2007 marked Coach “Lunch” McKenzie’s eighth season with the Golden Bears.  He has compiled a 164-120-1 record in his eight seasons at the helm including a 2003 conference championship before earning 2005 NSIC Coach of the Year honors.  The Bears finished fourth in the NSIC regular season last season with a 15-7 conference record.

Coach McKenzie began coaching Little League Baseball in 1968 when he was a junior at Minnetonka High School. That same year he became a visiting clubhouse batboy and a ball boy for the Minnesota Twins and Minnesota Vikings, respectively.

When he worked the Vikings vs. Detroit Lions game on January 2, 2000 he entered his fifth decade in the visiting clubhouse. He has worked behind the scenes and in the locker room for the World Series, Super Bowl and NCAA Final Four Basketball Tournament.  During his tenure at Met Stadium and the Metrodome, Lunch has developed many long lasting relationships that have greatly assisted him in his coaching endeavor.

Following his work in Little League, McKenzie spent 14 years with the East Tonka Babe Ruth League. From 1987 to 1992 he spent time with the Minnetonka Mudhens Mickey Mantle team and the Excelsior American Legion team as well as four years as the assistant varsity baseball coach at Minnetonka High School.                                

Prior to his becoming head coach at Minnetonka in 1993, the Skippers had won only three conference titles and two sectional championships since 1957. Minnetonka immediately went on to win four consecutive Region 6AA titles and four conference championships. He was named Coach of the Year at Minnetonka in 1995.

Following his resignation in 1997, Lunch was named an assistant coach for the USA Baseball Junior Olympic Team competing in the World Championships in Taipei, Taiwan. After finishing fifth at the World Games in 1997, McKenzie was named head coach of the USA Junior Team in 1998. His club went on to win the World Championship. In doing so, his Junior Olympic Team became the first USA Baseball Team to ever go undefeated in preliminary and World Championship games.

In September of 1998 the United States Olympic Committee named McKenzie Developmental Coach of the Year for the sport of baseball. He was one of six finalists for the USOC National Developmental Coach of the year award, and the USOC named his 1998 World Champions Baseball Team of the Year.

In addition to the 1998 Gold Medal, Lunch has been a part of three additional World Championship Gold Medals and one Pan American Championship Gold Medal with USA Baseball as a scout, cross checker and hitting instructor. He has been presented with World Championship and Pan American Championship rings for each Gold Medal. Lunch has also worked with USA teams that have won two Silver and one Bronze Medal in international competitions.

An accomplished clinician, Lunch has spoken at numerous clinics and banquets around the country, including the ABCA National Convention in San Diego and Reggie Jackson's Hall of Fame Dinner in Cooperstown, New York.

In 1997 Lunch was named to the USA Baseball National Board of Coaching Education. This six-member panel was put in charge of creating the curriculum that will be used to instruct new coaches interested in becoming Jr. Olympic and National Team Coaches.

Coach McKenzie owns and operates Lunch McKenzie's Baseball USA Inc. This Twin Cities based company offers private and group baseball instruction in all areas of the game on a year round basis. Open since 1999, the baseball school has had over 20,000 students.

In addition to his many personal accomplishments, McKenzie has had over 200 of his players go on to college baseball and 44 move on to professional baseball including ten players selected in the first five rounds of the draft and six first round draft picks. Six players have ascended to the Major Leagues as well: Jim Brower, Carmen Pignatello, Sean Burnett, Casey Kotchman, Ryan Raburn and Jeff Baker. 

Lunch was named to the Minnesota State High School Leagues all-star coaching staff in 1996, and was awarded the Classic Lake Conferences Distinguished Alumni Award in 1999. His teams have won over thirty three titles, including four state championships and five regional championships. He was the head coach of the Excelsior American Legion team that won the 2002 Great Lakes Regional Championship in Paducah, Kentucky. The team then advanced to the American Legion World Series in Danville, Virginia where it finished runner-up in the nation out of 5,200 teams. Lunch's sons Paul & Marcus played on the team. Following the 2003 NSIC Conference Championship season McKenzie was named Minnesota College Coach of the Year by Baseball Minnesota.

Mark and his wife Linda live in Minnetonka with their sons, Paul, a catcher for the Bears and Marcus, a pitcher who has played for the St. Paul Saints of the American Association and the Southern Illinois Miners of the Frontier league.  They also have a daughter, Kelly (13).