SOUTH EUCLID, Ohio – Earlier this month, Notre Dame College Vice President for Intercollegiate Athletics Scott Swain announced that the sports of cross country and track & field would return to campus. On Tuesday, the decision was made to bring Michael Larkin aboard to get the programs up and running.
 
"I'm excited to become a part of the growing Notre Dame College athletics community and looking forward to bringing the Cross Country and Track and Field program back to Notre Dame College," Larkin said. "In the next few months, I plan on putting together a well-rounded roster both on the Track and in the Field events that can be ready to compete at the highest level immediately."

Larkin brings a wealth of knowledge as an athlete and a coach. He competed for four years as a hurdler, jumper and sprinter at The College of New Jersey. There, he set the all-time mark in the 400-meter hurdle event and ranked top ten in program history in the High Jump marks. He helped both the indoor and outdoor track teams earn back-to-back New Jersey Athletic Conference Championships and, individually, he was a three-time conference finalist in the outdoor 400 hurdles. He earned First Team All-Conference honors in Indoor Distance Medley Relay, Second Team All-Conference in the Outdoor High Jump and Third Team All-Conference in both Indoor and Outdoor High Jump.
 
Larkin became a graduate assistant at The College of William and Mary in 2016 and stayed in that role for two seasons, coaching hurdles, sprints, multi-events and jumps. In the fall of 2019, he returned to William and Mary for two additional seasons as an assistant coach. He coached NCAA Regional Qualifiers in the 400 hurdles and High Jump, along with multiple Eastern College Athletic Conference (ECAC)/Intercollegiate Association of Amateur Athletes of America (IC4A) qualifiers in the 100 hurdles, Long Jump and Triple Jump.
 
Between his time as a graduate student and assistant coach at WM, Larkin spent a year as an assistant at Stevens Institute of Technology. He worked with sprint and intermediate hurdles, multi-event athletes and jumpers. He coached regional qualifiers in Decathlon and Heptathlon, 60- and 110-meter hurdles, Long Jump and Triple Jump. Stevens took home the Indoor and Outdoor Empire 8 Conference Team Championships that season.
 
Most recently, he had been on the coaching staff at Penn State University – Behrend. At Behrend since 2021, he added assistant cross country coach and throws coach to his list of responsibilities, as well as sprints, jumps, hurdle and multi-event. Right away, he guided student-athletes who became NCAA Qualifiers during the cross country season. During both the indoor and outdoor season of 2021-22, Behrend had NCAA All-Americans in the High Jump and Discus. He coached school record holders and All-Atlantic Region Track and Field Conference (AARTFC) qualifiers in the 60- through 400-meter events, 800-meter, 60 hurdles, 110 hurdles, mile, 3000-meter, Pentathlon, Shot Put and Javelin.
 
He is certified by the USATF – Level 1, since Marsh 2020, and USTFCCCA Strength and Conditioning, since February 2023.
 
The native of New Jersey graduated with a Bachelor of Arts – Psychology in 2016 from The College of New Jersey and earned his Master of Education – School Psychology in 2017 from The College of William and Mary.