NEW ORLEANS, La. The United States Track and Field Cross Country Coaches Association (USTFCCCA) announced Thursday its Class of 2024 into the USTFCCCA Division II Collegiate Athlete Hall of Fame, an honor that includes Western Colorado's Jennifer Michel.

"It's a great honor to go in as being recognized for my athletic achievements being this far out," Michel said "To be recognized for what I did before coaching is always a nice honor and to have Western represented is important for our sport."

Inducted into the Mountaineer Sports Hall of Fame in 2010, Michel earned three NCAA D-II national titles throughout her career at Western Colorado. Her first national title came in the outdoor 3,000-meter run, she followed that with a title in the indoor mile in 2001. She won her third title in the inaugural 3,000m steeplechase in 2001 with a time of 10 minutes, 22.06 seconds. The time would be a national championship record up until 2008.

She still held the program record with a time of 10:17.80 in the steeplechase until 2018 and her name is still in the Mountaineers' outdoor record books for her times in the 800, 1,500, 3,000 and 5,000, and indoor records for the mile, 800 and 3,000. Throughout her career, she earned eight All-American titles and was a six-time Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference champion between cross country and track and field.

Michel was named a member of the NCAA 25^th Anniversary Team for Women's Track and Field and was the 1999 NCAA Cross Country Runner of the Year. Her accomplishments helped her earn RMAC All-Century honors in women's track and field apart of the conference's celebration in 2008-09. 

Michel has held her reign as head men's and women's cross-country coach for 17 seasons, as well as being an assistant coach for the Mountaineer track and field program. A two-time National Coach of the Year, Michel has also been named RMAC Coach of the Year five times. Michel has been able to take her knowledge from her illustrious collegiate career and instill it into her athletes today. She also made history in 2007, when she was the first woman in any sport at any NCAA level to earn a National Coach of the Year honor for a men's sport. She then became the first woman to repeat the honor in 2011.

"Nothing in distance running comes over night," reflected Michel. "That's what I instill in my athletes because it took a long time for me to get to where I was as I came in hanging on in workouts and when I left I was able to lead races and win races, but it took a long five years to get to the point."

She has coached over 60 athletes to 232 All-American honors between cross country and indoor/outdoor track and field, which also includes the 6 All-American awards the Mountaineers' earned this past cross-country season.