After guiding the Bulldog women to their first Southern California Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (SCIAC) Championship since 1978, Head Coach Mike Schmidt was named the U.S. Track & Field Cross Country Coaches Association (USTFCCCA) West Region Women’s Coach of the Year.

In his first year at the University of Redlands, Schmidt led the women’s team to an exciting conference finish, defeating rival Claremont-Mudd-Scripps Colleges by a single point for the coveted title. In addition, Redlands senior Natalie Calderon (Pasadena, CA) unanimously was named the SCIAC Track & Field Athlete of the Year after winning five individual and one relay during the conference championship meet. She later captured NCAA Championships in the Long Jump and Triple Jump at the national meet in Wisconsin.

Schmidt also produced a solid second-place finish in the men’s conference standings and helped Bulldog graduate student Fritz Nugent (Tinley Park, IL) win the 2008 NCAA Long Jump Championship.