The Glen Oaks Vikings will be running again this fall. The college is adding men’s and women’s cross country in the National Junior College Athletic Association (NJCAA) Division II level, and will participate in the NJCAA Region 12 and the Michigan Community College Athletic Association (MCCAA). Peter Livingstone-McNelis has been hired to spearhead the program.

Livingstone-McNelis (or Coach L-M, as he prefers) coached women’s track and field as a grad student at the University of California Berkely. He served as the head coach for Kalamazoo College for seven years. He has a bachelor’s in Psychology from Kalamazoo College, where he was an All-Conference and All-Region Cross Country performer.  Coach L-M also holds a master’s in Clinical Psychology from John F. Kennedy University in California, where he specialized in sports psychology.

“The timing is right,” GOCC athletic director Mike Rasmussen said. “We’ve been talking about this for quite a while. It’s important to provide both academic and athletic experiences for our students. There’s a lot of competitive runners here in the county, and we are fortunate to have a great course right here on campus. Coach L-M is a high-energy, passionate coach who will do a great job getting the program up and running. He is focused on recruiting high-level student-athletes to Glen Oaks.”

Those interested in further information or running cross country next fall should contact Livingstone-McNelis at [email protected].