Steve Kruse is entering his 12th season as men's and women's cross country coach at Northern Kentucky University.
Last season, Kruse guided both programs to successful campaigns. The NKU men posted a fifth-place finish at the Great Lakes Valley Conference Championships, and the Norse featured GLVC Freshman of the Year Keith Knapp.
The fifth-place finish was NKU's best since the 2000 season.
The NKU women also finished fifth at the GLVC Championships, and Norse runner Tracy Carskadon earned All-GLVC honors for the second straight year by setting an NKU record in the six-kilometer run with a time of 22:45.
Two years ago, Kruse’s women’s cross country team produced NKU's first-ever All-GLVC selection for that program when Carskadon posted an eighth-place finish at the GLVC Championships. The NKU women also finished fifth as a team, the best performance for the Norse since 1991.
Kruse, a 1984 graduate of the University of Cincinnati, attended NKU from 1979-81 and ran cross country for the Norse before transferring. He then competed for both the track and cross country teams at UC while earning degree in Communication Arts.
A 1979 graduate of Oak Hills High School in Cincinnati, Kruse earned Most Valuable Runner honors for the Highlanders and second team All-City accolades.
He is still an active runner, and he implemented the Brian Rohne 5K Memorial Run at NKU in honor of former Norse runner Brian Rohne, who died after being struck by an automobile in 1993 while on a training run on the AA Highway.
