Karen Harvey Hometown: Paris, Ontario Position: Women's Head Coach Birthdate: 08/09/1972 Experience: 3rd Season Alma Mater: Michigan '96

• 2006 USTFCCCA Cross Country Midwest Region Coach of the Year
• 2007 ACC Women's Cross Country Coach of the Year
• 2007 USTFCCCA South Region Women's Cross Country Coach of the Year
• 2008 USTFCCCA South Region Women's Assistant Track and Field Coach of the Year
• 2008 USTFCCCA South Region Women's Cross Country Coach of the Year
• 2008 ACC Women's Cross Country Coach of the Year
• 2009 USTFCCCA South Region Women's Assistant Track and Field Coach of the Year

Karen Harvey is entering her third season as the Florida State women's cross country head coach and has quickly left an impression on the program leading the team to back-to-back third place finishes at the NCAA Championships.

With a pair of All-Americans returning, including second place finisher Susan Kuijken, Harvey's crew is set to make another run at the title in 2009. Kuijken will be joined by fellow All-American Pilar McShine and a bevy of young runners looking to make an impact.

At the 2008 ACC Cross Country Championships, Harvey led the Seminoles to back-to-back conference titles by having five runners place in the Top 10 finishers. Leading the Garnet and Gold was Susan Kuijken who captured the ACC Championship with a time of 20:11, followed by Lesley Van Miert in fourth place. Just three seconds shy of repeating her personal best time was Pilar McShine in sixth place while Linzi Snow and Lydia Willemse finished in seventh and ninth place, respectively. All five Seminoles garned All-ACC honors, and the five All-ACC honorees equaled the total number of Florida State All-ACC honors in the past six years combined.

Kuijken has flourished under Harvey's watchful eye earning a pair of NCAA titles, three cross country All-America honors and five track plaudits. The senior has emerged as one of the top distance runners in the country.

Few coaches, if any, can match the resume Harvey has put together over the last five seasons. On the trails she has produced a quartet of top 10 finishes at the NCAA Championships, three straight NCAA Regional titles, six All-Americans, three conference champions and three Regional Athletes of the Year. On the track she has coached eight All-Americans, including five national champions. Individually, she has been honored with seven regional or conference Coach of the Year awards.

Evidence of her coaching acumen came in the first few weeks of the 2007 season as career-best times were dropping across the board. That continued throughout the season and the Seminoles made their presence known on a national scale when they vaulted to third in the USTFCCCA poll after an impressive showing at the Pre-NCAA meet.

At the following competition the Seminoles made history for the first time as they won the ACC Championships with Susan Kuijken leading the way with the program's first individual championship. Two weeks later another milestone was passed as Kuijken once again led Florida State to victory as the team claimed its first NCAA South Regional title behind the sophomore's dominating victory.

Having achieved a program-best number two national ranking, the Seminoles went into the NCAA Championships looking to get on the podium for the first time. Florida State fulfilled its goal as Kuijken's third place finish - the program's highest individual finish at the time - coupled with All-America honors from Barbara Parker earned the team a third-place finish. As would be expected, Harvey was honored for her work with ACC and NCAA South Region Women's Coach of the Year honors.

Success in the distance events carried over to the track where Kuijken won the 3000m run and sophomore Hannah England captured the mile at the NCAA Indoor Championships. The duo set the ACC and school records in their events and accounted for 20 of the 28 points the team used to take sixth, which was its best finish since 1986.

England repeated her success at the Outdoor National Championship, winning the 1500m with an NCAA meet, ACC and school record of 4:06.19. Kuijken also earned All-America honors in the event by taking eighth and their 11 points were 68 percent of the Seminoles' 12th-place finish.

Two summers ago Harvey actually had a "first" in her career. Parker qualified for the Summer Olympics in Beijing as part of the British National Team, giving Harvey her first Olympian. She took part in the steeplechase at the Games. Hannah England also had an Olympic "A" standard, but was not chosen for the British contingency.

In her five years prior to joining Florida State, Harvey turned Illinois into one of the best cross country programs in the country. In her last two seasons, Illinois posted top 10 finishes at the NCAA Championships. After an eighth-place showing in 2006, the Illini produced the highest finish in school history by taking fifth in 2005. The team made its first appearance under her watch in 2004 and finished 20th.

During the 2006 campaign, Illinois made history as it captured the program's first NCAA Midwest Regional crown. In the process, Harvey was named Midwest Region Coach of the Year by the USTFCCCA. Freshman Angela Bizzarri finished 24th at the NCAA Championships to give Illinois its third All-American in two seasons. The team took fifth at the Big Ten meet with Bizzarri coming in fifth overall to produce the fifth First-Team All-Big Ten selection during Harvey's tenure.

Accolades were the norm for Harvey's runners her last three years in Champaign. Her star pupil was Cassie Hunt, an All-American in cross country (2005), outdoor track (3000m steeplechase - 2004) and indoor track (3000m - 2005). Hunt won the 2005 Big Ten Cross Country title and was named Big Ten Athlete of the Year and Athlete of the Championship - all firsts for an Illini runner. During the 2005 outdoor season she won the steeplechase and 5000m at the Big Ten outdoor meet to claim Athlete of the Year and Championship.

The 2005 cross country campaign at Illinois may have been the best ever in school history. Harvey's fourth season with the Illini produced a second place showing at the Big Ten Championships - the highest finish in school history - and the number three spot at the regional with everything culminating in a fifth place finish at nationals.

Hunt took 10th at the NCAA meet and Stephanie Simms crossed the line 27th to earn a pair of All-America awards. In addition, rookie Katie Engel collected Big Ten Freshman of the Year honors after a 13th-place finish at the Big Ten Championships. Engel was the second Illini runner to earn freshman accolades from the conference, following Hunt in 2004.

In just her second season at the helm, Harvey coached the Illini to a number of program firsts, including competing at the NCAA Championships for the first time, attaining a national ranking and having an individual win the NCAA regional title.

At the 2004 NCAA Regional meet, Hunt became the first Illinois woman to ever win an individual regional championship, running 20:21 to set a personal best, course record and school record. Her performance earned her the Midwest Regional Runner of the Year award.

After one season at Illinois, Harvey was making strides with the cross country program. The 2003 edition moved up from 11th to third at the regional meet for its highest finish since 1994. The team also moved up two spots to seventh at the Big Ten Championships.

Harvey served as a volunteer cross country and track assistant at her alma mater Michigan for two years before taking over at Illinois. Before her two seasons with Michigan, Harvey enjoyed an impressive professional career that included a No. 1 world ranking in the 3000 meter steeplechase in 1998. A nine-time member of Canadian National Teams, (three world cross country teams) Harvey is the former Canadian record holder in the 3000m steeplechase with a time of 10:14.27 and finished fifth at the 1998 Goodwill games in the event. In 2000, Harvey was the top Canadian 1500-meter runner after clocking a time of 4:16 at the Boston Indoor Games.

An All-American for the Wolverines in cross country and on the track, Harvey competed from 1991-95, placing 21st at the 1992 NCAA Cross Country Championships, while also earning first team All-Big Ten honors in 1992 and `95. In track, Harvey finished eighth in the mile at the 1994 NCAA Indoor Championships and fifth in the 3,000 meters in 1995.

A 1996 graduate of the University of Michigan, Harvey received her B.A. in anthropology. She was also a three-time Academic All-Big Ten honoree while winning the 1995 Scholar Athlete of the Year award. A native of Brantford, Ontario, Harvey is married to four-time NCAA Champion and three-time Olympian Kevin Sullivan.