ST. PAUL, Minn.- For over three decades, Cross Country and Track and Field runners at the University of Northwestern have had heard one consistent voice cheering them on and encouraging them from the sideline of every course and track they have ever raced on. The voice has been that of
Steve Thiessen. That same voice addressed his teams on Wednesday night and told them that this upcoming outdoor Track and Field season would be his last.
Coach Thiessen has been a head coach at Northwestern for the last 32 years. UNW Athletics has built a reputation of employing long tenured coaches who have countless years of experience, but a person would be hard pressed to find somebody with more experience than Coach Thiessen. Coaching one sport for one year at the collegiate level is an accomplishment. Coaching one sport for over thirty years at the collegiate level is an incredible accomplishment. Having a three decade head coaching career, at one institution, while coaching and managing four separate teams (Men's Cross Country, Women's Cross Country, Men's Track and Field, and Women's Track and Field) is almost unfathomable.
Coach Thiessen's programs, and individual athletes within those programs, thrived on the course and track while he has been at the helm. Coach Thiessen has won 15 combined UMAC Championships within the four sports he manages and he has almost divided them up completely evenly between the men's teams and the women's teams (eight men's UMAC Championships and seven for his women's squads). Thiessen also prides himself on the development of individual athletes within his programs. While at UNW, he has coached three NCCAA individual event champions, 20 NCCAA All-Americans, 60 NCCAA Academic All-Americans, 10 NAIA All-Americans, plus much more.
Coach Thiessen's leadership abilities were on full display in the winter of 2024. In 2023, UNW Women's Indoor Track and Field finished in sixth place at the UMAC Indoor Championships. Fast forward to last weekend, at the 2024 UMAC Indoor Championships, Thiessen's squad completed an unbelievable turnaround in only a year's time. The Eagles finished in a tie for second place in the overall team standings and saw multiple individual event champions as well as all-time program records broken.
Despite the success that his student-athletes have had athletically, it is the personal relationships that he has built and the lives he has changed over the past three decades that truly makes Coach Thiessen a Northwestern coaching legend. UNW Athletic Director, Dr. Matt Hill, expressed his gratitude for the impact Coach Thiessen has had on Eagle athletics. "I am very grateful for the many years of service Coach Thiessen has been a part of at Northwestern," Dr. Hill said. "Besides the many conference and national champions he has coached, he has had an impact on hundreds of student-athletes and their growth as Christians serving in their professions all around the world."
Despite retiring from his coaching role, Coach Thiessen's days of impacting lives at Northwestern are not over.
Steve Thiessen will not be leaving UNW but will instead be transitioning to a new role within the athletic department. Effective in the fall of 2024 (after he finishes coaching his final Track and Field season), Thiessen will become the Game Operations Manager at UNW. He will oversee UNW Athletics game management as well as game day facility setup, maintenance requests, inspections, and assisting with field and equipment needs.
When Coach Thiessen was asked to give some of his thoughts for this press release, he commented that it would be impossible to unpack 30+ years of heart, sweat, and life into a simple quote. Despite remaining at UNW, it has been an emotional week for Coach Thiessen to announce that this would be his final spring coaching the Eagles.
Even though it was a challenge, Coach did find a way to provide some of his many thoughts. "It's been an incredible journey and experience coaching at the University of Northwestern for over thirty years," Coach Thiessen said. "I have worked with many talented, passionate, and dedicated coworkers, staff, and colleagues through collegiate track and field and cross country. I am grateful to God for those relationships and take with me many fond memories with fellow coaches and athletes: stories from road trips and daily connections, some moments of heartache and tears, and much laughter. I am looking forward to the new journeys, relationships, and opportunities that are ahead as I transition into a different role in Eagle Athletics."
UNW Athletics will begin a search for a new Men's and Women's Cross Country and Track and Field Head Coach. As Coach Thiessen closes the book on a legendary coaching career at Northwestern, the long tenured coach had one more thing to say to the athletes that he is saying goodbye to: "Yes, I will still see you out at the track! 1-2-3 FLY!"
