Rathke enters his third season at UT Tyler in the fall of 2020, where he is the Patriots' distance coach and serves a key role in recruiting.
In 2019, Rathke helped UT Tyler's cross country and track & field programs transition into its first season of Lone Star Conference membership as a Division II provisional program. Under his guidance, the Patriots posted 11th-place men's and women's team finished out of 16 teams at its first Lone Star Conference Cross Country Championships. Junior Zach Tucker was named the LSC Academic Runner of the Year, collecting the program's first cross country award as a Lone Star Conference member.
In his first year at UT Tyler (2018), with the Patriots competing in NCAA Division III and the American Southwest Conference for the final season before its transition up to Division II, Rathke led the men’s cross country team to a conference title and the women to a second-place finish. During the indoor track season, he saw his athletes break five school records in the 800m, mile, 3000m, and 5000m. During the outdoor season he helped Will McIlroy claim a conference title in the 3000m steeplechase, and his athletes recorded five top-3 finishes from Tad Nackos, Matt Cecotti, Tristin Salem, and Nathan Adams.
Rathke joined UT Tyler after his decorated collegiate career, where he was the 2014 NCAA Division II national champion in the 1500 meters and a six-time Division II All-American (800m, 1500m) at Lone Star Conference member Tarleton State (which begins its transition to Division I in 2020).
Rathke spent his first two years out of college as a coach at Center High School near the Texas-Louisiana border. While there, he led the program to Top-10 finishes at the State Cross Country Championships for the first time in program history.
Chase Rathke Coaching Timeline
2016-17 Center High School (Center, TX)
2017-18 Center High School (Center, TX)
2018-19 UT Tyler (assistant coach - distance)
2019-20 UT Tyler (assistant coach - distance)
