It is with great gratitude for his long service to our institution that Hillsdale College announces the retirement of Bill Lundberg at the conclusion of the school year in May.
A legendary coach, teacher, administrator, competitor and an even better man, Lundberg has had a massive impact on Hillsdale College over four decades working at the institution. Lundberg encapsulated the best of what college athletics had to offer during his 27 years as a head coach of the Chargers cross country and track and field programs, and has continued to give back to his college and the community as a professor and head of the Hillsdale College Wellness Initiative in the 15 years since his retirement from coaching.
During his tenure as a men's track and field and cross country head coach at Hillsdale, Lundberg led the Chargers to an unprecedented 25 GLIAC championships, guided the careers of 17 NAIA or NCAA DII national champions, and coached more than 200 athletic or Academic All-Americans. Early in his career during Hillsdale's time in the NAIA, he helped coach the Chargers men's cross country team to two runner-up finishes and a third-place finish at the NAIA National Championships in 1992, 1993 and 1994. As Hillsdale left the NAIA for NCAA Division II competition, Lundberg oversaw a smooth and successful transition for the Hillsdale College program from one classification to the next, keeping Hillsdale among the national elite.
Over his tenure, Lundberg was named the 1994 NAIA National Coach of the Year and earned 22 GLIAC Coach of the Year honors. As head of Hillsdale College's track and field program, he was primarily responsible for helping grow Hillsdale's annual outdoor track and field invitational, the GINA Relays, into one of the most important track and field events on the calendar in the Midwest and a nationally recognized event in the running world, pulling in top Division I, Division II and professional athletes from across the nation to compete.
More than just success on the track, however, Lundberg also was passionate and driven about helping his student-athletes thrive outside of competition. For 27 years, in every season of every sport he coached at Hillsdale, every one of Lundberg's team's posted a cumulative GPA of 3.3 or better.
A man of deep faith, Lundberg has dedicated his life to giving back to his community, working closely with the Fellowship of Christian Athletes and also with several other charitable organizations doing good work in the community he lives in. His 40-plus year legacy of living his faith has made an incalculable impact on the spiritual life of Hillsdale College and Hillsdale County and inspired countless numbers of his students and his student-athletes to engage deeper with their faith and more fully embrace Christianity.
It would be difficult to generate a complete list of all the ways Lundberg has worked to help those around him in need, but one measure of it at Hillsdale College is that the award handed out yearly by the athletic department to the student-athlete that makes the biggest positive impact in the community is named the "Wild" Bill Lundberg award in his honor.
Lundberg's enthusiasm for life, and for working to help everyone around him succeed is both legendary and infectious. To this day, more than a decade after his coaching career ended, he is still supporting student-athletes through his work with Hillsdale College's Wellness Program, and is a regular fixture at Chargers sporting events, where he cheers on all the participating student-athletes to success.
In his post-coaching role at Hillsdale College, Lundberg also took charge of managing Hillsdale's facility at Hayden Park from its opening in 2010, and has helped manage recreational activities at the complex while overseeing its growth over the last 15 years, to include the Chargers' new outdoor track and field facilities as well as a turf field used by the Chargers' club soccer and lacrosse teams and intramural events on top of a variety of existing facilities, including sand volleyball courts and trails for running and biking.
A 1972 graduate of Jackson Lumen Christi and a member of the school's Athletic Hall of Fame, Lundberg competed collegiately at the University of Kansas, where he was one of the nation's top steeplechasers. He competed in the U.S. Olympic Trials in 1976 and 1980, and was on track to make the 1980 Olympic team before rupturing his Achilles tendon in the U.S. Trials steeplechase final. His elite racing career over, Lundberg got into coaching, first at Jackson Community College, then at Hillsdale beginning in 1985.
He has shared his life with his wife of 41 years, Sharon, and together they have raised three children, Steven ('08), Kate ('10) and Tommy ('13), all of whom have graduated from Hillsdale College and gone on to live successful and meaningful lives of their own. The Lundbergs also are blessed with four grandchildren from Steven and his wife Amberle ('08) – Maren, age 11; Crawford, age 9; Will, age 7; and Lilly, who was born on Jan. 23, 2025.
