Dunham and staff tabbed for league track coaching staff of the year

Central Dutch Athletics

PELLA — Winning the 2018 Iowa Conference Outdoor Track and Field Championship contributed to head coach Joe Dunham and the rest of the Central College men’s track and field coaching staff being named the league’s men’s coaching staff of the year Saturday.

Dunham is joined on the staff by associate head coach Jim Fuller and assistants Brenda Fuller, Stephen Fyfe, Jonathan Graupmann, Joe Kotz, Tyler Schiferl and Allan Walz.

Compiling a total of 172 points at the conference meet, Central scored in 19 of 22 events to outdistance second place Dubuque by 28 points.

In his 10 years at the helm of the track and field program at Central, Dunham has won seven outdoor titles and four indoor titles. Dunham was named league coach of the year in conjunction with each of those titles. The award was changed from Iowa Conference Coach of the Year to Coaching Staff of the Year in 2016.

Also the college’s head men’s and women’s cross country coach, Dunham will focus on the distance program next year and will move transition to assistant track and field coach in 2018-19. A national search for a new head track and field coach is underway.

The season continues for a select few members of the track and field squad as they compete in last chance meets at Augustana College (Ill.) and North Central College (Ill.) on Wednesday and Thursday. The last chance meets serve as final qualifying opportunities for the NCAA Division III Outdoor Track and Field Championships in La Crosse, Wisconsin May 24-26.