Rebekah Smeltzer-Pickard - Cross Country Coach - Michigan State University Athletics

Rebekah Smeltzer-Pickard

Title:
Director of Track & Field Operations
Email:
smeltz11@ath.msu.edu

Began at Michigan State: July 2021

Education: Smeltzer-Pickard received a B.S. in kinesiology from MSU in 2012 and then an M.S. in kinesiology in 2014.

Job Responsibilities: Smeltzer-Pickard is responsible for the day-to-day operations of the Cross Country & Track and Field program.

Past Experience: Before returning to Michigan State, Smeltzer-Pickard most recently was a Cross Country & Track and Field coach at Vanderbilt University for five years. She also was a coach at Western Michigan for two years and was a former graduate student and student-athlete at MSU.

A former standout for the Spartans from 2007-12, Rebekah Smeltzer-Pickard returned to Michigan State in August 2021 as the Director of Track & Field Operations.

A four-time letterwinner and graduate assistant during her first stint with MSU, Smeltzer-Pickard came back to East Lansing after spending five seasons as the assistant coach for the Vanderbilt cross country and track & field teams. Prior to Vanderbilt, Smeltzer-Pickard was the assistant coach for Western Michigan’s cross country and track & field teams from 2014-16.

During her time in Nashville, Smeltzer-Pickard oversaw the Commodores’ cross country runners earn five All-SEC selections and six NCAA All-Region honors, with Grace Jensen most recently taking home All-SEC Second Team distinction in 2020. The Vanderbilt runners in 2019 boasted the second men’s All-SEC honoree in program history as well as two all-region selections (Nick Laning, Ana Wallace), an All-SEC Freshman and the men’s lowest point total at the SEC Championships since 1980.

The debut season for Smeltzer-Pickard at Vanderbilt had her play a pivotal role in Sara Tsai’s qualification to the 2016 NCAA Cross Country Championships. Tsai finished sixth at the NCAA South Regional with a time of 20:16.20 and earned an at-large bid to the Championship meet.

While at Western Michigan, Smeltzer-Pickard helped develop an individual qualifier for the NCAA Cross Country championships in each of her two seasons, and tutored Maria McDaniel to the top of the 5k podium at the 2015 MAC Championships.

During her two seasons as a graduate assistant with the Green and White, Smeltzer-Pickard helped the team to back-to-back Big Ten cross country titles in 2012 and 2013. On the track, she coached individual Big Ten champions in the 3000, 5000 and steeplechase while also helping Leah O’Connor win the individual indoor championship in the mile in 2014.

A native of Monroe, Michigan, Smeltzer-Pickard won Big Ten cross country championships with the Spartans in 2010 and 2011 as a student-athlete, competing in the NCAA Championships four times. Individually, she was a three-time all-region selection and three-time Academic All-Big 10 honoree.

Smeltzer-Pickard earned a master’s degree in kinesiology and coaching in 2013 after obtaining her bachelor’s degree in kinesiology in 2010 from Michigan State.