Wayland High School graduate Robert Young has been promoted to head coach of the Michigan Tech track and field program, Vice President for Athletics and Recreation Suzanne Sanregret has announced.
Young has spent the previous 11 months as the assistant head coach, following one season as assistant coach for both the cross country and track and field teams. He will remain as the assistant coach for cross country under head coach Kristina Owen.
“Coach Young has displayed the core values that we look for in coaches at Michigan Tech since arriving in June of 2021,” Sanregret said. “He has shown a commitment to academic and athletic success, along with embodying our core values of excellence, integrity, loyalty, passion, tradition and teamwork. I am very excited to see Robby continue to elevate the track and field program at Michigan Tech.”
“I’m excited to step into this new role as it will help us to take this program to a new level,” Young said. “Coach Owen and I collaborate very well together, and I’m proud of the successes we have had over the past two years. She has been instrumental in helping our program move in an increasingly competitive direction and I look forward to furthering that. I’d also like to thank Suzanne for acknowledging the collaborative nature of our staff and creating this opportunity to allow us to redistribute the workload to further optimize the program. “
Young started his career at Tech as an assistant cross country/track & field coach in June 2021, coming from Rampart High School in Colorado Springs, where he spent time at the helm of the cross country and track & field teams while being a high school science teacher.
He brought nine seasons of high school coaching experience to the Huskies from Rampart, where he also taught a myriad of high school science courses. Young served as head boys and girls cross country coach from 2012-21 and was also head track and field coach for six years.
Mentoring and teaching between 70 and 90 student-athletes on the roster in a given year, Young’s teams won nine team conference championships and achieved six team state top-10 finishes. He has also coached one individual state champion, two state runners-up, multiple all-state performers, seven individual cross country conference champions, and 41 track and field individual conference champions.
Young holds a master’s of education from the University of Missouri with an emphasis in positive coaching. He earned his bachelor of science and teaching certificate from Grand Valley State University in 2008 and graduated with honors. Young taught high school science, physics, chemistry, and practical science and engineering for 12 years.
As a student-athlete at Grand Valley State, Young competed for the Lakers’ cross country and track and field teams from 2003-08. Among his accolades includes being named NCAA Division II All-American for both cross country and track and field. He set the school record in 3,000-meter steeplechase and was a conference champion in the event. After college, he continued to train and compete, garnering Boulder Running Company and Adidas sponsorships.
The son of Coleen and David Young of Wayland, he is a 2003 graduate of Wayland High School.
He looks like you Dave poor kid HAHA!! Congrats young man.