BOSTON – Northeastern director of track and field Cathrine Erickson has been named the high performance director for Paralympic Track & Field with the United States Olympic Committee (USOC), the university announced on Tuesday.
 
"My time at Northeastern has been one of the most rewarding experiences in my life," Erickson said. "I would like to thank Peter Roby and Philly Mantella for the opportunity to lead this program. 
 
"I will be forever grateful to every student-athlete, coach, parent and alumni who has chosen to trust in my leadership and be a part of this journey. Over the last six years, we have collectively rebuilt the Northeastern track and field, cross country brand into one of the strongest and most competitive teams in the IC4A, CAA and the New England conferences. We have developed the character of individuals on this team through having our program values deeply rooted in a team first mentality, in making good decisions and in taking care of each other. Our mantras have been that we are stronger together and our strength comes from the pack."
 
During her five-plus seasons at Northeastern, Erickson has reconstructed the track and field and cross country program from the ground up and taken it to new heights not seen before in the storied history of the program. Under her leadership, the programs have won a total of 15 team championships, including three consecutive CAA Men's Outdoor Championships and ten combined men's and women's New England Championships, including sweeps in both men's and women's indoor and outdoor in 2016. 
 
In addition to team championships, Erickson and her coaching staff have coached 33 individual national qualifiers, 102 ECAC, IC4A, CAA and New England conference champions, set 50 school records and added 470 performances onto the university's all-time performance lists (top-10).
 
"I am incredibly proud of what our track and field and cross country program has accomplished under Cathrine's direction," said Peter Roby, director of athletics and recreation. "She and her staff have recruited student-athletes who embraced our core values and achieved a great deal every step of the way during their journeys at Northeastern. The program is better for having Cathrine as its leader for the last five seasons, and I wish her well as she takes on the next challenge in her already impressive career."
 
Erickson has built one of the most competitive programs in the northeast by recruiting and developing their student-athletes. In the last three years, Erickson and her team have recruited more than 100 student-athletes, with 34 captains and 69 high school national qualifiers, which includes two national champions in the 2015-16 recruiting class of 45 matriculated first-years.
 
"During my 21 years of coaching, I have worked with amazing coaches and extraordinary student-athletes who have helped shaped my love for the sport of track and field in such a way that I am excited about championing the athletes, coaches and staff members involved with Team USA's Paralympic Track & Field contingent," Erickson said.
 
"I wish the Husky family well and will dearly miss the daily interactions with this group of special athletes and exceptional coaches. I will now step into the role of their biggest fan rather than their leader and I look forward to the continued growth of the treasured relationships that I have built with those associated with the program."
 
Northeastern's success on the track is matched only by its performance in the classroom. Erickson's team has constantly been at the top of the athletic department in overall team grade point average, leading the department to 20 straight semesters with a cumulative GPA of 3.0 or better. This past fall, the women's cross country team posted a 3.595 GPA, the best among the women's teams, while men's cross country also led all men's teams with a 3.291.
 
"I would like to thank Cathrine for her five-plus years of service to Northeastern," said incoming director of athletics Jeff Konya. "She has led the track and field and cross country program to unprecedented levels of success during her tenure, both in competition and in the classroom, and the team-first culture embedded in the program has set the table for sustained success in the years to come due to the leadership of Cathrine and her coaching staff. I wish her the very best with the USOC and am grateful for her dedication to Northeastern University."
 
As the director of U.S. Paralympics Track & Field, Erickson will develop and implement high performance plans for Team USA, contribute to the U.S. Paralympics athlete identification and development strategy, supervise coaches and national team staff, and identify and oversee operations for national- and international-level Paralympic track and field competitions hosted in the United States.
 
"We're incredibly excited to welcome Cathrine to Team USA," said Julie Dussliere, Vice President of Paralympics at the USOC. "With more than 20 years of experience in collegiate, elite and international coaching, we're thrilled to have her help U.S. Paralympics Track & Field achieve its goals and live out its mission."
 
Erickson will be with Northeastern through early February before Tramaine Shaw leads the program on an interim basis for the remainder of the season. A national search for the next leader of the track and field program will take place following the 2017-18 season.
 
Track and field and cross country championships under Cathrine Erickson:
Men's cross country
IC4A Champions – 2015, 2016
 
Men's indoor track and field
New England Championships – 2015, 2016, 2017
 
Men's outdoor track and field
CAA Championships – 2015, 2016, 2017
New England Championships – 2016
 
Women's indoor track and field
New England Championships – 2014, 2015, 2016, 2017
 
Women's outdoor track and field
New England Championships – 2016, 2017