Cornell College

Michael Friess was named Cornell's Director of Men's & Women's Cross Country and Track & Field, and Head Track & Field Coach in November 2021.  

Friess served as an assistant in Cornell's cross country and track & field programs during the 2020-21 season and 2021 fall campaign. 

“This is a special opportunity for me and my family,” said Friess, who had a Hall of Fame career as a coach and administrator at the University of Alaska Anchorage (UAA) from 1990-2020. “I look forward to fully embracing this new adventure.
 
“Cornell is an exceptional college and Mount Vernon is a wonderful one-of-a-kind small town. I look forward to working with my fellow coaches, staff, department and the college as a whole to help this program continue to grow and develop.”
 
At UAA, Friess coached 15 NCAA Division II champions, 182 all-Americans and 237 conference champions. The Seawolves claimed 32 conference team championships and eight NCAA West Region cross country titles under Friess’ guidance.
 
The Anchorage native was head coach of six of the Seawolves’ 13 sports (men’s and women’s cross country, men’s and women’s indoor and outdoor track & field) and served as associate athletic director his final six years there.
 
“We are very fortunate to have a coach of Michael’s caliber leading our programs and willing to take on this challenge of building championship teams,” Cornell Director of Athletics Seth Wing said. “Michael brings tremendous leadership experience and will be a huge asset in developing our student-athletes to their fullest potential.”
 
Every team Friess coached at UAA earned academic team accolades by the U.S. Track & Field and Cross Country Coaches Association. Friess compiled an astonishing 49 Coach of the Year awards from the Great Northwest Athletic Conference, the Pac West and the USTFCCCA.
 
Friess elevated all of UAA’s running programs to national prominence, starting as head men’s cross country coach in 1990. He helped reinstate the women’s cross country team in 2000, established full sponsorship for men’s and women’s outdoor track & field in 2005, and then indoor track & field in 2013.
 
Friess’ UAA women’s cross country team placed in the top eight at the NCAA Championships his final 11 seasons, a streak matched by only two other Division II programs. The women crowned four all-Americans in 2019.  
 
In 2015, Friess was recipient of the Alaska Sports Hall of Fame’s Joe Floyd Award, recognizing significant and lasting contributions to the state of Alaska through sports. In 2018, he was inducted in Linfield (Ore.) College’s Athletics Hall of Fame.
 
Friess was head strength and conditioning coach for all of UAA’s programs (Division I and II) from 1994-2000. He was an adjunct professor at UAA from 2003-14. Friess served on the USTFCCCA’s board as secretary and second vice president from 2010-13.
 
Friess was event administrator for the Anchorage Mayor’s Marathon and Half Marathon for 19 years. The 2019 event attracted participants from all 50 states and 16 countries, drawing 4,000 participants and 800 volunteers.

Friess graduated with a bachelor’s degree in exercise science in 1985 from Linfield, where he was an NAIA all-American distance runner. He earned a master’s in sport biomechanics from the University of Oregon in 1986.