his women's team also finished second at the Northeast Regional and 20th at the NCAA Championships.

A native of Dublin, Ireland, Byrne competed collegiately at Providence College and earned a Bachelor of Science degree in international marketing. A four-year cross country standout for the Friars, he helped elevate the program to national prominence in distance running. Byrne still holds a school record as a member of Providence's 1977 four-mile relay team.

Byrne and his wife Mary Jo have two sons, Aidan and Cian.