Paul Rice enters his 24th season as head coach for men’s and women’s cross country team. He also served as the first full-time head coach for men’s and women’s track and field team since the program’s inception in 2006 until he was named Director of Track and Field in the summer of 2017.
This fall, Rice was inducted into the Hollie L. Lepley Hall of Honor class of 2022. Rice has guided the Golden Grizzlies to new heights at the helm of Oakland cross country, leading the program to eight conference titles. The success has resulted in Rice collecting conference coach of the year honors on nine occasions. In 2015, the Golden Grizzlies became the fourth program in Horizon League history to have both the men's and women's teams win the conference title in the same season.
An Oakland individual has claimed the top spot at the conference championships 26 times under Rice. In 2019, Maggie Schneider became the first student-athlete in Horizon League history to win three consecutive titles.
In 2019, Rice led the women's cross country team to a Horizon League Championship title and guided Maggie Schneider to Oakland's first NCAA qualifying appearance since Kristie Kieffer in 2003.
In spring of 2018, Rice led the men’s track team to the program’s first Horizon League Outdoor Championship with a dramatic win over Youngstown State. In the last event of the day, it all came down to the men's 4x400 team. Tre’ Brown, Jimmie Williams, Zach Joyce and Corey Goodloe went on to take first place, erasing a one-point deficit to earn the title with 233 points. Going into the men's 5000m, Oakland knew they had to finish 1-2-3 in order to have a chance to win it all, and they did just that. Andrew Bowman placed first, Jacob Bowman placed second and Bryce Stroede placed third. Andrew Bowman's performance earned him the Men's Championship Outstanding Performer-Running while Maggie Schneider placed first in the women's 5000m and 10k earning Co-Women's Championship Outstanding Performer-Running.
The outdoor season concluded on an historic note for Rice as Andrew Bowman punched his ticket to the NCAA Championships finishing eighth in the 3000m steeplechase with a time of 8:46.35 at the NCAA East Prelims becoming the first student-athlete in program history to qualify in this event. Bowman closed out his exceptional career becoming the first ever to earn second team All-American honors after finishing 14th in the 3000m steeplechase at the NCAA Track and Field Championships at Hayward Field.
The outdoor season continued as Andrew Bowman, Bryce Stroede, Jacob Bowman, Andrew Storm and Rachel Levy competed at the 2018 NCAA Division I Outdoor Track & Field Championship East Preliminary Round under Rice’s guidance.
In the fall of 2017, Rice was named Horizon League Men's and Women's Coach of the Year for the 10th after the Oakland women's cross country team became just the third school in Horizon League history to win three consecutive championships since Butler (2009-11) on the home Katke-Cousins Golf Course. Maggie Schneider captured the women's 6K title followed by Rachel Levy (2nd) and Ashley Burr (3rd). Schneider was named Athlete of the Year earning All-League First Team honors along with Levy and Burr. Madison Leigh and Sammy Mondry were named All-League Second Team after finishing 11th and 12th respectively.
The men's team also won its second league title in a three-year span led by a second place finish by Bryce Stroede followed by Jacob Bowman and Andrew Bowman in third and fourth respectively to earn All-League First Team honors.
In the spring of 2017, under Rice’s guidance, Bryce Stroede became the second NCAA Track and Field Finals qualifier in the school’s history, competing in the 5K in Eugene, Oregon finishing 23rd and achieving Honorable Mention All-American. Stroede set a new school record of 13:49 in the event. The Eugene trip capped off a record setting year for Stroede as he won four Horizon League titles and also became the first all-region performer in cross country in the Division 1 era.
The spring of 2017 also saw Oakland’s men and women finish runner-up at the Horizon League Outdoor Championships, the highest finish ever for women’s team at the outdoor meet. The men also finished runner-up in 2017 at the indoor championships, also their highest finish ever.
In the fall of 2016 Oakland’s women won their first ever back-to-back cross country league championship, winning by a margin of 60 points over second place Wright State. Rice was named women’s cross country Coach of the Year for the second straight season, bringing his career total to eight. Both Rachel Levy and Stroede won the individual championship and each earned athlete of the year at the meet, marking the first time in program history Oakland had the men’s and women’s individual champions in cross country.
The winter of 2016 saw the women’s track & field team win their first ever league title as they upset defending champion Youngstown State at the Horizon League Indoor Track and Field Championships. With this team accomplishment, Rice was named Horizon League Women’s Indoor Track Coach of the Year.
The 2015 cross country season was a banner year for Rice and the Golden Grizzlies as he led both teams to Horizon League titles, and seven total first-place finishes on the season. Jacob and Andrew Bowman both earned All-Horizon League first-team honors, while George O'Connor, Bryce Stroede and Michael Cox earned second-team honors. For the women, Ashley Burr, Rachel Levy, Miranda Haas and Karli Keur all earned places on the All-Horizon League first-team. For his efforts, Rice was awarded Horizon League Coach of the Year for both the men's and women's teams.
Under Rice's guidance, Golden Grizzly cross country became one of the premier programs while in The Summit League, producing 27 all-conference runners who won 53 total conference awards, three runners of the year, two newcomers of the year and three Summit League championships in just nine seasons. Rice earned Summit League Coach of the Year accolades four times.
When Oakland transitioned to the Horizon League before the 2013 season, Rice produced a Freshman of the Year in Jacob Bowman and three second team all-league performers in Michael Cox, Karli Keur and Sammy Mondry.
During the 2010 season, Rice led the women's team to their first-ever Summit League Championship. Oakland placed four runners in the top eight to score 45 points edging out defending champion Southern Utah by five points. Lia Jones, Brittni Hutton and Sara Lieblein earned All-Summit League first team honors and Kelsey Carmean earned second team honors. Rice earned his first Women's Cross Country Summit League Coach of the Year award, the fourth coach of the year accolade of his career.
In 2005, Rice led the men's team to its second conference championship in four years, as Oakland placed all five of its scoring runners in the top-15 to compile 38 points, edging Southern Utah for the title. The Golden Grizzlies were paced by Summit League Runner of the Year Adam Frezza who won the event. Four runners earned all-conference honors: Frezza and Paul Kulisek were named to the first team while Andrew Lawrick and Jason Young were second-team selections. The team also earned its first-ever regional ranking when it was 14th in the United States Cross Country Association Great Lakes Region poll.
Another successful season, 2003, saw both the men's and women's teams place second at the Summit League championships. The women were led by two-time Summit League Runner of the Year Kristie Kieffer (2000, 2003), who became the first Golden Grizzly runner to qualify for the NCAA championships since Oakland joined Division I when she placed 13th at the NCAA regional.
In 2002, Rice and the Golden Grizzly men captured their first conference championship, breaking Southern Utah's streak of five straight titles. A record six runners earned all-conference recognition on the men's side while the women placed two on the all-conference team and had the newcomer of the year in Sarah Drouillard. Rice was named Summit League Coach of the Year for the second consecutive season.
Rice took the helm in 1998 after serving two years as Oakland's assistant cross country coach. He graduated from Oakland in 1997 with a bachelor's degree in general studies/human resources. Rice ran cross country at Oakland from 1990-93 and was a three-year captain, earning All-GLIAC honors 1991 and 1992, as well as all-region recognition in 1991-93.
A resident of Rochester Hills, Michigan, Rice and his wife, Shannon, have three children: Olivia, Ethan, and Abigail.
