Former Notre Dame (Ohio) College track coach finds new opportunity as SPIRE Academy cross country coach

Michael Larkin was hoping to find a way to stay in Northeast Ohio and continue coaching track & field

Michael Larkin was chosen to lead the SPIRE Academy cross country program, which will have its first season this fall. / SPIRE Academy

Michael Larkin learned early in his coaching career that being educated on various subjects would be his best path to success. When Larkin was a graduate assistant at William & Mary, he figured he would coach jumps, one of his events as a hurdler, jumper and sprinter at the College of New Jersey.

“I thought I was going to coach the high jump,” Larkin said. “I was told very quickly that you weren’t good enough at the high jump to dictate what you coach. I started off as a volunteer coach for sprints, jumps and hurdles. My mentors with the Williams & Mary track & field program were explicit with me: You are going to learn how to coach every event.”

Larkin spent his time as a graduate assistant developing his coaching voice. After several years coaching in college, he was recently hired to coach the new cross country program at the SPIRE Academy in Geneva, Ohio, which will field its first team this fall.

Larkin was happy to find a way to stay in coaching after his last stint ended abruptly.

Finding a lifeline

Larkin was grateful to find work in Northeast Ohio after he lost his job as head coach of the Notre Dame College track & field program when the school announced it was closing in the spring of 2024. Larkin had been hired in June of 2023 to rebuild Notre Dame’s program.

Larkin, 30, had met his girlfriend while coaching at Penn State Behrend in Erie, Pa., and wanted to try to stay in the Cleveland area.

“When Notre Dame closed, that wasn’t part of the plan,” Larkin said. “I was keeping my eye open for jobs and I had been coaching for nine years. I knew coach Kerron (Stewart) and coach (Tim) Mack at SPIRE. There wasn’t an opportunity at the time when I first met with them, but by summer, an opportunity came available.”

Coaching a different discipline

Larkin isn’t a distance runner by trade. He did run cross country in high school, but didn’t compete in distance events in college.

Larkin’s coaching experience has helped sharpen his knowledge base.

The most important part, he found, has been helping athletes be prepared with a strong race plan.

“You can prepare by knowing the competitors around you, knowing the course you are running on, and reacting in a much more meaningful way,” Larkin said. “We want to teach them how to see what direction the race is taking. I like to say these are the PRs of the people around you in the race. This is how you stack up.”

Trying to find the right balance is a delicate line to walk.

“I don’t want a runner to fall asleep and get lost in the shuffle,” Larkin said. “I also don’t want someone to try and run their (personal best) and blow the whole race. I come at it from an education perspective, which I spent my graduate years doing.”

Rowing in the same direction

The SPIRE track program is split nearly evenly between athletes in the United States and international students. Larkin wants to see the program grow quickly with more local and international athletes. He said SPIRE has a clinic planned in Kenya to show what they have to offer to athletes there.

Larkin said that the administration being behind the track program has made his decision to coach there worth his investment.

“That’s what enticed me to SPIRE,” Larkin said. “It’s a growing program that is led by people who know what they are doing and want to surround themselves with excellence.”

— Josh Rizzo |rizzo42789@gmail.com| @J_oshrizzo