Mark Husted completed his eighth season as assistant cross country coach at Colorado School of Mines in 2024-25. Husted has been working with the Orediggers track and field team since 2011.
A member of the Mines Athletics Hall of Fame, Husted served on the 2019, 2022, and 2024 cross country staffs that saw the Oredigger men win their second, third, and fourth NCAA Division II National Championships. Husted was also on staff for the women's first four podium appearances in program history including three third-place finishes at the national championships. During his tenure as an assistant coach for the cross country team, Husted has been a part of seven RMAC titles (2017, 2019, 2020, 2021, 2022, 2023, 2024), six NCAA South Central Regional crowns (2018, 2019, 2021, 2022, 2023, 2024), three national championships and assisted with the development of 65 USTFCCCA All-America performances.
Husted graduated from Mines with his undergraduate in Electrical Engineering (2009), his masters degree in Energy Systems and Power Electronics (2010), and his PhD in Operations Research (2019). He was inducted into the Mines Athletics Hall of Fame in the fall of 2021 alongside teammate and fellow NCAA National Champion Mack McLain.
As an athlete for the Orediggers, Husted earned six All-American honors and was a member of the National Champion distance medley relay (DMR) squad at the 2009 Indoor Track & Field National Championships. He closed out his Mines career by taking home a National Championship in the 800m at the 2010 Outdoor National Championships, breaking the school record, and posting the fastest time in the nation at 1:48.65 in the finals. Husted was named 2009-10 ESPN The Magazine Academic All-America® Men’s Track and Field and Cross Country College Athlete of the Year.
Husted went on the compete at the USA Track & Field National Championships six times with two fifth-place finishes in the 800m. In the summer of 2022, Husted earned the title Masters World Champion after winning gold in the 5,000-meter run at the World Masters Athletics Championships in Tampere, Finland. He also finished second in the world in the 1,500-meter run and fourth in the world in the 800-meter run. Additional medals on the world stage led to Husted being named the USATF Masters Distance Athlete of the Year in 2024.
