Michael Roberts was hired as New York University’s Associate Head Coach of the men’s and women’s track & field and cross country teams in January 2023. While he works with Head Coach Tyler Deck Shipley in all facets of the program, Roberts’ emphasis is on sprints, jumps and hurdles.
The 2023-24 campaign was historic in multiple ways, as NYU women’s cross country won its first University Athletic Association (UAA) Championship with Grace Richardson claiming the individual title. NYU women’s cross country also finished as the National Runner-Up at the NCAA Championship for its highest finish in program history as Richardson, Viv Kane and Morgan Uhlhorn achieved All-America status while Uhlhorn was named the UAA Rookie of the Year.
Many Violets performed well during the track season too, as Richardson was named the Niagara Region Women’s Track Athlete of the Year, won the UAA 3k title and was a First Team All-American in both the 3k and 5k at Indoor Nationals and in both the 5k and 10k at Outdoor Nationals. Additionally, Katherine Cochran (5k & 3k) and Janie Cooper (3k) were both Second Team All-Americans at Indoor Nationals for the women.
The Violets also excelled in the classroom during 2023-24, as the cross country/track & field teams earned 66 UAA All-Academic honors between all three seasons, 10 individuals were named USTFCCCA All-Academic, five were selected as Arthur Ashe Jr. Sports Scholars and both men’s and women’s cross country were USTFCCCA All-Academic squads.
Several of Roberts’ student-athletes registered highlight performances during his first year at NYU. Indoors, Isre’al Conerly earned Niagara All-Region honors in the 200 meters and the men’s 4x400m relay team took first place at the Seamus McElligott Invitational. Outdoors, Matthew Oluwole was the Tom Farrell Classic High Jump Champion.
The Violets also produced results off the track as 33 academic honors were garnered by student-athletes from a combination of the University Athletic Association (UAA), USTFCCCA, CSC (College Sports Communicators), and Arthur Ashe Jr. Sports Scholars.
Roberts joined NYU after one season as an assistant coach at West Point. While there, he mentored Justin Young, a 400h qualifier for the 2022 Outdoor Toyota Olympic who set the service academy record in the event and earned All-America honors at the 2022 NCAA Division I Outdoor National Championships.
Prior to his year at Army, Roberts served seven seasons as Head Coach of the men's and women's track & field and cross country programs at Northwood University (MI). During his tenure, the Timberwolves set 21 school records and had 20 NCAA Division II First Team All-Americans. Roberts also served as a member of the USTFCCCA DII Track & Field Executive Committee.
During the 2020-21 season, Roberts guided Mason Phillips and Xzavia Price to the 2021 NCAA Division II Indoor National Championships. Phillips placed second in both the 60m and 200m while Price took fifth in the 60m as Northwood posted an 11th-place team finish. In 2019, the squad finished 13th and Roberts was named the Northwood University Coach of the Year. He coached the 2020 Indoor National Athlete of the Year Runner-Up (Phillips), as well as Rami Gharsalli, who was named the 2017 NCAA Men's Indoor National Scholar-Athlete of the Year and was a two-time Google Cloud Academic All-American (2018 & 2019).
Before his time at Northwood, Roberts spent two years as the Assistant Sprint Coach for Indiana State University. While with the Sycamores, Roberts helped Katie Wise qualify for the USA Championships and the NACAC Championships in the 100m. He also guided Wise to an NCAA Indoor All-American fifth-place finish in the 60m. During the 2013-14 season, Roberts led nine Sycamores to the NCAA Outdoor National Championships. Overall, he coached 21 Indiana State student-athletes to the NCAA East Preliminary Round and coached 14 athletes to all-conference indoor and outdoor titles in the sprints, hurdles and relays at the MVC Championships.
A 2011 graduate of Indiana State with a Bachelor of Science degree in Exercise Science, Roberts added a Master of Science in Physical Education, specializing in coaching, in 2013. A four-year track team member at Indiana State, Roberts was a two-time East Preliminary Round qualifier and a multiple-time All-MVC runner-up in the hurdles. He also served as a team captain.
A USATF Level 1 certified instructor who possesses USTFCCCA Track & Field Technical Certification, Roberts is a native of Indianapolis, IN.
