Lisa Senakiewich enters her inaugural season as the Boilermakers' women's and men's cross country and distance assistant coach this year, coming to West Lafayette fresh off an outstanding collegiate career at Michigan State University.
"Lisa's competitive experience and success at Michigan State will be an incredibly valuable asset to our program," said Purdue cross country and track and field head coach Jack Warner. "She knows how to run and win at an elite level, and that should prove contagious with our women."
Senakiewich earned a pair of All-America awards in 2008-09, earning fourth-place in the 5,000-meter run at the 2009 NCAA Outdoor Track and Field Championships with a time of 16:28.88, and taking 27th place overall at the 2008 NCAA Cross Country Championships, completing the 6K course in 20:33.40. She led the Spartans to a 20th-place team showing at the outdoor track and field national championships and and an 11th-place team effort at the cross country national meet. She also qualified for the 2009 NCAA Indoor Track and Field Championships in the one-mile run with a season-best time of 4:40.91. She completed her collegiate career with Michigan State[apos]s records in the one-mile run, the 1,500-meter run and the indoor distance medley relay.
Other accomplishments from her final season included leading the Spartans to third-place team finishes at the NCAA Great Lakes Cross Country Regional Championship and the Big Ten Cross Country Championship, as well as First-Team All-Big Ten cross country honors. She also earned her third consecutive spot on the USTFCCCA All-Academic Cross Country Team.
Senakiewich has a bachelor[apos]s degree in English with a focus in general comparative literature, and was a member of the Spartan[apos]s Dean[apos]s List for all eight semesters of college.