Dave Paulsen - Cross Country/Track & Field Head Coach - Cross Country Coaches

Dave Paulsen

Title:
Cross Country/Track & Field Head Coach
Email:
david.paulsen@uni.edu
Phone:
(319) 273-5823

Dave Paulsen was named the Cross Country/Track & Field Head Coach for the UNI Panthers at the start of the 2015-16 season.

Paulsen will be entering his eighth year on the UNI cross country/track and field coaching staff this fall. Paulsen has planned, organized and managed all areas of UNI's men's and women's cross country programs since joining the staff in August 2008. As a member of the UNI coaching staff, athletes under his direction have set 19 school records, taken home 17 Missouri Valley Conference championships as well as 14 NCAA national qualifiers, 3 NCAA All-America honors and 2 Missouri Valley Conference records.

In 2014-15, Paulsen coached Alex Wilson to a second-place finish at the MVC Cross Country Championship meet while leading the women's team to a fifth place finish. She became the sixth top-five finisher in UNI women's cross country history with her new school record time. Since joining the coaching staff at UNI, athletes coached by Paulsen have turned in 7 of the top 10 performances in school history in women’s cross country.
On the men's side, Zach Buchheit earned his first all-conference finish after placing ninth overall running the 8^th fastest time in school history.

Wilson continued her successful senior campaign under the direction of Paulsen into track season when she became just the fifth female athlete in Missouri Valley history to win both the 800 and 1,500 meters at the MVC Outdoor Championships. Wilson finished her career with Paulsen's coaching holding six individual school records, three relay records and three MVC championships.

Paulsen also guided the women’s Distance Medley Relay team of Brette Correy, Darian Samuelson, Amber Clock and Wilson to the all-time Missouri Valley Conference record performance during the 2015 indoor season. The women’s middle distance group shined at the MVC indoor championships racking up 38 points for the Panthers; led by a 1^st and 2^nd place finish in the 800 meters by Brette Correy and Amber Clock and Wilson’s dominate performance in the winning the mile run.

At the conclusion of the outdoor MVC championships both Wilson (1500m), and Correy (800m) qualified for the first round of the NCAA Championships. Wilson advanced to the quarterfinal round where she re-broke her school record in the 1500 meters, running a blistering time of 4:18.27.

During the 2014 track and field season, the middle distance crews shined under the direction of Paulsen. The Panthers saw 3 school records get taken down during the outdoor season in middle distance and distance events including the women’s 4X800 meter relay and distance medley relay at the Drake Relays.
That success came on the heels of an exceptional 2013 campaign. The Panther women saw three women in the finals of the 800 meter run at the conference championships. On the men’s side, freshman distance runner Zach Buchheit qualified for the US Junior Championships and garnered a top 10 finish against the nation’s best young talent in the 5,000 meter run.

During Paulsen’s tenure at Northern Iowa he coached middle distance standouts Tyler Mulder and Holli Hosch. Mulder finished third in the 800 meter run during the 2009 indoor and outdoor NCAA Championships. Mulder’s outdoor time of 1:46.80 set a new school record and qualified him for the USA Track & Field National Championships. Hosch took the MVC by storm in her final two seasons, winning 3 individual titles at 800 meters and running a time of 2:05.16 at the first round of the NCAA championships. At that time, her performance broke the MVC record in the event and also qualified her for the final round of the NCAA championships where she earned all-America honors. Those standout performances also qualified her twice for the USA Track & Field National Championships.

Prior to joining the Panther staff, Paulsen enjoyed unprecedented success as the head cross country and assistant track and field coach at Central College in Pella, Iowa, from 2006-2008. Prior to Central, Paulsen served as a volunteer coach at UNI for three years.

As a student-athlete for the Panthers from 2000-2003, Paulsen earned All-America honors in 2002 as a member of the UNI distance medley team. Paulsen qualified for the U.S. Olympic Trials in the 800 meters in 2004 with a personal-best time of 1:47.03.

The Waverly, Iowa, native received his bachelor's degree from UNI in political science in 2004 and earned his master's degree in exercise science from UNI in 2006. He and his wife, Dee have a son, Caleb and daughters, Chloe and Kadee.