Mike Bianchina is in his third season with the Radford cross country and track and field programs. He has been working with the men’s and women’s distance runners, acting as recruiting coordinator, and over presiding over daily operations of the program.
So far in his time at Radford, Bianchina has been instrumental in recruiting the largest men’s and women’s rosters in program history. In his first two years in the New River Valley, Bianchina coached four women to All-Conference finishes at the Big South Cross Country Championships including a runner-up finish from Rachel Werking in 2021. The women and men both saw a marked improvement in their finishes at the Cross Country Conference Championships moving from 6th prior to his arrival to 2nd and 3rd on the women’s and men’s sides respectively in 2021.
The women excelled on the track adding a plethora of performances to the Top-10 all-time list. Bianchina coached Rachel Millirons to an All Conference, 2nd place finish in the 10k at the 2021 Big South Outdoor Conference Championships. He coached Rachel Werking to an All-Conference, 3rd place finish in the 3k Steeplechase at the same championships. Werking set the Radford School Record in the process.
Prior to his position at Radford, Bianchina spent a year working with the McNeese State University cross country and track and field teams in Lake Charles, La. Bianchina worked with distance runners and played a large role in meet operations.
During his time at McNeese Bianchina coached Alex Eykelbosch to a Southland conference title in the 5000m at the indoor championships, as well as, a runner up finish in the 3000m and a fourth-place finish in the women’s distance medley relay.
He also coached cowgirl Gladys Jerotich to an all-conference, fourth-place finish in the Southland Conference Cross Country Championships and cowboy Miguel Barrera-Lopez to a fourth-place finish in both the 10000m and 5000m at the 2019 Southland Conference Outdoor Track and Field Championships. Bianchina oversaw all meet day operations including the organization of the 2018 Southland Conference Cross Country Champiosnhips.
He earned his Master’s Degree in Health and Human Performance from McNeese in 2020.
Before McNeese, Bianchina had a successful career as a member of the Bradley University’s cross country and track and field programs.
At Bradley, Bianchina competed in cross country, 800m, 1500m, 3000m, and 5000m. In his sophomore season, he ran the fourth fastest mile in school history and finished sixth at the MVC Indoor Championships.
As a junior and senior, Bianchina was a member of two Missouri Valley Conference Champion Cross Country teams in 2015 (first title in school history) and 2017.
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. He earned his bachelor’s degree in health science in 2018.
