For two decades Mike Rosolino has been at the helm of the Embry-Riddle cross country and track & field programs, leading the Eagles to unparalleled success, on the course, on the track, and in the classroom. Rosolino has earned 61 separate Coach of the Year honors, and has coached his squads to 48 conference championships. Eight separate Eagles have won 17 individual national championships under his guidance, and a total of 35 Eagles have earned Academic All-America accolades under Rosolino.
The 2023-24 season will mark Mike Rosolino's 21st at the helm of Embry-Riddle cross country and his 19th campaign in charge of the ERAU track and field programs. Rosolino has 29 cross country Coach of the Year honors and 32 track and field Coach of the Year accolades while at Embry-Riddle.
The men's cross country team captured its third straight Sunshine State Conference Championship in 2022, marking the 14th conference title for the men overall. The men have qualified for their national championship meet 13 times, all under Rosolino's tutelage.
Rosolino led the Eagles in a unique, spring season in 2021 as the men claimed their second SSC Championship in dominant fashion and giving Rosolino his 40th conference championship at Embry-Riddle.
The 2018 cross country season was one of the best in program history for the Eagles as both the men and women's teams claimed NCAA II South Region titles for the first time in school history, with the men's team winning the Sunshine State Conference crown. Both teams earned USTFCCCA national rankings in 2019 en route to appearing at the NCAA II National Championship in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.
In the Eagles' first foray into NCAA II competition, the women's cross country and both men's and women's track & field squads captured conference championships in 2017-18. The women's cross country team claimed the 2017 Sunshine State Conference championship, becoming the first program in Embry-Riddle Athletics history to earn an NCAA II conference crown. The women's cross country team then went on to finish third at the NCAA II South Region meet to earn a bid to the NCAA II National Championship 26th overall.
Over the course of his time at Embry-Riddle in the NAIA era, Mike Rosolino’s runners dominated Sun Conference competition. The men’s team won 10 consecutive league titles from 2005-14, while the women’s team topped the conference standings in seven straight seasons from 2006-12. The Eagles’ run began in 2005 when the Embry-Riddle men captured the program’s first league and NAIA Regional titles and made their first team appearance at the NAIA National Championship. A year later, Rosolino’s harriers repeated that performance and were joined by the ERAU women who claimed their first regional and conference crowns.
Rosolino was named The Sun Conference Cross Country Coach of the Year 16 times in his Embry-Riddle career - nine times for the men and seven on the women’s side – and the NAIA Region XIV Coach of the Year four times. He picked up his latest league coaching accolade in 2014 after leading the men to The Sun Conference crown and a 23rd-place finish at the NAIA National Championships. Rosolino saw Ellie Staker become to first women’s cross country runner in program history to earn NAIA All-America accolades in 2013.
The men took fifth-place overall at the NAIA National Championship in 2009, with three runners earning All-America honors for the first time in program history, while the women finished 16th that same season. Rosolino coached Evans Kirwa to his second All-America honor in 2011, the first Eagle runner to accomplish the feat.
In 20 years with the Eagle cross country programs, Rosolino has coached over 150 All-Conference performers and the Eagles have also been extremely successful in the classroom, posting 24 CoSIDA Academic All-America accolades and nearly 250 conference academic awards.
In 2005, Rosolino was tasked with launching the track and field program at Embry-Riddle. His penchant for success is evident in track and field as well as he has led the men to 16 conference championships and the women to 14 league titles.
Rosolino's Eagles won the inaugural Peach Belt Conference Indoor Track & Field Championships in 2024 and repeated as the league's outdoor champions in 2024, making it six consecutive seasons both the men and women won PBC crowns.
Rosolino has coached numerous track & field individual conference champions and close to 200 All-Americans. In addition, eight individuals have combined for 17 individual national titles: Beth McCubbin (1000m: 2008, 2009), Crystal Bardge (100m hurdles: 2011, 2012; 60m hurdles: 2011), Sam Vazquez (1000m: 2011), Nicole Bonk (3000m Race Walk: 2012, 2013; 5000m Race Walk: 2012), Reta Woodard (Weight Throw: 2012, 2014; Hammer Throw: 2013, 2014), Mike Edwards (High Jump: Indoor 2013, Outdoor 2013) and Ellie Staker (Indoor 800m). In the spring of 2023, Ukeyvia Beckwith became the first Embry-Riddle student-athlete to win a NCAA II national title when she did so in the outdoor 800m.
Rosolino came to Embry-Riddle from Presbyterian College in Clinton, S.C., where he spent two years on the coaching staff for the Blue Hose. He began his stint at Presbyterian as an assistant coach and was elevated to the head job after just six months. Despite the brevity of his tenure with the program, Rosolino guided the Blue Hose to their best finishes in school history, producing two South Atlantic Conference Runners of the Year and a Freshman of the Year in the process.
Prior to earning his position within the Presbyterian athletic department, Rosolino spent four academic years (1997-01) as the Director of Residence Life in Clinton. He also served as Resident Director for one year (1996-97) while attending graduate school.
A former standout runner for Rhodes College in Memphis, Tenn., Rosolino helped the Lynx to three Southern Collegiate Athletic Conference (SCAC) titles from 1993-95. In his final season, he assumed the role of team captain and finished 11th overall at the SCAC Championship meet. Rosolino also ran two seasons for the Rhodes track team, competing in the middle to long distance races. In 1995, he finished fifth at the SCAC Championships in the steeplechase.
An Academic All-American for Rhodes in 1994 and 1995, Rosolino was a National Merit finalist and earned distinction as a National Science Scholar.
Rosolino earned his bachelor’s degree in Mathematics from Rhodes in 1996. He went on to receive his Master of Education degree from the University of South Carolina in 1998 with an emphasis on student personnel services. Rosolino also holds a Level II certification from USA Track and Field. He earned a second Master’s degree in Pastoral Studies from Loyola College in New Orleans in 2009.
Rosolino and his wife Carrie reside in Port Orange. Both his daughter Lynnlee and son Tanner have competed for him at Embry-Riddle.
