SMSU Athletics

Nate Wolf is in his fourth season as the head women's and men's cross country/track & field coach at Southwest Minnesota State University in 2015-16. Wolf was named the head coach on June 18, 2012, the same day the two cross country programs were reinstated as varsity programs.
 
Despite having just two months to form a pair of teams, Wolf recruited nearly 20 student-athletes to allow SMSU to compete in both women’s and men’s cross country in the fall of 2012.
 
The track & field program was reinstated on Feb. 15, 2013, and since that time, Wolf has quickly brought both the Mustang cross country and track & field programs to respectability—not only in the conference—but regionally as well.
 
In just the second season of indoor track & field, SMSU had two individuals win conference titles—Will Hanson and Alejandro Sanchez—with both qualifying for the NCAA Championships. Sanchez also became the program’s first-ever indoor NCAA All-American in 2015. Sanchez also won an outdoor conference title in 2015.
 
Wolf came to SMSU after completing one season as head women’s and men’s cross country coach at NAIA Northwestern College (Iowa).  Prior to being named head coach, Wolf spent seven seasons as an assistant coach for the Red Raider cross country programs.  Wolf also served as the head women’s and men’s track coach at Northwestern for eight seasons (2005-12).
 
During his tenure, Wolf led Northwestern student-athletes to 38 NAIA All-American performances, including a school record number of 15 this past season, eight during the indoor season and seven for outdoor.  Wolf helped guide an individual to the 2012 NAIA Indoor National Championship in the high jump, the fourth national championship performance in the program's history.
 
Wolf was named the 2007-08 Great Plains Athletic Conference Women’s Track Indoor Coach of the Year, leading Northwestern to its first top-10 finish at the 2008 NAIA Indoor National Championships.  This past season’s women’s cross country team received votes for the NAIA national poll and finished fifth in the 11-team Great Plains Athletic Conference.
 
In addition to his team’s athletics success, Wolf had 75 student-athletes earn NAIA Scholar-Athlete accolades during his tenure, while his squads have earned NAIA Scholar Team recognition five consecutive years.  This spring, the Northwestern men’s track team earned the NAIA Five-Star Champions of Character award, given to teams that have displayed exemplary character and sportsmanship on the field, on campus and in the community.
 
Wolf competed at Northwestern in both cross country and track from 1999-2003, qualifying for the NAIA Track Nationals in both the mile and 3,000 meter runs.  He served as team captain in both sports as a senior and was named the cross country team most valuable runner during his final two seasons.
 
Wolf, a native of Alma, Neb., is a 2003 graduate of Northwestern with a bachelor’s degree in biology health professions.  He earned his master’s degree in 2005 from the University of South Dakota in athletic administration.
 
Nate and his wife, Lori, live in Marshall.