During the changing of the guard for the Michigan State University cross country and track programs, Rita Arndt-Molis was named associate head coach following the appointment of Walt Drenth as director of the programs.
Arndt-Molis will train both men’s and women’s middle distance and distance runners, both cross country and track. She spent her first two years as the head coach of the girls’ cross country team and as an assistant track and field coach.
Its impact was immediate. The 2004 cross country team was ranked 14th at the NCAA National Championships, led by 12th-ranked All-American Danette Doetzel. The women were also third at the Great Lakes Regional Championships and tied with Illinois as runners-up at the Big Ten Championships.
Arndt-Molis provided the leadership, encouragement, and motivation to lead his runners to success both in competition and in the classroom. His 2004 cross country team posted a 3.52 team GPA to earn Academic All-American recognition.
The 2005 track team set a school record of 11:29.69 in the distance medley relay and was runner-up at the Big Ten Indoor Championships.
Arndt-Molis guided the 2005 cross country team to their fifth consecutive trip to the NCAA National Championships, where the Spartans placed 30th. Before qualifying for nationals, the team finished fifth at the Great Lakes Regional Championships. The team’s 3.61 overall GPA earned them Academic All-American recognition.
The 2006 track team finished 4th at the Great Lakes Regional Championships with 4 runners (Nicole Bush, Emily Adams, Michelle Rafferty, and Aimee Keenan) qualifying for the NCAA National Championships. Bush was fifth in the 3000-meter dash at nationals with a school record 10:01.04, and became an All-American with the fifth-fastest 3000-meter time in the nation.
Prior to Michigan State, Arndt-Molis spent two seasons as an assistant cross country and track coach with the University of South Florida Bulls, where she helped develop 43 all-conference athletes, 10 all-region athletes, and 3 NCAA qualifiers.
The affable and energetic Arndt-Molis coached Christa Benton, the first South Florida All-American in cross country, and Andrew Smith, the Bulls’ first men’s conference cross country champion. On track, the men’s 4×800 relay team set a school record. Arndt-Molis became a part of the 2003 Conference USA Coaching Staff of the Year.
Like Walt Drenth, Rita Arndt-Molis had tremendous success as a coach before coming to the Michigan State University campus.
Arndt-Molis ran for the Spartans track and cross country teams for 2 years before finishing her college career in South Florida, where she became a 6-time NCAA qualifier, 3-time Academic All-American and helped the Bulls to their first Conference USA Championship and their first NCAA Championship berth in 1998.
In her 5-year career as a cross country and track coach, Rita Arndt-Molis has directly helped create:
Sixty All-Conference Athletes, 4 Individual Conference Champions, 1 Conference Championship Team, 24 All-Regional Athletes, 4 Academic All-American Teams, 2 Individual Academic All-Americans, 2 NCAA Cross Country Championship Team Qualifiers, 11 NCAA Regional Qualifiers, and 3 All-Americans.
You can call Rita Arndt-Molis nice, courageous, energetic, positive, or optimistic, but the best name to call her is winner. She is a winner first, last and every time, and Michigan State University and her athletes benefit from it every day that she coaches the Verdiblancos.
Copyright © 2007 Ed Bagley
