Michigan State University Women's Track & Field

• 2015 USTFCCCA Great Lakes Women's Indoor Assistant Track Coach of the Year • 2019 USTFCCCA Great Lakes Region Women's Assistant Coach of the Year • 2020 Big Ten Women's Cross Country Coach of the Year • 2022 Big Ten Women's Cross Country Coach of the Year • 2023 Big Ten Women's Cross Country Coach of the Year Former Spartan standout Lisa Breznau is in her 14th year overall as a member of the MSU coaching staff. In November of 2020, she was named Interim Director of Track & Field/Cross Country after five years as the associate head coach of the cross country and track & field programs, and had the interim tag removed during the summer of 2021. After serving as an assistant coach for five years from 2010-15, Breznau was promoted to the associate head coach for the cross country and track & field programs in 2015. In her year as the Interim Director of Cross Country and Track & Field, she led the Michigan State women to their second-straight Big Ten Cross Country title. After a conference title season for the Spartans women's cross country team in 2022, Breznau was a unanimous selection for Big Ten Women's Cross Country Coach of the Year, the second selection for the honor in her career. The B1G title marked the third in four years for the Michigan State women and the second title under Breznau as Director of Track & Field/Cross Country. The season saw Breznau guide graduate student Katie Osika and junior Makenna Veen to all-conference finishes at the Big Ten Championships whi

Aaron Simoneau joined the MSU cross country and track & field programs as a full-time assistant coach in December of 2014. He enters his 11th season with the Spartans in 2024-25. Simoneau's primary coaching responsibilities include working with the MSU distance runners, while also serving as recruiting coordinator. In his 11 seasons with Michigan State in a full-time capacity, Simoneau has helped coach fourteen cross country All-Americans, including most recently Katie Osika, a graduate student who earned the honor of its kind for the first time in her career in 2022. Since the 2015 cross country season, Simoneau has coached 20 men’s and 25 women’s cross country runners to Great Lakes All-Region accolades, in addition to the 12 men and 19 women who have earned All-Big Ten honors. Simoneau has been part of the coaching staff that has helped lead the women’s cross country team to three Big Ten titles in 2019, 2020, and 2022 while they've been on the podium in seven of the eight seasons during his time with the team. He has also aided the women's Great Lakes Regional Championship in 2019 and the men's in 2017 to earn automatic bids to the NCAA Cross Country Championships. At the 2020 NCAA Championships, the Spartan women raced to a fourth-place finish, which was the highest finish since the team won the title in 2014. On the men's side, the 17th place finish at the NCAA Championship was the program's best since 2006. One of the brightest stars who shined under Simoneau's guidanc

Derrick Vicars joined the Spartan track & field staff as an assistant coach in August of 2023. Vicars arrives in East Lansing as the assistant coach for thro...

After two seasons as a graduate assistant, Benoit was named an assistant distance coach for the Spartans in August 2021. He enters his fifth season overall with the program for the 2023-24 season. In his first season as an assistant coach, Benoit helped women's cross country to its 14th consecutive appearance at the NCAA Championships after winning the Big Ten Championship and finishing fourth at the NCAA Great Lakes Regional. The former Spartan standout helped graduate student Katie Osika and junior Makenna Veen to all-conference finishes at the Big Ten Championships while Osika finished the season as an All-American. On the track, Benoit has helped coach five All-American distance runners on the women's side and nine on the men's side across two years in distance-related events since becoming a full time assistant. Michigan State had great success during Benoit’s guidance as a graduate assistant. In 2021, the women’s cross country team finished fourth at the NCAA Championships, while the men were 17th. This was the best combined finish for the men and women in MSU history. Jenna Magness, Lynsie Gram, India Johnson and Morgan Beadlescomb all earned All-American honors in cross country during the 2020-21 campaign. The Spartans also had tremendous success under Benoit during the indoor and outdoor track seasons. In 2021, Beadlescomb and Magness again captured All-American honors in the 5000m, this time in both the indoor and outdoor track seasons. Benoit had a successful runni

Began at Michigan State: July 2021 Education: Smeltzer-Pickard received a B.S. in kinesiology from MSU in 2012 and then an M.S. in kinesiology in 2014. Job Responsibilities: Smeltzer-Pickard is responsible for the day-to-day operations of the Cross Country & Track and Field program. Past Experience: Before returning to Michigan State, Smeltzer-Pickard most recently was a Cross Country & Track and Field coach at Vanderbilt University for five years. She also was a coach at Western Michigan for two years and was a former graduate student and student-athlete at MSU. A former standout for the Spartans from 2007-12, Rebekah Smeltzer-Pickard returned to Michigan State in August 2021 as the Director of Track & Field Operations. A four-time letterwinner and graduate assistant during her first stint with MSU, Smeltzer-Pickard came back to East Lansing after spending five seasons as the assistant coach for the Vanderbilt cross country and track & field teams. Prior to Vanderbilt, Smeltzer-Pickard was the assistant coach for Western Michigan’s cross country and track & field teams from 2014-16. During her time in Nashville, Smeltzer-Pickard oversaw the Commodores’ cross country runners earn five All-SEC selections and six NCAA All-Region honors, with Grace Jensen most recently taking home All-SEC Second Team distinction in 2020. The Vanderbilt runners in 2019 boasted the second men’s All-SEC honoree in program history as well as two all-region selections (Nick Laning, Ana Wallace), an A

Tim Nickas joined the Michigan State track & field staff in October of 2025. He currently serves as assistant head track & field coach and works specifically...

Yolanda Johnson enters her eighth season at Michigan State for the 2024-25 season, having guided nine Spartans to the NCAA East Preliminaries in eight seasons. Johnson joined the Michigan State track & field program in the fall of 2016 as the assistant coach in the sprints, hurdles, and sprint relays. In the 2022 outdoor season, senior Kendel Hammock had a breakout season that saw him reach the NCAA Preliminaries in the quarterfinal of the men's 400m hurdles. Prior to preliminaries, Kendel set three straight personal bests in the event under Johnson's guidance. The year prior,, the 2021 outdoor season saw Shakira Dancy qualify for the NCAA Preliminaries women's 200m. The prelims was the culmination of new heights reached by Dancy upon arriving in East Lansing to be coached by Johnson after transferring from Florida. In 2019, Johnson coached three NCAA Regional Qualifiers, including Taylor Mullins (400m hurdles), Will Agodu (110m hurdles) and Noah Burton (400m hurdles), three All-Big Ten athletes and one Big Ten champion. Will Agodu, the 2019 Big Ten Outdoor Champion in the 110m hurdles, set a new school-record with a time of 13.75 at the Big Ten Outdoor Championships. Agodu advanced to the NCAA East Prelims for the third-straight season under Johnson, posting a time of 13.89 in the 110m hurdle semifinals. Before coming to Michigan State, Johnson spent the last six years as the head coach and founder of the FK Elite Track and Field Club. FK Elite is a non-profit youth track cl