Paulsen, Coover named MVC Men’s Coaches of the Year

ST. LOUIS --- UNI Director of Track and Field/Cross Country Dave Paulsen has been named the Missouri Valley Conference (MVC) Men's Indoor Coach of the Year for a second consecutive season, as announced by the league office on Tuesday morning.

Additionally, jumps and multi-events coach Jeff Coover was also named the MVC's Men's Indoor Assistant Coach of the Year for the second time in three years, including for the second straight year.

In his 11th year leading the Panthers, Paulsen earns his fourth career MVC Men's Indoor Coach of the Year honor. This season, the Panther men captured four individual conference titles at the MVC Indoor Championships as the program earned its conference record 16th indoor team title with 157.5 total points scored, its most since 2021. Northern Iowa has now won eight MVC team championships under Paulsen, including four men's indoor team titles (2020-21, 2025-26), three outdoor titles (2018-19, 2021) and the 2016 women's cross country championship.

In his ninth season on staff, Coover earns his third MVC Men's Indoor Assistant Coach of the Year award and second in a row (2023, 2025). At this year's MVC Indoor Championships, Coover's athletes scored an astonishing 70.5 of the Panthers' 157.5 total points, with three of their four individual titles coming under his coaching. Carter Morton, who ranked fourth in Division I in the heptathlon this season, placed sixth in the event at the NCAA Indoor Championships for his second consecutive First Team All-American honor after scoring 38 points at the conference championships with titles in the heptathlon, long jump and high jump, as well as a runner-up finish in the pole vault. Morton was also named the men's most valuable athlete and most outstanding field athlete of the meet for a second straight year.

While Northern Iowa swept this year's men's Coach of the Year honors, Indiana State did so on the women's side with Angie Martin (head coach) and Brandan Bettenhausen (assistant coach) being recognized.

The Panthers will open the 2026 outdoor competition season at the WashU Distance Carnival in St. Louis (Mar. 26-27) and the Wartburg Outdoor Select in Waverly, Iowa (Mar. 27-28).

UNI track and field action can be followed all season long on social media on Facebook (UNI Track and Field), X (@UNITrackFieldXC) and on Instagram (@uni_tf_xc). Schedules and rosters, along with the latest Panther news and information can be found online at UNIpanthers.com.

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