(Story courtesy of Colorado College Athletics)
COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. -- Katie Bretscher, head coach of the women’s track and field team at St. Olaf College the past six seasons, has been named head coach for the men’s and women’s track and field programs at Colorado College, according to Vice President and Director of Athletics Lesley Irvine.
Bretscher, who also will serve as an assistant cross country coach with the Tigers, produced 15 national qualifiers, eight All-Americans, 14 Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (MIAC) champions, three MIAC champion relays and 18 school records during her stint at St. Olaf.
“We are thrilled to have Katie join us as the head track and field coach,” Irvine said. “As a sitting head coach, she is a proven leader and comes to CC at such an exciting time. Katie joins us in our shared vision to build upon and commit to the previous successes of our track and field program.”
Bretscher’s teams also performed well in the classroom, as 20 of her student-athletes earned U.S. Track & Field and Cross Country Coaches Association (USTFCCCA) All-Academic honors.
In 2020, Bretscher led the Oles to a second-place finish at the MIAC Indoor Track & Field Championships, the program's highest finish since 2013. At the conclusion of the meet, senior Mackenzie Schoustra was named the MIAC Outstanding Field Athlete. The second-place finish also marked the fourth time in the last five MIAC Indoor and Outdoor Championships that St. Olaf finished third or higher.
This past spring, Paige Woldt posted St. Olaf’s best-ever finish in the triple jump at the NCAA Division III Outdoor Track & Field Championships. Woldt finished seventh nationally to claim All-America honors in the event and was one of two Oles to finish in the top-10 nationally along with Ellen Mickelson, who was ninth in the 1,500-meter run.
"I am honored to be the next head track & field coach at Colorado College,” Bretscher said. “This is a program rich in history and tradition and I am eager to add to it. I would like to thank Lesley Irvine and the entire search committee for providing this opportunity to me. It is a dream to work at an institution that combines the very best of a liberal arts education with unparalleled athletic facilities and support."
Prior to her tenure at St. Olaf, Bretscher coached the sprints, jumps and hurdles and was an assistant cross country coach at Cornell College (Iowa). Prior to her time there, she was an assistant track and field coach for two seasons at St. Lawrence University in Canton, N.Y., where for one year she also served as a compliance assistant.
Bretscher has a USA Track and Field Level 2 (sprints, hurdles and relays) certification and is a member of the U.S. Track and Field and Cross Country Coaches Association.
Bretscher competed collegiately on the track and field team at DePauw University, where she was the team's most valuable track performer in 2007, a coach's award winner in 2006 and broke five school records in her career. Bretscher stayed at DePauw as an assistant coach in 2009-10 and was an intern for the 2010 NCAA Division III Indoor Track and Field Championships.
She graduated cum laude from DePauw with a B.A. in mathematics and earned her M.Ed. in educational leadership from St. Lawrence in 2012.
A graduate of the NCAA Women Coaches Academy, Katie and her husband, Daniel, have two sons, Noah and Eli.
