CAREER EXPERIENCE
• Alan B. '53 and Elizabeth Heekin Harris Head Coach of Women's Track & Field/Men's and Women's Cross Country, Cornell University (2019-present)
• Assistant Coach, Cornell University (2017-19)
• Assistant Coach, The College of William & Mary (2016-17)
• Director of Operations, Princeton University (2012-16)
• Head Cross Country and Track & Field, St. Catherine University (2006-12)
• Assistant Coach, Cornell College (Iowa) (2005-06)
• Volunteer Assistant Coach, University of Iowa (2001-05)
EDUCATION
• B.A., Psychology, Gustavus Adolphus College (2001)
• M.A. Sports Psychology, Iowa (2004)
AT CORNELL
Mike Henderson, a seasoned coach with more than 15 years of experience, was named an Assistant Coach for the men’s cross country/track & field teams at Cornell University in July of 2017. He was in charge of guiding the Big Red men’s cross country team and the track & field team in the middle-distance and long-distance events.
After serving as the men's cross country and track and field assistant coach for two years, Henderson was named the Alan B. '53 and Elizabeth Heekin Harris Head Coach of Women's Track & Field/Men's and Women's Cross Country in August of 2019.
In his first year as head coach of the cross country teams, Henderson coached the men's and women's team to finish sixth at the 2019 Ivy League Heptagonal Cross Country Championships. The men earned 164 points for their finish while the women notched 127. The women's team went on to finish second at the NCAA Northeast Regional Championship to earn an automatic bid to the 2019 NCAA Championships for the first time since 1998.
After Covid-19 stripped Cornell of its season, Henderson returned in 2021 to coach both the men's and women's cross country teams to finish seventh at Heps. Rebecca Hasser was named First Team All-Ivy after finishing seventh overall at Heps and Perry Mackinnon earned a trip to the NCAA Championship meet in Tallahassee, Fla. as a top individual finisher not associated with a qualifying team after finishing 10th overall at NCAA Northeast Regionals.
Henderson's first season as the head coach of women's track and field was cut short with the cancellation of spring sports to aid in the efforts to slow the spread of the COVID-19 pandemic. Before the cancellation, the team earned a third-place finish at Heps with 82.5 points. Junior Elle Orie earned a title in the 5000 with a facility record while sophomore Beatrice Juskeviciute (pentathlon) and Claire Kao '20 (pole vault) won their respective events with school records. Juskeciviute served as Henderson's first All-American as her pentathlon score qualified for the 2020 NCAA Indoor Track and Field Championship, a competition that was eventually canceled.
During the 2021-22 Indoor Track and Field season, Coach Henderson led his group to a fourth-place finish at the Heptagonal Championships, which included two NCAA qualifying athletes (Juskeciviute and Leone Farquharson), both of which would go on to earn Second Team All-American honors in the pentathlon and long jump, respectively. . The outdoor campaign would have a similar flow, with Mike's squad earning fourth at Heps, along with two All-Americans (Juskeciviute and Marguerite Lorenzo), both earning First Team All-American honors in the heptathlon and high-jump, respectively.
Mike's 2022 Cross Country campaign would see the men finishing third in the Heptagonal Championships, and the women seventh. The men would field Rhys Hammond and Perry Mackinnon in the NCAA Championships, with them finishing 109th and 173rd, respectively. During the 2022-23 Indoor Track and Field campaign, Ama Boham (hurdles) and Victoria Atkinson (pole-vault) set all-time Cornell marks at Heps, which included Boham taking gold in the 60-meter hurdles. The outdoor season would see Victoria Atkinson, Lauren Jones, and Skyy Johnson qualify for NCAA Regionals.
Coach Henderson aided Rhys Hammond and Damian Hackett to All-Ivy distinctions during the 2023 cross country season, while leading the squad to a fifth-place NCAA Regional finish. Much of that success would carry over to the men's and women's events during the 2023-24 track and field slate. For the men, Hackett would go on to set a new 1500-meter school record on his way to an NCAA Championship appearance. On the women's side, Henderson pushed Augustine Haquet and Avery Hilliard to remarkable seasons. Haquet clinched her first NCAA quarterfinal appearance, and Hilliard shattered the freshman pole vault record books throughout the indoor and outdoor seasons and climbed the Big Red all-time list, ranking as high as second.
PRIOR TO CORNELL
Henderson came to East Hill after one season at William & Mary, serving as an assistant cross country coach for both the men's and the women's teams, and helping the Tribe sweep the CAA Championships. Under his guidance, Regan Rome went on to qualify for the NCAA Championships as an individual, and was named both the Athlete and Scholar-Athlete of the Year in the conference. On the track, Henderson's event groups once again shined, qualifying four athletes for the NCAA Eastern Prelims, and winning six of the eight conference titles from the 1,500m up to the 10,000m. On the women's side, Rome earned double All-American honors in both the 5,000m and the 10,000m, finishing sixth in the nation in that latter event, while for the men, David Barney advanced to the 1,500m quarterfinals and became the first Tribe man since 1995 to advance a round in the 1,500m.
Henderson came to Williamsburg after four years at Princeton, where he was the Tiger's first-ever Director of Operations. In that role, he helped Princeton with all non-coaching aspects of the program, including coordinating recruiting, team travel, budgeting, and meet management.
Prior to his time at Princeton, Henderson spent six years at St. Catherine University in Minnesota, serving as both the Head Cross Country and Track & Field coach as well as the Sports Information Director for the women's-only institution. During his tenure, Henderson coached the school's first-ever All-American, and established 52 school records across every event area. His athletes won a pair of MIAC conference titles and 31 all-conference awards, and six earned Academic All-America accolades.
Henderson also spent one year at Cornell College (Iowa) as an assistant coach for both the cross country and track teams, helping his charges to three school records and a pair of all-conference honors.
His coaching career began in 2001 with four years as a volunteer assistant at the University of Iowa where he helped with all facets of the Hawkeye program. While Henderson was in Iowa City, the Hawkeyes won the first regional cross country title in school history (2002) and advanced to three NCAA cross country championships.
COMPETITION CAREER
A team captain at Gustavus Adolphus College, Henderson was a four-time All-MIAC performer and made the conference Academic Honor Roll three times.
