Dave Paulsen
Director of Track & Field/Cross Country
Dave Paulsen enters first season as the director of track & field/cross in 2022-23 after being elevated to the position in October 2022. Paulsen who served as head coach of both the track and field and cross country teams since 2015, continues to oversee the day-to-day operations of both programs. He has been part of UNI's running programs for 14 years after serving as an assistant coach for UNI prior to the 2015-16 season at his alma mater.
He has been name the Missouri Valley Coach of the Year six times. Under Paulsen's direction, the UNI men earned their third consecutive MVC track and field outdoor title in 2021. It was the 10th outdoor title in program history for UNI.
MVC titles under Paulsen and Coach of the Year honors:
- 2021 outdoor / men's track and field championships
- 2021 indoor / men's track and field championships
- 2020 indoor / men's track and field championships
- 2019 outdoor / men's track and field championships
- 2018 outdoor / men's track and field championships
- 2016 cross country / women's championships
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 33 school records, taken home 38 Missouri Valley Conference event titles as well as 18 NCAA national qualifiers, five NCAA All-America honors and four Missouri Valley Conference records.
In 2019, he was named the Missouri Valley Conference Men's Track and Field Coach of the Year after leading the Panther men to a dominant victory at the MVC Track and Field Championship. Six Panthers earned first-place finishes at the event and UNI was awarded 22 All-Conference honors on the weekend. The Panthers defeated second-place Illinois State 183.25-131.25 to secure the title for a second consecutive season. The Panther women entered the weekend with low expectations, but finished with 100.5 points, breaking the century mark for the third time in four seasons.
The Panther men finished second at the 2019 MVC Indoor Championship. Connor Ham was named the Most Outstanding Athlete for his high national ranking in the 60-meter hurdles. Maddie McCalla earned the title in the women's 400-meter dash and the UNI men's 4x400-meter team took the title in dominating fashion. The team came away with 22 All-Conference honors.
In the classroom, the Panthers also took care of business with the men's and women's cross country teams and men's and women's track teams all earning USTFCCCA Scholar Team Honors.
In the fall of 2019, the Panther men's and women's cross country teams both finished fifth in the MVC Championship. Wal Khat finished eighth to lead the Panther men and McKayla Cole was 12th. The Panther men finished 19th at the NCAA Midwest Regional and while the women finished 22nd.
He was named USTFCCCA's Midwest Coach of the Year after the men's track and field team edged out MVC favorites Illinois State and Indiana State in the conference championship. The Panthers were led by a strong showing in the throwing events, qualifying 11 individuals and two relays to the West Preliminary Round of the Outdoor Track and Field Championships on the men's side. Under his helm, Jacob Smith won the 400-meter hurdles and secured a spot at the final rounds of the NCAA championships in Eugene, Oregon. The men's 4x100 also won a conference title.
The women's track and field team crowned two MVC champions at the 2018 outdoor championships. Anna Bentley won javelin, and Kassidy Sharp won her second high jump title. Sarah Pate broke her own hammer throw record earlier in the year.
Keegan Tritle broke the shot put record in the 2017 indoor season.
In just his second year at the helm, the 2016 MVC Cross Country Coach of the Year led the Panthers to exceed its preseason ranking of sixth to win the MVC Cross Country Championships, held in Cedar Falls, Iowa. UNI had four student-athletes place in the top-10 overall in Ashley Norem, Kelsey Kirchoff, Hannah Truniger and Brette Correy with Truniger earning MVC Freshman of the Year. The women wrapped up the season by placing ninth overall at the NCAA Midwest Regional, the highest team finish in UNI women’s cross country history.
He has been integral in coaching and developing Kirchoff and Norem to be two of the most successful cross country athletes in program history. Kirchoff sits second all-time at UNI in the 6K and fourth in the 5K while Norem is ranked No. 16th all-time in the 5K and No. 9 in the 6K. Kirchoff headlined Panther cross country in 2015 with Paulsen’s direction, placing in the top-15 overall at the MVC Championships, also placing in the top-15 in every meet that season.
On the track and in the field during the 2015-16 season, the Panthers broke seven outdoor and five indoor records that included three MVC all-time records. He saw Paige Knodle and Brandon Carnes earn spots at the NCAA Indoor Championship to earn All-America with Knodle, Carnes and Justin Baker all claiming All-America honors at the NCAA Outdoor Championships as well.
With Paulsen at the helm, Knodle was named MVC Most Valuable Female Athlete and Most Outstanding Track Athlete in 2016 while Carnes earned his second MVC Most Outstanding Male Track Athlete honor. At the 2016 MVC Outdoor Championships, the Panther men and women had 14 All-Conference athletes in 18 individual events and three relays with the women claiming its highest finish since 2008 in second place overall. Carnes continued his winning streak in 2016, bringing in his individual title number to 12 after winning the 100 and 200 meter dashes outdoors and the 60 and 200 meters indoors.
In 2014-15, Paulsen coached former Panther and now head cross country coach 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 8th 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 1st and 2nd 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 3rd 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.