Dr. Drew Ludtke was hired to St. Francis to build the track and field programs. In 2006 there were zero returning athletes, no facility, no traditions. Since that time the programs have built to 100 athletes this year, built a world class running facility, and built traditions of contending for conference championships and national success. The teams have been CCAC conference runners-up on five occasions in the past two years and recently gained their first CCAC Conference Championship in 2010, where Dr. Ludtke was named the CCAC Coach of the Year.

In addition to conference successes, Dr. Ludtke has started a tradition of sending athletes to the NAIA national championships. Prior to his arrival, there had been only one national qualifier on record from the University. Since 2006, Coach Ludtke has had 69 national qualifiers, with 3 qualifiers in 2006, 2 qualifiers in 2007, 10 qualifiers in 2008, 19 qualifiers in 2009, 35 qualifiers in 2010 and more expected for the current year.

Prior to coming to St. Francis, Dr. Ludtke had taken over a struggling program at Lake Superior State University in the Upper Peninsula of Michigan. There he built the programs from a smaller team of 30 athletes to a respectable team of 74 athletes with national qualifying successes, having nine athletes hit national qualifying performances in his three year tenure, where only three athletes in the school history had qualified prior to his arrival. At the same time, he developed 15 Great Lakes Intercollegiate Athletics Conference (GLIAC) all-conference athletes, and 76 school records were established in the track program under his tutelage. One of those marks - a time of 14:36 in the 5,000-meter run - also serves as a GLIAC record. Ludtke also guided nine athletes onto the NCAA performance list.  "Drew achieved success though caring for the whole person" said A.D. Dave Laketa. He was chosen by the students at Lake Superior State to receive the Golden Anchor Service Award, which is presented to the top staff member at the school for his/her commitment to the students. One year earlier, Ludtke's track team was named the school's most outstanding organization for their service and involvement both inside and outside the school community. Laketa further stated that Dr. Ludtke came to St. Francis as a "perfect fit" for building champion people and athletes.

Prior to his tenure at Lake Superior State, Ludtke served as both an assistant and head cross country coach and an assistant track coach for the men's and women's programs at Division One, University of North Texas in Denton, Texas, from 1999-2002. Each of Ludtke's first two men's cross country teams fared well at North Texas, claiming a Sun Belt Conference (SBC) Championship in 2000 and a runner-up finish in 2001. The women's track team also placed second in the league in 2002 with the men's program earning the outdoor conference crown later that year.

Of those championship teams, nine athletes went on to capture All-SBC honors.

Ludtke also gained praise as a teacher, earning teaching fellow of the year accolades twice while at University of North Texas, and for serving students at Lake Superior State University. He has served as an instructor since 1999 teaching in Recreation Administration, Sports Management, Kinesiology , Health Promotion and Wellness Departments.

A scholarship basketball player upon his arrival to Lake Superior State in 1995, Ludtke joined the track team one year later and also competed in cross country for two seasons. On the court, he was a member of the 1995-96 GLIAC championship team, while in track he was a consistent scorer at GLIAC Championships Indoors and Outdoors. He also ran for the nationally-ranked Laker cross-country team in 1998. Ludtke closed out his career at Lake Superior State being nominated for athlete-of-the-year honors in 1998-99. That same year, he was recognized as the top athlete devoted to campus/athletic development at the school and was awarded the prestigious Bud Cooper Award. Not just an athlete, he served as the vice president of the student-athlete advisory committee and as president of the university's honors program.

Ludtke finished his track and cross country career at North Texas, where he earned his fourth letter in the sport and was a scoring part of the Mean Green's conference championship team in 2000.

Dr. Ludtke received his Doctorate of Education Degree from Olivet Nazarene University (2011). The focus of the degree was in Ethical Leadership. Dr. Ludtke dissertation topic was in athletics administration and drug prevention in college students. Dr. Ludtke received his master's degree in Kinesiology from the University of North Texas (2001), where he focused his thesis research on perceptions exertions in an athletic setting. His undergraduate degree from Lake Superior State University (1999) was in Psychology and Education. There he was able to perform an inter-department study on VO2 performance, self-handicapping and perceptual distractions associated with endurance exercise.

Ludtke, his wife, Jen, daughter Deena (5) and son Tyler (2) make their home in Joliet.

Bonnie Miller enters her second year assisting with the USF men’s and women’s distance runners in 2011. Bonnie brings an excellent base of knowledge, experience, and an unparalleled work ethic to the program. In high school, Bonnie was a very diverse runner, competing from distances 400m-3200m, but considers herself a distance runner at heart. After a successful career that included being a team captain, and a state qualifier in both cross country and track, Bonnie took her career to the collegiate level at Northern Illinois University.

While at Northern, Bonnie’s superb leadership was quickly recognized as was appointed team captain both her junior and senior years. Again showing an excellent range, Bonnie posted very respectable personal best times in every event 800m-5,000m. Starting at the mid distance events and working up, Bonnie ran the 800m in 2:29, the 1500m in 4:57, the 3,000m in 10:35, the 3k Steeple in 11:25, and the 5,000m in 18:29.

Coaching allows Bonnie to continue to be involved with her passions for people and running at a high level, as well as continue to her education and training. Bonnie has competed in two marathons post-collegiate, with a personal best in the 2008 Chicago Marathon with a time of 3:55:33, and is pursuing her Master’s Education.