The Big Sky Conference has named Eric Houle its Cross Country Male Coach of the Year. This comes on the heels of the SUU men's team winning the 2015 conference meet in convincing fashion on October 31, with SUU placing five men in the top 10 runners.
“It's an honor to be named coach of the year, mainly because it comes from your fellow coaches,” said Houle, now in his 24th year at the helm of the track and cross country programs at SUU. “It means a lot because it comes from my peers.” Houle continued, “I appreciate the coaches' belief in me and what this team has done to give me this award.”
The SUU victory is the first Big Sky crown for Coach Houle's teams since joining the league four years ago, and the first conference championship by any SUU men's team. But, this is the 39th conference title a Houle-led team has captured during his tenure. Over that time Houle has been voted coach of the year 34 times in different conferences.
SUU Athletics Director Jason Butikofer said, "Coach Houle is the cream of the crop. His dedication over the past 23 years to SUU Athletics has time and time again shown dramatic results at the conference and national level. This recognition is extremely well deserved and a testament to the program he has built."
Houle is assisted by Paul Limpf and Nigel Sharp in the cross country duties. Since joining the Big Sky, Houle teams have finished third once and second twice. This time around the Thunderbirds dominated the field by having the first two finishers in the race, five in the first 10 and seven athletes in the top 13 finishers.
Houle's teams first gained real national attention in 1999 when they knocked off the top-ranked Colorado squad at regionals to win the Mountain Region. That is a feat Houle hopes to repeat next week in Albuquerque, as Colorado will once again enter the meet as the nation's top-ranked team.
The 1999 Regional win also earned Southern Utah University its first NCAA Division 1 Championship appearance where the team finished 21st in the country. That year Houle's efforts garnered him the NCAA's Mountain Regional Coach of the Year award, and the Championship victory ushered in a new era of achievement by Southern Utah athletes. Notably, All-American Jess Baumgartner broke through at the NCAA Cross Country Championships to finish in third place, opening the door for Cam Levins, who followed up with a fourth place finish and a pair of National titles.
The Thunderbirds started accruing conference titles early on in Houle's career at SUU, setting the standards of achievement in the program high. The men's teams, to date, have won a combined 19-conference titles including a Triple Crown (winning XC, indoor, and outdoor championships all in one year) and 19 team runner-ups. The women have established themselves just as powerfully in conference championships by winning 19-conference championships, 3 Triple Crowns, and 15 runner-ups.
Individuals from these teams have moved on to represent SUU on NCAA Regional, National, and International stages. The highest national placing for the men's team was in the 2012 season when the men's team finished 11th out of 320 Division 1 teams at the NCAA National Championships for both indoor and outdoor track and field. These accomplishments are some of many achieved by Houle's athletes and teams during his tenure at Southern Utah University.
The athletic accomplishments by Houle's teams are too numerous to list but the academic achievements by his student-athletes is equally impressive.
Some of the academic achievements include:
885 Academic All Conference Athletes
· 9 ESPN Academic All Americans
· 18 USTFCCCA Academic All Americans
· 2 Conference Academic Athletes Of The Year (all sports)
Sharla Platt Manuele: Summit League
Erin Stone: Big Sky Conference
· 15 CoSIDA (Sports Information Directors of America) Academic All-District VIII
· 2 Men's Academic National Championships. 1st out of 315 DI teams.
· 5 Women's finishes in the Top Ten Academic Team in the Nation
· 2 Time Women's Highest GPA and Top Ten Finish in the Nation (315 DI Teams)
