Rick Cummins is in his 11th season as head coach of the Wayne State University men's and women's cross country programs in the fall of 2007. He also serves as the USTFCCCA Great Lakes Region chair.

The 2006 squads accomplished several firsts. The men ended the season winning four races, the most in team history. They finished the NCAA Championships in eighth place out of 24 schools, the third-best finish in school history and completed the season ranked eighth in the USTFCCCA poll, four better than the preseason poll released in early September. The men started the season winning three consecutive races, one better than the start of the 2000 season. Senior Chris Mehay became a two-time All-American at the NCAAs, joining former Warrior standout and current assistant coach, Nick Allen, as the only two-time honorees.

The women finished the season with five top-five finishes and six top-10s. Sophomore Rachelle Malette won three races in 2006. She earned a spot at Nationals and came in 14th place, the second-best finish in the program's history behind Shelley Vickery's 12th-place finish in 2002. Malette earned her first All-America honor.

Cummins capped off his ninth season at the helm by being named the Great Lakes Region men's Coach of the Year by the USTFCCA in 2005.

"I'm very happy to be at Wayne State, it's a great place," stated Cummins. "We have a world class academic institution with an administration that works extremely hard to provide the best for all of our student-athletes. I am proud of the hard work and effort that our student-athletes have put forth since I have been here. I am committed to helping them continue to take this program forward."

The cross country program has turned from the bottom of the league before Cummins took over to among the best in his tenure. He has guided the men's team to a Great Lakes Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (GLIAC) championship in 2001 and four top-15 finishes at the NCAA National Championship in the last five years. The league title was the first GLIAC cross country championship in school history.

The women's team improved to third in the conference and ninth in the nation in 2002. He earned GLIAC men's cross country coach of the year three times, 1999, 2001 and 2006, and GLIAC women's cross country coach of the year in 2002.

Both men's and women's teams have finished in the top half of the Great Lakes Region since Cummins took over. In 2001, the men were second earning Wayne State a spot at the NCAA National Championships for the first time since the regional qualification system has been in place. In 2002, the women's team finished third in the Great Lakes Region, qualifying for the national championships for the first time in WSU history.

Entering the 2002 season Cummins faced his biggest challenge. Early in training camp, the Warriors lost four of their top five runners from the 2001 GLIAC Championship squad. All-American Nick Allen, First Team All-GLIAC and All-Region Joe Verellen, and Chris Burns (21st in GLIACs) were lost to injuries. Josh Burt, third WSU runner at 2001 GLIACs, was all but lost with a recurrence of Epstein Barr Syndrome. The men's team finished a very respectable fourth of 12 in the 2002 GLIAC Championships and ran to a sixth-place finish at the Great Lakes Regional Championship in Grand Rapids.

Cummins has earned the respect of his peers. Former Ashland University head coach Bill Gallagher feels Cummins has done an outstanding job with the two teams. "Rick took a struggling program and turned it into something special," said Gallagher. "He has recruited wonderful athletes and many have gained respect for him because of his hard work. He has done a great job and I believe the program will only get better because of Rick's efforts."

Cummins came to WSU after serving as an assistant basketball coach at the University of Michigan-Dearborn from 1994 to 1996. Rick was an assistant women's basketball coach his first year at Wayne State. In the spring of 1997, he took over the men's and women's cross country programs and continued with the basketball team. In 1998, he dedicated himself solely to the cross country program.

Cummins graduated with a bachelor's degree in philosophy from the University of Michigan-Dearborn in 1994 and received his master's degree from WSU in sports administration in 1997. He earned four varsity letters as a member of the Oakland University tennis team. He taught tennis professionally for eight years. Cummins served two years as the head junior varsity and head freshman girls basketball coach at Redford Bishop Borgess High School. He was an assistant softball coach at Bishop Borgess for one season.

During his tenure at WSU, he has coached eight All-Americans, 18 coaches association academic All-Americans, 11 first team all-region selections, nine first team All-GLIAC honorees, six second team All-GLIAC members and has been named GLIAC Coach of the Year five times including the 2007 GLIAC Men's Cross Country Coach of the Year.

He also spent five years (2001-05) coaching the WSU men's tennis team. Cummins compiled a 98-41 record and led the squad to four consecutive NCAA tournament appearances. All four seasons, the Warriors won their first round match.

Rick Cummins' Career Coaching Record
	Men		Women
Year	GLIAC	NCAA	GLIAC	NCAA
1997	11th	---	12th	--
1998	8th	---	10th	---
1999	4th	Region-10th	9th	Region-19th
2000	4th	Region-6th	8th	Region-11th
2001	1st	Nationals-11th	5th	Region-6th
2002	4th	Region-6th	3rd	Nationals-9th
2003	2nd	Nationals-6th	3rd	Nationals-T16th
2004	3rd	Nationals-15th	6th	Region-8th
2005	2nd	Nationals-7th	7th	Region-8th
2006	2nd	Nationals-8th	7th	Region-9th
2007	2nd	Nationals-TBD	2nd	Nationals-TBD