Mike Bianchina is in his first season with the track and field program and comes to McNeese after a successful career as a distance runner at Bradley.
Bianchina will work with the distance runners as well as meet operations.
The Houston native made his McNeese debut with the 2018 cross country season and helped coach the Cowgirls to a fourth place team finish, and Cowboys sixth at the Southland Conference Championships.
For the Cowgirls, Gladys Jerotich earned first team all-conference honors with a fourth place individual finish at the meet.
At Bradley, Bianchina competed in cross country, 800m, 1500m and 3000m. In his sophomore season, he ran the fourth fastest mile in school history and finished sixth at the MVC Indoor Championships.
As a junior, he clocked a 1:54.85 in the 800-meters for the school's best time since the 1991 season and the second-best time overall. He also clocked the third-best mile time in school history at 4:08.79 and was a member of the 4x800-meter relay team that set a new school record.
He was a four-time MVC Honor Roll student, six-time Bradley Athletic Director's Honor Roll, and earned the MVC Commissioner's Academic Excellence Award in 2016.
