Zach Raber
Zach Raber
Title: Head Coach
Phone: 260.665.4126
Email: raberz@trine.edu

Coach Raber was named the head men's cross country coach during the 2013 season and has since taken over responsibilities of coaching both the men's and women's programs.

Raber's first two seasons were marked by a climb up in the conference standings. In his first season, the Thunder men earned their best finish in the MIAA since 2007 as the team placed fourth. The team produced all-conference runner Adam Schaaf during the 2014 campaign, the team's first all-league honoree in six season. The Thunder continued to climb up the conference standings during the 2015 season as the team placed third in the conference. Trine followed up with a second-consecutive third-place MIAA finish in 2016 as Schaaf earned the second first-team All-MIAA honors of his career.  Consistency continued in 2017 as the Thunder recorded a third-place finish in the conference for the third straight year.  Two players garnered All-MIAA honors with Lewis Duke earning first-team recognition and Levi Neuzerling was tabbed second-team.

Trine's women's program has also seen improvement under Raber. In Raber's second season, the Thunder vaulted up three spots in the conference standings to tie for fourth in the MIAA. The finish was the team's best as a member of the conference at the time. Kyla Binfet became the first Trine runner to earn All-MIAA honors since the school joined the MIAA in 2004. In the years followed, the Thunder would place inside the top three of the MIAA standings in every year since 2017, highlighted by a runner-up finish in 2019. 

In 2016, the Thunder women earned their best-ever finish in the NCAA Division III Great Lakes Regional (14th). Binfet earned All-MIAA honors for the second straight year as Trine finished fourth in the MIAA once again.  Then, in 2017, Trine improved its all-time team finishes in the conference and regional meets with a third-place finish in the MIAA Championship with Binfet finishing third overall individually in a school-record time (22:38.4).  Binfet and teammate Evon Bultemeyer also went on to earn All-MIAA with Binfet becoming the first women's runner to be named first-team.  The duo also earned USTFCCCA All-Region honors.  In the Regional Meet, the Thunder placed 12th of 35 teams, the highest team showing in meet history.

The success continued in 2018 as both the men's and women's cross country teams recorded strong performances at the conference meet with both finishing third overall.  The men had a pair of All-Conference runners in Jack Beakas and Derek Miller and the Thunder women had a trio of runners earn All-MIAA recognition that included a pair of first-team honorees in Evie Bultemeyer and Lacie Piekarski, both of whom finished in the top-eight.  It marked the first time in women's program history that two runners earned first-team honors as members of the MIAA.  Elizabeth Lohman also earned All-Conference as a second-team honoree after finishing 14th.  At the national level, the men placed seventh at the Division III Regional Meet and the women placed an all-time best 11th.  Highlighting the meet was Bultemeyer who qualified individually for the NCAA Division III National Meet becoming the first Thunder women's runner to do so since Trine joined the NCAA in 2004.

During the 2019 season, the women's team finished a best-ever second in the MIAA Championship that included Evie Bultemeyer finishing as the overall individual champion and took MIAA "Runner of the Year" accolades in addition to first-team All-Conference honors.  She was one of four total runners on the women's side to earn All-MIAA honors and was joined on the first-team by Alli Smith and Elizabeth Lohman.  Chloe Brittain earned second-team honors after finishing in the top-15.  The individual success for the women's team continued as Bultemeyer finished as the individual champion at the NCAA Great Lakes Regional and was named All-Region along with Lohman.  Bultemeyer automatically qualified for the NCAA Division III Championship and placed eighth to garner All-American status.  Following the conclusion of the season, Bultemeyer was tabbed as the USTFCCCA Great Lakes Region "Athlete of the Year."  The Trine men also had a standout season, finishing as runner-up in the team standings in two events, including the MIAA Championship (an all-time best), and posted top-10 finishes in five of seven events.  A total of five runners earned All-MIAA honors, including Vilis Vuskalns and Jack Beakas who were both first-team honorees and Derek Miller, Levi Neuzerling and Neil O'Brien earned second-team All-Conference.  Beakas, Neuzerling and Vuskalns went on to earn All-Region awards and the duo of Beakas and Neuzerling qualified for the national race to end an outstanding year for both cross country programs.

After the 2020 cross country was cancelled due to COVID-19, the Thunder came back in 2021 hungry for postseason success. Both the men's and women's teams placed third in the MIAA Cross Country Championships, but the Trine women were selected to compete as a team in the NCAA National Championships for the first time in school history in Louisville, Kentucky. The Thunder women were 28th overall at the event, and Evie Bultemeyer finished fourth as an individual, claiming her second cross country All-American award. She finished with a time of 20:43.7, the best 6K time of her storied career. Carol Haldeman and Lydia Randolph ran their fastest times of their career at Nationals as well. Four student-athletes were named All-Region for Trine in 2021: Noah Acker, Evie Bultemeyer, Carol Haldeman and Chloe Brittain. At the MIAA Championships, Bultemeyer took home first place on the individual leaderboard and earned the title Most Valuable Runner for the second time in her career (2019). She topped the field by nearly 29 seconds and trimmed 1:24 off her race-winning time from two years ago. Bultemeyer became a four-time All-Conference recipient and two-time Most Valuable Runner in her career, a first for Trine since joining the league. In 2022, the Thunder men and women had seven total All-MIAA runners, with Carol Haldeman and Lydia Randolph earning All-Region honors.

Prior to taking over at Trine, Raber spent 11 years as a high school coach at Carroll High School in Fort Wayne. While at Carroll, he led the Charger men to five Sectional titles, five Regional titles, and two Semi-State titles. During that time, Carroll’s boys finished second at the Indiana State Championship twice. On the women’s side, Raber led the Lady Chargers to 11-consecutive Sectional and Regional titles. Raber also led the Carroll ladies to four Semi-State titles and three top-five finishes at the Indiana State Championship. Both of Carroll’s cross country teams were ranked in the top-50 nationally throughout Raber’s tenure.

Individually, Raber coached 25 student-athletes to All-State finishes in Indiana for both track and cross country, including three state champions. On the national level, Raber coached 10 All-Americans between track and cross country. In 2013, his boys 3200-Meter Relay Team won the New Balance National Outdoor Championship after earning All-American status the previous season. An 11-time nominee for Indiana Cross Country Coach of the Year, Raber won the award for boys cross country in 2012.

Originally from Bluffton, Indiana, Raber attended Norwell High School where he accumulated three All-State finishes in track and cross-country. He went on to attend Wabash College where he graduated with a B.A. in History in 1998. He earned his master’s degree in Coaching from Ball State University in 2008. 

As a collegiate athlete, Raber ran for legendary coach Rob Johnson, who also coached on the 2000 Olympic staff. Raber was part of three national qualifying teams and two teams that placed 4th and 3rd respectively at the Division III National Championship in cross-country. In 2013 Raber and his 1994 & 1995 Wabash cross-country teams were inducted into the Wabash College Hall of Fame. 

Raber currently resides in Fort Wayne with his wife, Erin, and two sons.