Phil Kopinski begins his seventh year of coaching at CUC in 2019 but first as head coach for cross-country.
Kopinski has long carried a passion for long-distance running (and will continue to do so by coaching the distance runners as an assistant for track and field), and his new responsibilities will allow him to "return to his roots." He coached cross-country for 10 years (2003-2012) at the Illinois Institute of Technology in Chicago, IL. During that time, the Scarlet Hawks' achievements included 27 NAIA National Championship qualifiers and 38 All-CCAC selections, CCAC Women's Runners of the Year in 2008 and 2012, a men's conference championship team in 2004, and IIT's first cross-country All-American in 2012.
A 1994 graduate of the University of Illinois at Chicago with a B.S. in kinesiology, Kopinski worked as a certified athletic trainer for the Winston-Salem Icehawks and Muskegon Fury professional hockey teams as well as the Chicago Rush arena football team. In 2001, Kopinski joined the IIT staff as an ATC and served in that capacity until 2013, along with his coaching responsibilities.
