Coach Karen Dennis sits front and center during her teams celebration after her team won the
Big Ten Championship on Saturday Feb. 24, 2018 at Spire Institute in Geneva, OH. Credit: Ethan Clewell | Lantern Reporter
Ohio State track and field director Karen Dennis became the first female to win the Men’s Big Ten Indoor Coach of the Year, the conference announced Tuesday.
Dennis coached the Ohio State men’s team to its first Big Ten Indoor Championship since 1993 on Saturday. Seven Buckeyes earned first team all-conference honors during the indoor regular season.
Dennis is not only the director, but she also coached sprinters, including both the 60-meter dash and 200-meter dash, which combined for 29 points in the championship. This success includes junior Nick Gray’s Ohio State record-breaking performance in the men’s 200-meter dash of 20.45 seconds.
Dennis is currently in her fourth season at Ohio State as director. She was the women’s track and field and cross country head coach from 2006 to 2014. She led the Buckeyes to indoor and outdoor women’s titles in 2011, the outdoor title in 2012 and the women’s team indoor Big Ten Championship back in 2015.
Dennis has been with Ohio State for 16 seasons, starting as an assistant track coach in 2003 in sprints. Before coming to Ohio State, Dennis was the head coach for the U.S. Women’s National Team in the 2000 Olympic Games.
