The 2025-26 school year marks Mark Misch’s 19th season with the University of Colorado Colorado Springs cross country and track and field programs. He is the Head Men's Cross Country and the Assistant Track and Field Coach for men's distance.
Misch wrapped up his 18
th cross country season at UCCS, leading the Mountain Lions to their 11
th NCAA DII Championship meet appearance. After notching a fourth-place finish at the conference championship meet and a seventh-place finish two weeks later at the NCAA regional meet, Misch and the Mountain Lions finished 15
th overall at the national meet with 435 points. Boosting the Mountain Lions to a top-15 finish at the national championship meet was
Enzo Knapp, who crossed the finish line first for UCCS and 67
th overall, followed by Jagger Zlottoff’s 82
nd-place finish. Zlotoff paced the Mountain Lions in the awards column, receiving USTFCCCA All-Region and All-RMAC First Team accolades. He and Brett Davis, also an All-RMAC First Team performer, were named to the RMAC All-Academic First Team while 15 more Mountain Lions were named to the Honor Roll.
Misch and the men's cross country team put together another strong 2023 season as they finished in 19
th place at the NCAA Division II National Championship meet. The Mountain Lions opened the season with the UCCS Rust Buster 8k and finished the best of the six teams competing. Three weeks later, the Mountain Lions headed to Falcon Heights, Minn., and competed in the UM Roy Griak Invite 8k. UCCS placed fifth at the meet out of 33 teams, with two Mountain Lions finishing in the top 20 in the race. On October 21
st, UCCS began its post-season, finishing fifth at the conference championship meet in Denver, Colo., and followed that with a seventh-place finish at the South Central Regional meet in Lubbock, Texas, two weeks later. Placing seventh in the regional meet earned UCCS an at-large bid to the NCAA Division II National Championship in Joplin, Mo., where the Mountain Lions placed 19
th out of 34 teams in Division II. Pacing the Mountain Lions in 2023 was Jagger Zlotoff, who earned CSC Academic All-District, All-RMAC First Team, and RMAC All-Academic First accolades. UCCS was ranked in the USTFCCCA Top 25 poll for nine weeks, earning its highest ranking of the season on Sept. 20 (No. 18) and finishing the year ranked No. 19 in Division II.
The Mountain Lions followed a highly successful 2021 with another top-notch season in 2022, starting the season with back-to-back individual and team wins, and capped off the season with a 13th-place finish at the NCAA Division II National Championship. The Mountain Lions' post-season saw UCCS finish fourth at the Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference championship meet, and fourth at the 25-team NCAA South Central Regional meet, hosted by MSU Denver on Nov. 19 at Washington Park. The fourth-place finish earned UCCS an at-large bid to the NCAA Division II National Championship in University Place, Wash., where the Mountain Lions earned a 13th-place finish out of the top 34 teams in Division II. Will Young and Evan Graff led the Mountain Lions on the RMAC All-Academic First Team while eight others garnered Honor Roll recognition. The trio of Evan Graff, Marcus Graham, and Afe Zeru ran to USTFCCCA All-Region honors after finishing in the top 25. Zeru claimed several firsts in program history with his performances this season. He became the first Mountain Lion to earn USTFCCCA Athlete of the Week honors, and the first student-athlete to be named RMAC Runner of the Week multiple times in a season. He also became the first four-time All-American, and the first Mountain Lion to claim four USTFCCCA All-South Central Region honors.
Misch and the Mountain Lions are coming off one of their most successful seasons in program history. In 2021, Misch led UCCS to its eighth NCAA Division II National Championship meet appearance and its highest ever finish at the national meet. UCCS, which has qualified for the national meet seven times under Misch (2008, 2011, 2012, 2014, 2018, 2019, 2021), finished fifth out of 34 teams on Nov. 20, scoring 254 points. The Mountain Lions previous best finish was 11th place in 2004 and 2012. Afewerki Zeru paced UCCS in the post-season, finished second at both the RMAC and NCAA South Central Regional meets, before earning All-America accolades - the first All-American under Misch - with a 15th place finish at the NCAA DII Cross Country National Championship meet. He became the fourth Mountain Lion to earn All-America honors and the first since Moses Tum in 2004. Under Misch's guidance, seven Mountain Lions earned RMAC All-Academic nods, four All-RMAC (Zeru, Matt Schramm, Mark Simmons and Branden Bohling), and four All-South Central Region honors (Zeru, Schramm, Simmons and Evan Graff).
During the 2022 indoor track season, Zeru broke the school records in the 5000m and 3000m and Evan Graff broke the school record in the Mile. Both men competed at the NCAA II Indoor Track&Field Championships along with Gavin Harden with Zeru making all-American in the 5000. In the outdoor season Graff broke the school record in the 1500m and Zeru broke the school records in the 5000m and 10,0000m. Both men who competed at the NCAA II Outdoor Track&Field Championships were Zeru made all-American in the 10,000m and won the NCAA II National Championship in the 5000m. Zeru tied as the high point scorer for the championships and was named the RMAC Outdoor Track Athlete of the Year.
