Central College Athletics - Women's track

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Coaching staff

Joe Dunham
Head coach
Iowa Conference Coach of the Year--2009 (outdoor), 2010 (indoor, outdoor), 2011 (indoor, outdoor), 2012 (outdoor)
USTFCCCA Div. III Central Region Coach of the Year--2011 (outdoor), 2012 (outdoor)
Distance, middle distance

Joe Dunham is in his fifth season of an already successful tenure as head men’s and women’s track and field coach at Central College. He is also the head men's and women's cross country coach.

Dunham guided the Dutch to their fourth consecutive Iowa Conference outdoor men's track and field title in 2012, and led the squad to 2010 and 2011 indoor league crowns. Central recorded three national top-10 finishes in the past two years, including a runner-up finish at the 2011 indoor championships.

Dunham has received seven conference coach of the year awards since taking over in 2009, including one in men's cross country (2012), two in men's indoor track and field (2010, 2011) and four in men's outdoor track and field (2009, 2010, 2011, 2012). He was also tabbed the USTFCCCA Central Region men's outdoor track and field coach of the year in 2011 and 2012.

Dunham has coached indoor and outdoor track and field athletes who have captured three national individual championships and 72 individual league titles. The Dutch have qualified for the NCAA Div. III championship meet 63 times, received all-America distinction 58 times and set 34 school records.

In 2012, Dunham piloted the Dutch to their first Iowa Conference men's cross country championship ever, and led an all-underclass squad to its first NCAA Division III national team berth since 1980, earning a surprising 13th-place finish with one all-America honoree.

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.

Phone: (641) 628-7603
Email: dunhamj@central.edu

Video: Meet coach Dunham
Video: Learn more about women's track and field

Jim Fuller
Associate head coach
Multi-events, sprints

After 24 seasons as a highly successful head coach at NCAA Division II Northern State University (S.D.), Jim Fuller is in his first year as associate head men's and women's track and field coach at Central.

At Northern State, formerly an NAIA institution, Fuller's squads placed in the top 35 in the nation 20 times. Fuller also served as cross country coach for 16 seasons. He received Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference coach of the year recognition six times in track and five times in cross country, helping 815 athletes earn all-conference awards. Fuller's athletes have received all-America distinction 54 times.

In the classroom, the Northern State women's track and field and cross country teams have earned national academic team honors 17 consecutive years. The men's and women's squads have received academic honors a combined 41 times.

Fuller also serves Central as a lecturer of exercise science.

Email: fullerj@central.edu

Brenda Fuller
Assistant coach
Throws

Brenda Fuller is in her first season as an assistant coach for the Central College men's and women's track and field teams.

Fuller served as an assistant coach at NCAA Division II Northern State University (S.D.) for 24 seasons. She helped the Wolves place in the top 35 in the nation 20 times. Specializing in the throws, Fuller has coached 12 athletes who earned all-America honors, including a two-time national champ. Fuller's athletes have also captured 74 Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference throwing event titles. Fuller was tabbed as the USTFCCCA Division II Central Region assistant coach of the year in 2009.

Fuller also serves as an administrative assistant in academic affairs at Central.

Phone: (641) 628-5605
Email: fullerb@central.edu

Stephen Fyfe
Assistant coach
Distance

Stephen Fyfe is in his 13th season on Central’s men’s and women’s track and field staff and also serves as associate head coach for men’s and women’s cross country.

Fyfe was the interim head cross country coach for the 2006 and 2008 campaigns before being promoted to associate head coach for the 2009 season.

A 1987 Central graduate, Fyfe earned three varsity letters in cross country and four in track and field. He continues to compete in road races on the masters level and has completed 13 marathons. Fyfe received his masters and doctoral degrees at Iowa State University and serves as a professor of computer science at Central.

Phone: (641) 628-5305
Email: fyfes@central.edu

Video: Meet coach Fyfe

Bryan George
Assistant coach
Middle distance

Former all-American middle distance runner Bryan George is in his fifth year as assistant men's and women's track and field coach. He also serves as an assistant men's and women's cross country coach.

A 2006 graduate, George served as a volunteer assistant in the 2006-07 year, then returned in 2009 after completing two years as a graduate assistant coach in track and field and cross country at Illinois State Univ., where he completed a master’s degree.

George served as a two-time track and field co-captain and was voted the squad’s MVP in 2006, anchoring Central's distance medley relay to all-America honors. He was also a three-time cross country co-captain, an all-Iowa Conference and all-NCAA Division III Central Region performer in cross country, and was named to the ESPN The Magazine Academic All-America track and field team.

George also serves as a sports information assistant at Central and was a graduate sports information assistant in 2006-07.

Phone: (641) 628-5591
Email: georgeb@central.edu

Jay Rhoten
Assistant coach
Jumps

Two-time Iowa Conference MVP Jay Rhoten, a 1998 Central graduate, is in his fourth season on the Central staff as assistant coach. He served from 2006-08 before returning in 2013.

Rhoten swept the 1998 NCAA Division III Central Region men's indoor and outdoor track and field athlete of the year awards presented by the U.S. Track and Field Coaches Association. He placed second in the NCAA Div. III decathlon in 1998 after finishing sixth the previous year. He was fourth in the 1998 Drake Relays decathlon, and second among university and college competitors. Also a three-time team MVP and a team captain, Rhoten placed in five events at the 1998 Iowa Conference meet as the Dutch took the men's team title for the third time in his four seasons.

Rhoten resides in Pella and works as a firefighter in for the City of Des Moines.

Tyler Schiferl
Assistant coach
Pole vault

Tyler Schiferl is in his fourth season as an assistant men’s and women’s track and field coach.

A native of Fordyce, Neb., Schiferl was a two-time track and field co-captain at South Dakota State University. He enjoyed an outstanding 2009 season, winning five meets and earning all-Summit League recognition. Schiferl was a Division I regional championships qualifier and was named to the U.S. Track and Field/Cross Country Coaches Association’s all-academic team.

Schiferl earned a bachelor’s degree in agricultural engineering from South Dakota State in 2009 and is a design engineer for Vermeer Manufacturing in Pella.

Scott Tjeerdsma
Assistant coach
Hurdles

Scott Tjeerdsma is in his fifth season as an assistant men’s and women’s track and field coach.

A 2007 Wartburg College graduate, Tjeerdsma had a stellar collegiate athletics career. He earned all-America recognition in outdoor track and field in 2005, 2006 and 2007 while gaining indoor all-America honors in 2007. He was an Iowa Conference individual champion six times as a hurdler and 400-meter runner.

Tjeerdsma was the Wartburg team MVP in 2006 and 2007 and twice was named to the U.S. Track and Field/Cross Country Coaches Association’s all-academic team.

An elementary school teacher in Pella, Tjeerdsma was an assistant track and field coach for Pella High School for one season, focusing on the hurdling events. He helped the Little Dutch boys’ team qualify in a school-record 15 events for the state high school meet.

Email: tjeerdsmas@central.edu

Allan Walz
Assistant coach
Throws

Allan Walz is in his fifth year as assistant men’s and women’s track and field coach.

A former Bondurant-Farrar High School standout, Walz broke the Drake Relays high school discus record and the state meet mark as well while also lettering in football, basketball and baseball.  At the Univ. of Northern Iowa, Walz set school records for the hammer throw and the weight throw. He was a NCAA Division I all-America honoree in the weight throw and was a national outdoor meet qualifier in the discus.

Walz earned a bachelor’s degree from Northern Iowa and is a financial advisor for MidWestOne Invesment Services in Pella.