Nate Houle enters his ninth season as Idaho State’s head cross country and Associate Head track and field coach.
Under his tenure there has been a near constant progression in success of the student athletes under his tenure. This includes 49 all-conference performances and seven NCAA qualifiers in nine events.
In 2021 he coached Collin Dylla to a Big Sky indoor runner-up in the 800m, running as season-best of 1:49.73 along with a 3rd place finish outdoors in 2020. Collin finished his time at ISU with a PR of 1:48.57 in the 800m.
In 2017 he coached ISU Student-Athlete Jenica Dodge to a 10th place finish at the NCAA West Regionals and the women's top all-time finish in the 6k for Idaho State University. At the 2019 NCAA West Track and Field Regionals, Dodge set a new all-time ISU school record in the 5,000m running a time of 16:10.29. Dodge qualified for four NCAA meets (T&F/XC) during her time in the program.
In 2018, Houle coached ISU runner Wyatt Didericksen to a seventh place finish at the Big Sky Cross Country Championships. This was the highest-place finish for a Bengal in the men’s race in over a decade. Under Houle, Didericksen set multiple new Idaho State top-10 marks and qualified for five NCAA meets (T&F/XC).
Also in 2018, Dan Garz won the Big Sky Conference indoor 800m title in Flagstaff, AZ. Dan would go on to qualify for the quarter-finals of the NCAA Championships that spring and finish his career with a PR of 1:49.63.
Altogether, Houle has coached ISU athletes to a cumulative of 63 new Idaho State University top-10 marks.
Academically, the Bengals underneath Houle have strived as well. In 2017 ISU runner Andrew Kaler was named to the CoSIDA Academic All-American second team. Kaler was the first Idaho State athlete to ever receive the award. Student-Athletes boast 3.33 average GPA on the women’s side and 3.60 GPAs on the men’s.
Prior to his time at ISU Houle was an assistant at Southern Utah where he coached the mid-distance and steeplechase events. As an assistant at Southern Utah, Houle over saw recruiting efforts and specifically coached the middle-distance and steeplechase events.
Within one year of his arrival SUU was ranked No. 27 in 2013 and finished the 2014 NCAA championships ranked No. 22. During Houle's time at SUU he coached 18 all-conference athletes, seven NCAA Championship first-round qualifiers, four NCAA all-region athletes, two NCAA cross country championships individual qualifiers and one NCAA track and field All-American.
As a graduate assistant at Georgia State, Houle was a part of the school's first-ever CAA outdoor track and field championship. He also coached the middle-distance runners where each runner under his direction obtained lifetime best marks. En Route to earning his master’s degree in Exercise Physiology, Houle performed thesis research on fatigue resistance differences in male and female distance runners.
Houle ran at Southern Utah where he was an NCAA West regional qualifier and held the fifth best-time at SUU in the 800m. During his time at Southern Utah he also earned a Bachelor of Science degree in Exercise Science.
Houle and his wife Kacee, who was also a runner in college, have three children, Ames, Corra, and Theo.
