Entering his 32nd year as cross country/track and field head coach, Steve Kruse first came to a young Northern Kentucky University as a freshman in 1979. NKU was in its infancy and the cross country team had achieved national recognition at the NCAA Division II level with a roster comprised mostly of local student-athletes. His experience in Highland Heights was short lived as several teams, including cross country, were discontinued in the summer of 1981 due to state and local budget cuts. Kruse transferred to the University of Cincinnati where he ran cross country and track, specializing in the steeplechase, for the Bearcats until graduation in 1984.
Kruse returned to NKU in August of 1994 as Head Coach of the recently reinstated and steadily improving distance program. Kruse’s first years as Head Coach were among his most memorable as he grew both the men’s & women’s program in numbers comprised of all local student-athletes. Brian Flaherty obtaining his goal as an All-Conference athlete in front of a home crowd in 1995 is still one of his favorite coaching memories.
The mid to late 1990’s saw more growth for the team however with little to no scholarship support, competing in the Great Lakes Valley Conference - one of the most competitive NCAA Division II conferences in the nation, was a constant fight to be competitive. “Our student-athletes during the late ‘90’s and early 2000’s were among the most dedicated and best leaders that I have ever worked with and those athletes set the tone for the program to grow into a more competitive team in the years to come,” Kruse said. It started with recognition in the classroom and a strong sense of service to the community. It was in the 1990’s that the GLVC added its first outdoor Championship for Track & Field with indoor following a couple of years later. Jane Meier, long time Athletic Director for NKU, helped the men’s & women’s cross country program expand into a distance based track program.
Under the leadership of Presidents Boothe and then Votruba, Northern Kentucky University began a tremendous period of growth and with that growth came a renaissance for the Athletic Department as well. With a more aggressive admissions department and expanded financial aid packages, Kruse became much more aggressive with recruiting which led to the foundation of a team that would eventually take the program to new heights that no one ever expected.
As the team’s individual recognitions at the Conference level began to grow in both cross country and track, NKU was no longer at the bottom of the GLVC, in fact, they were climbing the ladder in cross country toward the upper half of the conference and the Great Lakes Region. In 2006, the men’s team was unranked going into the regional race and finished 4th upsetting several nationally ranked teams and qualified for its first NCAA Final in twenty seven years. The team’s performance earned Kruse the Great Lakes Region Coach of the Year award which he attributes entirely to his team’s desire to run for each other and never back down in the face of adversity. The teams finish in the NCAA final was disappointing however it only served as an inspiration to get back to the finals in 2007.
The women’s team also experienced unprecedented growth at that time as well. The Norse were equally motivated to run at a level once thought unthinkable in such a tough region. Putting together an impressive string of Top 10 Regional finishes.
2006 also began a string of years where the Norse men’s cross country team went for 5 consecutive years ranked in the nation’s Top 25 and had their best NCAA final performance in 2007, finishing 16th. Kruse was selected as the KCCTCA College Coach of the Year after that season. The cross country success carried into track when Julianne Hoekzema became the first NKU track athlete to appear in the NCAA Outdoor Track Finals in the spring of 2008. Kruse was selected as the KCCTCA College Coach of the Year.
During this time, Kruse became more involved with the USTFCCCA, the governing body for cross country and track coaches. He served on several committees including the awards and rankings committees while also serving as the GLVC’s representative for cross country. Kruse served on the USTFCCCA’s Executive Committee until NKU announced their decision to change their NCAA affiliation to Division 1.
Division I brought with it an institutional desire to have a full women’s track team rather than a distance focused team. The creation of a women’s track team began during the NCAA transitional period and the Norse found themselves in the Atlantic Sun Conference for three years before switching to the much more competitive Horizon League in the fall of 2015. Kruse still remembers the ASun years fondly as some of NKU’s student-athletes dominated in their respective events. During that phase, the cross country & track teams were the most successful of NKU’s athletic teams to make the transition.
Kruse also designed and helped developed “Valhalla”, NKU’s cross country course on campus which has hosted a grass roots Summer Cross Country Series since 2012 as well as collegiate cross country meets including the Horizon League Championship in 2019.
Coach Kruse currently lives in Fort Thomas, Kentucky and is married to his wife Kate (NKU Volleyball 80-84). They have three grown children, Wesley, Keegan and Cameron.
