Kevin Sullivan (born March 20, 1974) is the men's head cross country and distance coach at

University of Michigan , mottoeng = "Arts, Knowledge, Truth" , former_names = Catholepistemiad, or University of Michigania (1817–1821) , budget = $10.3 billion (2021) , endowment = $17 billion (2021)As o ...

and former

middle-distance runner Middle-distance running events are track races longer than sprints, up to 3000 metres. The standard middle distances are the 800 metres, 1500 metres and mile run, although the 3000 metres may also be classified as a middle-distance event. The 1 ...

from

Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, covering over , making it the world's second-largest country by tot ...

. He was born in

Brantford Brantford (Canada 2021 Census, 2021 population: 104,688) is a city in Ontario, Canada, founded on the Grand River (Ontario), Grand River in Southwestern Ontario. It is surrounded by County of Brant, Brant County, but is politically separate with ...

Ontario Ontario ( ; ) is one of the thirteen provinces and territories of Canada.Ontario is located in the geographic eastern half of Canada, but it has historically and politically been considered to be part of Central Canada. Located in Central Ca ...

Personal life

Sullivan studied civil engineering at the

where he had 14 All-American honours and won 4

NCAA The National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) is a nonprofit organization that regulates student athletics among about 1,100 schools in the United States, Canada, and Puerto Rico. It also organizes the athletic programs of colleges an ...

titles (one relay and 3 individual). Sulivan's father, Richard, is a machinist. He has two brothers, Darren and Colin. He played hockey and soccer while growing up in Brantford. He was married to former Canadian steeplechase record holder

Karen Harvey Karen may refer to: * Karen (name), a given name and surname * Karen (slang), a term and meme for a demanding woman displaying certain behaviors People * Karen people, an ethnic group in Myanmar and Thailand ** Karen languages or Karenic la ...

in 1998. They divorced in November 2014.

Athletic career

Sullivan competed in 1000 metre, 1500 metre, and mile events and represented

. His personal best times are 3:31.71 for the 1500 (set in June 2000) and 3:50.36 for the mile. He is the former Canadian record-holder for the indoor 3000 m, 7:40.17 (set February 9, 2007). His best Olympic showing is a fifth-place finish at

Sydney Sydney ( ) is the capital city of the state of New South Wales, and the most populous city in both Australia and Oceania. Located on Australia's east coast, the metropolis surrounds Sydney Harbour and extends about towards the Blue Mountain ...

. In 2005, he left his longtime Michigan coach,

Ron Warhurst Ron Warhurst (born c. 1943) is a former American track and field coach. He was the head coach of the University of Michigan's men's track and field team from 2000 to 2008. Warhurst was also a member of the cross country teams at Western Michigan ...

, to train under the coaching of Juli Henner. In the

2008 Summer Olympics The 2008 Summer Olympics (), officially the Games of the XXIX Olympiad () and also known as Beijing 2008 (), were an international multisport event held from 8 to 24 August 2008, in Beijing, China. A total of 10,942 athletes from 204 Na ...

, Sullivan reached the semi-finals of the 1500 metre but failed to qualify for the final. Sullivan was also a torchbearer for the

2010 Winter Olympics )'' , nations = 82 , athletes = 2,626 , events = 86 in 7 sports (15 disciplines) , opening = February 12, 2010 , closing = February 28, 2010 , opened_by = Governor General Michaëlle Jean , cauldron = Catriona Le May DoanNancy GreeneWayne Gretz ...

, carrying the torch into

. Sullivan was an assistant coach at Michigan in the early 2000s. He was a volunteer assistant coach at the

University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign The University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign (U of I, Illinois, University of Illinois, or UIUC) is a public land-grant research university in Illinois in the twin cities of Champaign and Urbana. It is the flagship institution of the Univ ...

and a coach at

Florida State University Florida State University (FSU) is a public research university in Tallahassee, Florida. It is a senior member of the State University System of Florida. Founded in 1851, it is located on the oldest continuous site of higher education in the st ...

. Sullivan has been named one of the greatest Canadian distance runners of all time, concerning his placings in international competition, having competed at 3 Olympic Games, 22 World Championships (outdoors, indoors, and cross country), and still holding 4 Canadian track and field records including 3 outdoor and 1 indoor.

Personal bests

Coach

Sullivan is the men's distance & cross country head coach at

. In his first year, the Michigan Wolverines qualified for the NCAA Division 1 Cross Country Championships under his leadership. Kevin took this position in 2014, after years of successful coaching at

where he assisted his wife coaching the women's distance team. Kevin also coached at

References

External links