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Mike Ward is in his 11th season as head coach of the University of Miami men's track and field team.
Under Ward's guidance, the UM track program has won 28 individual and relay conference titles and earned six All-American honors.
Last season Ward has guided 800-meter runner Tim Harris to ACC indoor and outdoor titles, as well as All-America honors during the indoor season.
Miami finished 10th at both the ACC Indoor and Outdoor Championships, garnered five All-ACC honors and won three event titles including Harris' victories in the 800-meters.
Ward took over the Miami program prior to the 1998 season, after spending five seasons as an assistant, and led the team to one of the most successful campaigns in school history. During the indoor season, Ward coached Davian Clarke to Miami's first indoor national title as Clarke claimed the 400-meter crown at the 1998 NCAA Indoor Track and Field Championships.
The victory lifted Miami to a 19th-place finish overall, the highest in school history at the NCAA Indoor Championships. Clarke earned All-American honors for the fifth time, the most for a men's track athlete in UM history, and he would add a sixth with a second-place finish in the 400-meters at the 1998 NCAA Outdoor Championships.
Clarke's time of 45.86 set a UM record was the third fastest winning time at the NCAA Indoor Championships since 1984, the first year the event was run.
In addition to Clarke's achievements, Ward guided the entire team to new heights in 1998. Behind victories from Clarke in the 200- and 400-meters and a win in the decathlon by sophomore Aaron Moser, Miami finished second at the BIG EAST Outdoor Track and Field Championships to match the Hurricanes highest finish at the conference meet.
In 1999 the Hurricanes registered another solid season. Miami won five individual BIG EAST Championships and one relay title in finishing fourth at both the Conference Indoor and Outdoor meets. Miami set six new indoor records and five new outdoor marks.
The 2000 season saw UM win four more BIG EAST Individual Championships. Santana Moss was honored as the BIG EAST Most Outstanding Field Performer following victories in the long jump and triple jump.
Miami continued its dominance in the decathlon finishing first and third. Aaron Moser won his third consecutive title with a BIG EAST record total of 7,358 points while Pedro Rodriguez took third despite competing in the event for the first time.
Moser went on to earn All-America honors in the decathlon with a ninth-place finish at the NCAA Outdoor Track and Field Championships in Durham, NC.
In 2002 Ward guided Andre Johnson to BIG EAST Championships in the 60-meters during the indoor season and the 100-meters during the outdoor season. In addition, Gus Martin won the BIG EAST title in the 60-meter hurdles marking the first time a Hurricanes has taken home the title. The 2002 season also saw Aaron Moser set school-records in the heptathlon and decathlon.
In 2003 Terrell Walden won the BIG EAST 60-meter title during the indoor season and followed that with a victory in the 100-meters at the BIG EAST Outdoor Championships. In addition the 4x100-meter relay captured the BIG EAST title for the third time in Ward's tenure.
In 2004, Ward guided Devin Hester to the BIG EAST Indoor title in the long jump and Tanard Davis to the BIG EAST Indoor title in the 60-meters.
In 2005, Ward guided Tim Harris to All-ACC status in the 800-meters. He coached Melanie Schultz as she broke the school records in the 1500 and 5000-meter. Schultz also qualified for NCAA East Regional in both of those events, the first distance runner to do so in University of Miami history.
Ward has also had tremendous success working with many of the Hurricanes' top football players. Ward has coached 15 players that went on to be drafted by NFL teams including 10 first round picks.
Ward has coached some of the NFL's biggest names including wide receivers Santana Moss (New York Jets), Reggie Wayne (Indianapolis Colts) and Andre Johnson (Houston Texans); running backs Clinton Portis (Washington Redskins), James Jackson (Cleveland Browns), Najeh Davenport (Green Bay Packers) and Willis McGahee (Buffalo Bills); defensive backs Phillip Buchanon (Oakland Raiders), Ed Reed (Baltimore Ravens) and Sean Taylor (Washington Redskins); and defensive lineman Vince Wilfork (New England Patriots).
Prior to accepting the head job with Miami, Ward was in charge of the Hurricane men's and women's cross country teams and directed the long distance programs for five years as a full-time assistant coach to both the men's and women's track programs. He guided the long distance runners as they rewrote the school record books, setting new marks in nine men's and six women's long distance events.
In the fall of 1997, Ward led the Hurricane men's and women's cross country teams to their best seasons in school history. Both the men and women placed second at the Florida Intercollegiate Championships for the highest finish in Miami history, and senior Chris Miller, sophomore Nick Gramsky and freshman Shannon Sarabyn were each named to the All-State team. Miller's selection marked the fourth consecutive year he earned All-State honors, establishing a new UM record.
At the NCAA South Region Championships, Miller made history again as he and Sarabyn became the first Miami cross country runners named to the All-South Region team.
The Hurricanes' cross country program has continued to grow under Ward's guidance. In 2000 the Hurricanes had two men (Jeff Gualrapp and Dan Boniface) and one woman (Shannon Sarabyn) earn All-State honors. Gaulrapp and Sarabyn went on to earn All-Region honors.
That success continued in 2002 as Matt Mulvaney earned All-South Region honors with a 15th-place finish at the NCAA South Region Championships. Earlier in the season Ward guided Mulvaney to a 20th-place finish at the BIG EAST Cross Country Championships, the best finish ever by a Hurricane at the conference meet.
The Hurricanes' 2003 cross country team recorded two meet victories and was ranked as high as 12th in the South Region by the United States Cross Country Coaches Association.
Ward has also been instrumental in the Hurricanes middle distance track program as he coached Ronald Thorne to the BIG EAST 800-meter title and All-America status in 1995.
In 2004 the men's cross country team recorded two meet wins, while Melanie Schultz of the women's team went on to earn All-South Region honors.
In 2005 Schultz earned All-South Region honors for the second consecutive season and became the first cross country runner in school-history to qualify for the NCAA Cross Country Championships.
Under Ward's guidance the men's track and field, and cross country programs have also produced in the classroom.
In 2006 the men's track and field team was the only ACC program to earn All-Academic distinction by the USTCCCA.
The 2005 men's cross country team was also honored with All-Academic distiction for the third time in the last four seasons.
Last season's Academic honors marked the second time that both the cross country and track and field programs earned All-Academic distiction in the same season. In 2002-03 both the cross country and track and field programs earned All-Academic distinction by the USCCCA and USTCA respectively.
A Level II coach for distances by the USA Track and Field, Ward was a personal trainer for roadrunners and track athletes in Florida for six years before joining the UM staff. From 1980-85, Ward was head coach for the Howard County Youth Cross County Team in Maryland and directed the squad to an East Coast Championship and numerous local and regional cross country titles.
Ward graduated from the University of Maryland-Baltimore County in 1977 with a bachelor's degree in therapeutic recreation. While at UMBC, Ward was a three-time All-Mason-Dixon Conference selection in cross country and the captain of the 1975 cross country squad that went undefeated and captured the conference championship. Ward held the two-mile, three-mile and six-mile track records while at UMBC.
Ward went on to earn a master's degree in therapeutic recreation from the University of Maryland in 1980. While completing his master's, Ward served as the women's track team middle and long distance coach at UMBC for one year and spent a season as assistant cross country coach at Mt. Hebron High School in Ellicot City, Maryland.
Ward currently resides in South Miami with his wife, the former Susan Page, and their 13-year-old son Brooks.
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