Van Beek Named Head Coach

MOORHEAD, Minn. (7/06/21)---Concordia Athletic Director Rachel Bergeson announced that former North Dakota State University All-American, and NCAA Woman of the Year nominee, Maddie Van Beek has been named the new Cobber men's and women's cross country head coach as well as an assistant coach for the men's and women's track and field programs.

Van Beek takes over the head coaching duties from fellow NDSU alum Laura Januszewski who resigned in the beginning of June to take a position closer to home at Pelican Rapids High School.

"We are excited to welcome Maddie to Concordia," Bergeson said. "She has an incredible competitive background and will care deeply for our student-athletes. Maddie will be an asset to our cross country and track and field programs as well as to our entire department."

Van Beek comes to Concordia after serving as a volunteer assistant coach for the NDSU men's and women's track field teams since 2015.

"I've seen Concordia athletes compete at local meets for years, and it's been exciting to see the team gaining momentum," Van Beek said. "I grew up in Perham, Minnesota, and have lived in Fargo since 2010, so I jumped at the opportunity to coach right here in my community."

Van Beek was one of the most decorated distance runners in the Division I history of NDSU. She was named the Summit League Track MVP three times during her career and earned NCAA All-American honors in 2015 when she finished eighth in the 3,000-meter steeplechase.

In addition to her prowess on the track, Van Beek was a highly successful student-athlete for the Bison. She was a 2-time CoSIDA Academic All-American and finished her collegiate career with a 4.0 grade point average as a double major in English and English Education. Van Beek was named the Summit League Scholar Athlete of the Year for all sports in her senior season and was also the Commencement speaker at NDSU in the winter of 2014.   

Concordia is clearly focused on providing student-athletes an excellent well-rounded collegiate experience," Van Beek added. "I'm excited to work with student-athletes to help them build life skills that transfer far beyond a cross country race."

Van Beek is still ranked among NDSU's all-time Top 5 in the mile, 3000 and 5000 meters indoors and the 15000, 5000 and 3000-meter steeplechase outdoors.

Van Beek continues to race on the national level, and was a qualifier for the 2020 US Olympic Trials in the marathon. She also competed in the US Olympic Trials in the 3000-meter steeplechase in 2016. During her postgraduate running career, she has posted 14 Top 10 finishes at US Championship races in distance from the mile all the way to the 25k. In 2019, Van Beek set the record for the women's half marathon at the Fargo Marathon.

"I can't wait to get to know the team better and hope to continue that positive team culture as we chase goals on the course and in the classroom," Van Beek said. "I would like to build on Cobber cross country's momentum from recent years to keep increasing our competitiveness in the MIAC."