Iowa Conference Coach of the Year--2009 (outdoor), 2010 (indoor, outdoor), 2011 (indoor, outdoor), 2012 (outdoor), 2013 (indoor), 2015 (outdoor)
USTFCCCA Div. III Central Region Coach of the Year--2011 (outdoor), 2012 (outdoor), 2013 (indoor), 2014 (indoor), 2015 (indoor, outdoor)
Distance and middle distance
Joe Dunham was named the head men's and women's track and field and head men's and women's cross country coach in 2009.
Dunham guided the Dutch to the Iowa Conference outdoor men's track and field titles in 2009, 2010, 2011, 2012 and 2015 and led the squad to indoor league crowns in 2010, 2011 and 2013 and 2015. Central recorded five national top-10 finishes in the past four years, including a runner-up finish at the 2011 indoor championships.
Dunham has received 10 conference coach of the year awards since taking over in 2009, including two in men's cross country (2012, 2013), three in men's indoor track and field (2010, 2011, 2013) and five in men's outdoor (2009, 2010, 2011, 2012, 2015). He was also tabbed as the USTFCCCA Central Region men's indoor track and field coach of the year in 2013, 2014 and 2015 and the outdoor track and field coach of the year in 2011, 2012 and 2015.
Dunham has coached indoor and outdoor track and field athletes who have captured five national individual championships and 79 individual league titles. Dutch track and field athletes have qualified for the NCAA Div. III championship meet 120 times, received all-America distinction 67 times and set 36 school records.
In 2014, Central earned its third straight men's cross country NCAA Division III national team berth, finishing in 11th place with one all-America honoree.
In 2013, Dunham piloted the Dutch to their second consecutive Iowa Conference men’s cross country championship after winning their first ever league title in 2012, and led the squad to its second consecutive NCAA Division III national team berth after qualifying last season for the first time since 1980. The Dutch placed sixth with two All-America honorees (fourth, 10th).
In 2009, his first year as cross country coach, Dunham piloted the Dutch women to their first NCAA Division III national team berth since 1981, guiding an unheralded squad to a 19th-place national finish. Central sent a runner to the men's championships in 2011.
A three-time all-America cross country honoree who also earned track and field all-America recognition at Denison University (Ohio) and Keene State College (N.H.), Dunham served as head track and field coach at St. Norbert for four seasons and cross country coach for three years. He resigned following the 2007 spring season to enter private business. During his tenure at St. Norbert, the Green Knights broke 41 school records and had numerous NCAA Division III meet qualifiers while capturing an individual national title in the 800 meters. His squads consistently placed near the top of the Midwest Conference despite not having an on-campus track facility.
Earlier Dunham spent two years as an assistant at Trinity College (Conn.), helping the women’s cross country squad place second in the 2003 NCAA Division III meet. He earned a master’s degree at Trinity.
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