In a COVID-19 abbreviated season in 2020, Misch and the Mountain Lions competed in two regular season meets - both home meets - before hosting the RMAC Cross Country Championship meet at Monument Valley Park. The Mountain Lions opened the season with a first place finish at the UCCS Rust Buster, hosting the first collegiate Division II race of the season. Two weeks later, UCCS recorded a second place finish at the UCCS XC Open, held at Cherokee Ridge Golf Course, before notching a sixth place finish in the conference championship meet and automatically qualifying for the 2020 D2 XC National Invitational. Matthew Schramm earned All-RMAC Second Team honors with a 25th place finish while seven Mountain Lions were named to the RMAC All-Academic Team: Charlie Kieffer (First Team), Cole Dunton, Evan Graff, Gary Kurtz, Walker Rudolph, Patrick Schmidt, Will Young
During the 2020 season, Misch also served as the national coordinator for the inaugural XC National Coaches' Poll, which was released weekly and included conference and national rankings involving teams competing in cross country in 2020. In December 2020, Misch was named the 2020 Estonian Men's Coach of the Year after coaching the 2020 Men's Athlete of the Year Tiidrek Nurme.
In 2019, Misch guided the Mountain Lions to a 20th place finish at the NCAA II Championships as well as a fourth-place finish at the RMAC Championships and a fifth-place finish at the South Central Regional Championships. Afewerki Zeru, Mark Simmons and Matt Schramm earned all-conference and all-region honors for the team. The Mountain Lions were nationally ranked in the top 20 throughout the entire cross country season, including a season high No. 10.
Misch guided the men's cross country team to the NCAA Division II National Championships in 2008, 2011, 2012, 2014, 2018 and 2019 where they finished 17th, 19th, 11th and 23rd, 12th and 20th respectively as well as individual qualifier David Kimaiyo in 2017. The 11th place finish matched the best finish in program history all while competing in the top distance running conference and region at the NCAA II level. The Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference currently holds the NCAA II record for having the most teams qualify for a National Cross Country Championship in the same season with six teams, a record which the UCCS men's squad has been a part of setting or tying six times since 2008.
He also led the Mountain Lion women's cross country team from 2007-11. In 2008, Shannon Payne recorded one of the best seasons in program history with a win at the NCAA Division II regional championship and a third-place finish at the NCAA II National Championships as well as finishing as the second collegian and 15th at the USA National Cross Country Championships and all-American honors in the 10,000m run in track as well as RMAC titles at 3000m and 5000m.
Since 2008 the UCCS Mountain Lions have had 38 different men qualify to compete in 62 different distance events at the NCAA II cross country, indoor track & field and outdoor track & field championships as well as multiple all-RMAC and all-region performers. On the academic side, the Mountain Lion men’s cross country teams have won 10 U.S. Track & Field and Cross Country Coaches Association All-Academic awards and have had several student-athletes earn individual RMAC and USTFCCCA all-Academic honors. Ryder Tam was named the RMAC Summit Award winner in 2013 with the top cumulative grade point average among runners at the conference championships. Misch also coached cross country runners Luke Dakin and Mike English who were named recipients of the UCCS McLaughlin Award which is the highest award given out by the UCCS Athletic Department.
Misch also started the annual UCCS Rust-Buster Jamboree Cross Country meet in 2007 and was the meet director for the 2012 RMAC Cross Country Championships and the 2012 Colorado USATF Cross Country Championships which at that time was the biggest combined cross country event in RMAC history. Outside of coaching at UCCS Misch founded and directed the Colorado Springs Free Cross Country Camp from 2011-2018 and was a founding member of the non-profit Harambee Foundation. He also served terms as the Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference representative on the USTFCCCA Executive Committee, President and Vice President for NCAA Division II Cross Country as well as on the USTFCCCA Board of Directors.
Misch has also mentored and coached several post-college runners nationally and internationally, including current Drake Relays Meet Director and sub-4:00 miler Blake Boldon, Estonian Olympians and national record-holders Tiidrek Nurme and Kaur Kivistik and top American runners Jessica Watychowicz (winner of the 2022 Twin Cities Marathon) and Dan Michalski (fourth place at the 2021 USA Olympic Trials 3000m steeplechase). Misch has has served on the Estonian National Team coaching staff and coached at the 2016 Rio Olympic Games, 2017 London World Track & Field Championships, 2018 Berlin European Track&Field Championships, 2019 Doha World Track&Field Championships, 2021 Tokyo Olympic Games and the 2022 Munich European Track&Field Championships.
Misch is a native of Coffeyville, Kan., where he earned All-Southeastern Kansas honors in cross country and track and field, and all-state honors in track and field at Field Kindley Memorial High School. He graduated from Baker University with a bachelor's degree in mass communications in 1995, where he won seven Heart of America Athletic Conference championships and was an 11-time All-HAAC performer. Misch was also a member of teams that won back-to-back HAAC conference championships in cross country and qualified for the first time in program history for the NAIA National Championships. Misch went on to compete for several years as a post-collegiate runner, and as a master’s runner, he was a member of the Boulder Running Company / Adidas team that won both the 2014 and 2015 USA Masters National Cross Country Championships.
Misch was the Head Coach at Bethany College in the 1995-96 season before he moved became a coach at Alameda High School in Lakewood, Colo., to train and study the effects of altitude training. He went back to school to earn his master's degree in athletic administration and communications from 1998-99 at Fort Hays State University. During that time, he worked as an assistant coach and focused on the cross country team and on middle and long-distance runners during track and field season.
Misch became the Head Coach in 2000 at Southwest Baptist University and built the cross country and track and field programs from scratch. He coached T.J. Sanderson as the first SBU student-athlete to qualify for the NCAA II cross country, indoor and outdoor track and field national championships.
In 2005, Misch began serving on the staff for Athletes in Action Track and Field, continuing a relationship that started in 1994 as a volunteer. Over the years, Misch has traveled to numerous countries via AIA and attended international events such as the World Cross Country Championships, the Commonwealth Games, the World Track and Field Championships, and the Olympic Games. He concluded his commitments with AIA in 2006 before accepting the position at UCCS.
