Men's Cross Country

The Christians Coaching File

Craig Christians begins his seventh season as the men’s and women’s cross country head coach in 2024-25. He will also lead Bruin athletes during the indoor and outdoor track seasons.

During his tenure at BU, he has coached three NAIA All-Americans, one NAIA Nationals qualifying team, five NSAA conference champions, and sixteen all-conference cross country runners. On the track, his runners have captured thirteen individual conference championships, while twelve more have won all-conference honors. At the marathon distance, one of his athletes has been in the top three on two occasions. 

Christians arrived at Bellevue University following a long and successful career coaching both track and cross country at the high school level. He began his career at BU after a 24-year stint at Bellevue West High School. Christians was the head boys and girls cross country coach for the Thunderbirds for the final 12 years of his tenure there, guiding the boy’s team to four top-10 finishes at the Nebraska Class A State Meet, including a third and fourth-place finish, respectively. He also twice led the girl’s team to the Nebraska Class A State Meet.

At Bellevue West, Christians coached at least one individual state qualifier in 11 of 12 seasons, while six individuals were state medalists under his tutelage, including the girl's runner-up at the 2005 meet. He oversaw an average roster size of 43 student-athletes during his tenure. As an assistant, he helped lead the boys' team to a Class A Runner-Up finish in 1995, saw 10 of 12 teams qualify for the State Meet from 1999-2004, and mentored the girls' Class A individual state champion in 2001.

Christians also has an extensive resume in coaching track and served as the distance coach at Platteview High School in Springfield, Neb., during the 2017 and 2018 seasons. From 1994-2016, he was a member of the Bellevue West track coaching staff, including serving as the head coach from 2007-2011, and directed the team to three top-10 finishes at the State Meet. He was a volunteer assistant (distance runners) for four years (1994-1997) and an assistant coach (distance runners) for a total of 14 years (1998-2006, 2012-2016). As an assistant, he coached all-class Gold Medalists in the girls 1600 meters (2006) and Class A gold medalists in the 3200 meters and 4x800 meter relay (2002).

Additionally, Christians has coaching experience with the Bellevue Breeze Track Club. He was with the club from 2000-2009 as the head cross country and assistant track coach. He has also served as a road race director at various events since 1986 and has directed or assisted in directing an average of about 10 road races per year.

Christians brings over 40 years of experience as a competitive distance runner, totaling over 65,000 career running miles. He’s competed in 800 races with distances ranging from 1 mile to marathons and remains competitive in national age-group events. In 2019, he was the USATF age-group national champion in the men’s 3,000-meter steeplechase and also won bronze in the 5,000 meters at the outdoor track championship meet in Ames, Iowa.

Outside of athletics, Christians spent his professional career as a civil engineer (1986-1989) with the City of Jefferson, Mo. Public Works Department; a project engineer (1989-2000) with the City of Omaha, Neb. Public Works Department; and as a division manager (2000-2016) with the City of Omaha, Neb. Sewer Maintenance Division before retiring from full-time employment in January of 2017.

Christians earned his associate of science degree in Pre-Engineering from Willmar Community College in Willmar, Minn., in 1981 before going on to earn his bachelor of science degree in Civil Engineering from South Dakota State University in Brookings, S.D. in 1983. He holds a master of science degree in Municipal Engineering from Iowa State University in Ames, Iowa, which he earned in 1986.

Interested recruits can contact Coach Christians via email at cchristians@bellevue.edu, by phone at 402.557.7155, or by filling out a prospective athlete questionnaire.