OKLAHOMA CITY – Oklahoma City University will re-introduce cross country and track and field to its athletic department starting in 2008-09 and has hired Michael Houston as its new cross country and track and field headcoach.

OCU will compete in men's and women's cross country and track and field for the first time since 1984-85 and for the first time in the NAIA. OCU will field 19 varsity intercollegiate sports teams in 2008-09.

The Stars are expected to field a team of 40-50 members next season and increase in the following years. According to the National Federation of State High School Associations, track and field is the third most popular sport among boys and second most for girls.

"We wanted to provide additional opportunities for student-athletes," OCU athletic director Jim Abbott said. "It can positively impact enrollment on campus."

Houston joins the Stars after spending the past six years with St. Gregory's as its cross country and track and field coach. St. Gregory's Joe Hughes won the Sooner Athletic Conference 400-meter championship, while teammate William McCaskill finished in second place in the SAC meet on April 19.

St. Gregory's set a national record, won three events in the NAIA Championships and had three third-place national finishers under Houston's guidance. St. Gregory's had one U.S. National Track and Field indoor qualifier, 10 cross-country all-conference, regional and national qualifiers, 50 track and field national qualifiers and 27 track and field all-Americans in Houston's tenure.

"I want to thank OCU for this great opportunity to work at such a prestigious institution," Houston said. "I'm most impressed with the academic programs offered at OCU, and the athletic tradition of success speaks for itself. I believe we can develop a quality program with all the support we will have."

Houston was named Sooner Athletic Conference women's cross country coach of the year in 2002 and indoor and outdoor track and field NAIA Region VI coach of the year in 2007.

"We were impressed with his record as a coach and commitment to the academic progress of his student-athletes," Abbott said of Houston. "His athletes not only set records, but also performed very well in the classroom."

Previously, Houston has coached 500 national USATF Junior Olympics and AAU national qualifiers as co-founder of the Oklahoma City Express Track Club. He was also a part of three state championship teams as a high-school assistant coach.