women's cross country Coaches

Entering his 24th season of overseeing the St. Lawrence University Cross-Country and Track and Field programs, Mike Howard will again serve as the head coach of the women's cross country team in 2012.

Howard, the Director of the Saints Cross-Country and Track & Field Programs, also oversees the Men's and Women's Track & Field program and serves the university as an Associate Athletic Director in charge of all scheduling and NCAA compliance duties within the department.

He has guided his team to three consecutive Atlantic Regional titles (2009, 2010, 2011), earning automatic bids to the NCAA Championship each year.  The Saints finished second in the nation in 2009, the highest place in program history.  Howard has coached some of the top cross country and track athletes in the university's history, including three All-Americans in the past three years (Wendy Pavlus, Johannah Ludington and Jenna Hulton) and a two-time national champion (Pavlus). 

Howard, a 1987 St. Lawrence graduate, who stepped out of the role as the Head Cross-Country coach after the fall of 2000, has won numerous Coach of the Year Awards including six United States Track & Field and Cross-Country Coaches Association NCAA Division III Cross Country Regional Coach of the Year honors, most recently in 2011. He has won 19 conference "Coach of the Year" honors during his tenure with the Cross-Country and Track & Field programs as well as earning the same honor in New York State for both sports several times.

Kate Curran, a former Penn State cross country and track and field athlete, joined the Saint staff as head women's track and field coach and assistant cross country coach in the fall of 2008 and earned Liberty League Indoor Coach of the Year honors in her first season as a collegiate head coach. She was named Liberty League indoor Coach of the Year for the 2012 season. Her teams have had three top ten finishes in the Deb Vercauteren Program of the Year Award.

She is  president of the New York State Collegiate Track Conference and is the Atlantic Regional representative to the NCAA Cross Country and Track and Field Committee.

Curran came to St. Lawrence from Susquehanna University where she served as an assistant coach. She holds a USATF Level 1 Coaching certification and was Gatorade Sport Camp Hydration Manager at the Penn State summer sports camps. She coached distance and mid-distance runners along with pole vaulters at Susquehanna and had two NCAA qualifiers in the vault in the 2006-07 season.

As a Penn State undergraduate, she was a member of the Nittany Lion cross country and track and field teams and was varsity cross country captain as a senior. She was a member of the 2004 Big Ten Champion women's track and field team and earned Penn State and Big Ten Scholar-Athlete awards and was the recipient of the Big Ten Sportsmanship Award in 2005.

Dr. Ana Estevez will serve as the Faculty Mentor for the women's lacrosse and cross country team throughout 2012-2013.

Education History:
B.S. - Binghamton University
Ph.D. - Wayne State University

Current Professional/Research Interest:
"I am a neuroscientist with research interests in ion channel physiology and neurodegeneration. I teach Introductory and Advanced Neuroscience as well as the upper level electives Cellular Mechanisms of Memory and Drugs and the Brain. Because students are an integral part of my research program, I typically have several working with me every semester.

Lyndsay LaBarge, the Assistant Director of Admissions, will serve as the women's cross country team's Faculty/Staff Mentor for the 2012-13 season.

Recruitment Areas
Alaska, Connecticut, Washington, D.C., Delaware, Idaho, Maryland, Montana, North Dakota, Ohio, Oregon, Rhode Island, South Dakota, Virginia, and Washington. Within New York State I recruit in the following counties: Dutchess, Orange, Putman, Rockland, and Westchester.

Office Responsibilities
I travel extensively for recruitment throughout my territories. When I am not interviewing students, and reviewing applications, I am the coordinator for our summer internship program and our Leadership Scholarship. In addition, I am a co-coordinator of our senior admissions fellowship program. Along with coordinating the social media program for the admissions office.

Originally From
Tupper Lake, NY

While in College...
I graduated from St. Lawrence University with a Bachelor of Science in Biology and a double minor in African Studies and Education. On campus I was an Admissions Ambassador, an Admissions Intern, an Orientation Leader, a sister of Kappa Delta Sigma Sorority, and studied abroad on the Kenya Semester Program.

Favorite Movies
The Lion King, Miracle, The Dark Knight

Favorite Books
Harry Potter, The Help, Water for Elephants

Favorite Quote
"Life is the most spectacular show on Earth!"