Release courtesy of Brad Monastiere, Assistant Athletic Director for Media Relations and Event Management, Hillsdale College
Hillsdale, Mich.
-- Coach Bill Lundberg has announced his retirement from
his coaching duties at Hillsdale College, effective at the end of
the 2011 men’s cross country season. Coach Lundberg
will continue his teaching responsibilities at the college through
the academic year.
“Coach Lundberg has carried a challenging load for many
years with his combined coaching and teaching duties,” said
Director of Athletics Don Brubacher. “He has served Hillsdale
College with distinction for many years and now is excited about
new possibilities for his life and his work. We know he will
continue his unwavering interest in people and his commitment to
his faith as he seeks new challenges in the future.”
“It has been a privilege to serve Hillsdale College these
past 26 years and my teaching and coaching have been most
rewarding,” Coach Lundberg said. “With a career in
education that started 34 years ago, I have been blessed with
leading young people and helping them achieve their goals. My
student-athletes and colleagues, my family and friends have always
been my motivation.
“I look forward to new challenges and the opportunity to
focus on other aspects of my work and career. As Proverbs 16:9
says, ‘The mind of a man plans his way, but, the Lord directs
his steps.’”
Coach Lundberg will go down as a successful and one of the
longest-tenured head coaches in the nearly 120-year history of
athletics at Hillsdale College. A man who shaped and defined track
and field at the college for a quarter-century carries with him the
knowledge, enthusiasm and love that have endeared him to multiple
generations of student-athletes.
Lundberg began his coaching career at Hillsdale in February 1985,
starting out leading the men’s track and cross country
programs. Women’s track and cross country coaching duties
were added to his responsibilities on two occasions, including each
year since the start of the 2003-04 season. His teams have enjoyed
great success, winning 25 conference championships while making a
smooth and successful transition from NAIA status to NCAA Division
II classification. He’s guided the careers of 17 NCAA and
NAIA national champions, and more than 200 Academic and Athletic
All-Americans. In the 2009-10 school year alone, 10 different track
and field and cross country athletes earned All-American
honors.
Coach of the Year honors surround Coach Lundberg. He was named the
1994 NAIA national coach of the year, and earned a total of 22
GLIAC Coach of the Year honors throughout his career guiding the
Chargers’ cross country, indoor track and outdoor track
programs. His teams captured 23 conference championships among
those three sports during his coaching tenure.
His coaching career began at Jackson Community College in 1977,
when he became the youngest track coach of any college-level track
program in the nation. He then moved on to assistant coaching
positions at Eastern Michigan University and the University of
Michigan before being hired to Hillsdale College by former Athletic
Director Jack McAvoy in 1985.
Lundberg, a 1972 graduate of Jackson Lumen Christi High School,
competed collegiately for the University of Kansas. In 1976 and in
1980, he participated in the United States Olympic Trials in the
steeplechase event. He and his wife Sharon have been married for 28
years. They have three children: Steve, Kate and Thomas.