Director of Track and Field and Cross Country Karen Dennis will retire after 20 seasons with the Buckeyes, the Ohio State athletic department announced Monday. Credit: Ethan Clewell | Lantern File photo
Director of Track and Field and Cross Country Karen Dennis will retire after 20 seasons with the Buckeyes, the Ohio State athletic department announced Monday.
Dennis completed a 45-year career as a college coach with the conclusion of the track and field NCAA Championships at which 22 Buckeyes competed Wednesday through Saturday. According to a release, Dennis said she hoped her retirement wasn’t a surprise when she revealed the news to her team Monday.
“I have coached for a long time and there are still things in life I’d like to do,” Dennis said in the release. “I am truly thankful for this profession, and I want to express my gratitude to the many assistant coaches and support staff that have shared and sweated alongside me on this incredible journey.”
Ohio State didn’t announce plans for its next head coaching or director search in the release.
Her career at Ohio State — and collegiate coaching — is decorated. Dennis led the Buckeyes to men’s and women’s outdoor Big Ten team championships this season, which is the first time in program history both came in the same season and the first time accomplished by a Big Ten program in 25 years.
Dennis also became the first in Big Ten history to sweep both men’s and women’s outdoor coach of the year, according to a release May 18. She earned Big Ten track and field coach of the year 12 times, and her 12 Big Ten championships are the most all-time for an Ohio State female coach, tying for third among all Buckeye coaches.
“I can’t thank Karen Dennis enough for her friendship, her mentorship and the love she has for her student-athletes and Ohio State athletics,” athletic director Gene Smith said in therelease. “We have been incredibly fortunate to have her leading our programs.”
According to the release, Dennis was inducted into the U.S. Track & Field and Cross Country Coaches Association Coaches Hall of Fame in 2018 and the Ohio State Athletics Hall of Fame in 2020. She also served as head coach of the U.S. women’s track and field team during the 2000 Sydney Olympics as well as spending time as an assistant coach at the 1995 World Championships in Sweden, the 1991 Pan American Games in Cuba and 1989 World University Championships in Germany all with Team USA.
Dennis coached a total of 140 Big Ten champions while head coach at Ohio State and Michigan State. She coached a total of eight Olympians and as many NCAA National Champions, with the latest coming Friday as senior Adelaide Aquilla defended her shot put title by breaking the college record with a throw of 19.64 meters, according to a release Friday.
The retiring Ohio State head coach first arrived at the university in 2002 as an assistant coach for the women’s team — becoming head coach in 2006 — before earning a promotion to her latest title in 2014.
