Head coach Dante Ottolini accepted the challenge to coach the men's cross country and track & field programs in 2006 and since taking the helm, the team has grown exponentially in size and talent.
Ottolini served the Cougars for two seasons as an assistant coach and managed the distance runners in track and also assisted with recruiting. During this time he qualified four athletes for the NAIA national meet in the 3,000 meter, 5,000 meter and in the marathon meet. The year Coach Ottolini stepped into the head coach position he had the task of growing the men's track & field program. He recruited 13 new athletes that first year. "In our first year expansion, we scored the highest number of points at the conference championship since joining the MCC in 2004-05," said Ottolini. "We have a young, developing squad and a solid freshman recruiting class coming in. We are a growing and developing program with a ton of potential."
Coach Ottolini previously served as the Assistant Women's and Men's Track & Field Coach at Roberts Wesleyan College in 2001and 2002 where he was the middle distance and distance coach and in charge of recruiting. During this time, he qualified five athletes for the NAIA national meet, helping them earn two NAIA All-American titles in the 3,000 and 5,000 meter races. Ottolini coached Kim Cipura to a NAIA national indoor 5,000 meter runner-up finish in 2002. At the NCCAA national level he mentored athletes to 17 top six finishes and four all American titles. He coached the women's indoor 5,000 meter and 3,000 meter NCCAA national champion. He also coached the women's outdoor 10,000 meter NCCAA national champion in 2002.
Ottolini also attended college at Roberts Wesleyan College. He was a member of the 1993 NCCAA national cross country championship team, running as the third man on the squad. He was also on a 4 x 800 meter relay team that was listed in Track & Field news as having run the 30th fastest time in the country, including at the professional level. Their time of 7:34 placed them sixth at the Penn relays in 1994.
Coach Ottolini has also served at the high school level as the head cross country coach at Lexington Christian Academy. During this time, he coached the women's Kentucky Class A cross country state champion in 1997.
Ottolini earned a Master's of Divinity degree from Asbury Theological Seminary in July 2000 and a B.A. in Religion and Philosophy from Roberts Wesleyan College in 1995. He is certified in USA Track and Field Level II in distance. He is married to Allison, a nurse at Allegiance Hospital in Jackson, Michigan. They have three children, 10-year-old twin boys, Micah and Josiah, and 7-year-old daughter, Hannah. The Ottolinis reside in Spring Arbor.
