Pride welcome Dalton Graham to lead cross country and track and field distance squads
DUBUQUE, Iowa - Clarke University Athletics, Director of Athletics Curt Long, and Director of Track and Field and Cross Country Bradley Johnson are excited to announce the addition of Dalton Graham as the head coach of the Pride cross country program.
Graham, who will also serve as an assistant on the track and field staff working with the distance runners, brings over three years of NCAA Division II college coaching experience to Clarke University as he spent two years as an assistant coach at Lake Erie College with full autonomy over the Storm distance program.
"Dalton is going to be a key piece to the XC/T&F program's success," Johnson said. "He brings a high level experience both as an athlete and as a coach, and a strong passion for the sport that I believe can't be matched by many. We've been making some huge progress as a team in recent years and he's going to be adding some gasoline to the fire that's going to make our future progress even brighter."
While leading LEC, he coached five school records, recruited and coached the institution's student-athlete of the year, and brought in very influential recruiting classes. He later served as the head cross country coach at Tiffin University where he coached nine school records, 22 provisional marks, four conference champions, 13 conference podium finishers, and the first women's distance national qualifier in school history for both indoor and outdoor track.
"Dalton has a passion for developing runners," Long said. "I am looking forward to watching his leadership as he guides his team members to his vision."
Most recently, Graham served as an admission counselor and part-time cross country coach at Fort Lewis College. In the 2023 cross country season, the Skyhawk men's and women's cross country teams placed 13th and 20th at the NCAA Division II National Championships – both were program best finishes. School records were ran in the men's 10k and women's 6k as the women also produced two All-American finishers at the national meet.
Graham, a decorated distance athlete, competed for Lake Erie College and Adams State University from 2013-19. During his time competing for the Storm, he was able to break seven school records in his senior season and earned Second-Team All-Conference honors in the GLIAC steeplechase.
From 2017-2019, Graham ran for Adams State while pursuing a graduate degree. In his first season with the Grizzlies in 2017, Graham was part of a national championship team title in cross country. He would go on to be a three-time national qualifier in track. He placed sixth at the 2019 NCAA DII Indoor Championships in the 5,000m, earning him All-American honors and helping his team to a runner-up finish at the national meet.
Graham is currently a member of Garden State Track Club where he is focusing on the marathon. He earned a bachelor's degree in Sport Studies with a minor in Coaching from Lake Erie College and completed his master's in Applied Sport Psychology from Adams State University.