Rider honors Hall of Fame XC, track coach

By Rob Rose

Mike Brady, former Rider cross country and track and field head coach died at his home in Lambertville on Nov. 23. He was 63.

Brady was inducted into the Rider Athletics Hall of Fame in 2002, after compiling a record of 253-43 from 1980 to 1992.

Brady’s teams had records of 121-37 in cross country, 71-2 for indoor track and 61-4 in outdoor track.

Named head coach in 1980, Brady led the Broncs to nine New Jersey Collegiate Championships and nine East Coast Conference championships, five of which were consecutive in his first five seasons.

Brady won the New Jersey Amateur Athletic Union decathlon title and won the Athletics Congress New Jersey decathlon and pentathlon titles in 1982.

Brady earned a bachelor’s in secondary education from Rider in 1976, before earning a Master’s degree in physical education from Trenton State College in 1986.

Following his tenure at Rider, Brady became the head coach of tmen’s cross country and assistant coach of track and field at Princeton and was named NCAA Mid-Atlantic Cross Country Coach of the Year in 1994 and 1995.

“Mike was a special coach who made such a big impact on his athletes,” Rider University cross country and track and field Head Coach Bob Hamer.

He is survived by his wife, Anita; father, John; sister, Kathleen Schulte; and 16 nieces and nephews.