UVA assistant track coach Jason Dunn to retire from coaching

Courtesy UVA Media Relations

Virginia assistant men’s and women’s track and field and cross country coach Jason Dunn announced today he will retire from collegiate coaching following UVA’s final home meet of the 2021 season. A veteran of 25 years of coaching, Dunn has spent 13 seasons with Virginia athletics that includes two different coaching stints with the Cavalier track and field and cross country programs.

During his time at Virginia, he has coached 12 ACC champions and 14 All-Americans. His UVA men’s cross country teams won the 2005 and 2007 ACC titles. He was named the ACC men’s cross country coach of the year in both of those seasons.

“I cannot thank Jason enough for all he has done for our programs,” said Vin Lananna, UVA’s director of track and field and cross country. “He’s done a fantastic job and impacted so many young men and women in a positive manner. He has been an invaluable asset since I arrived here.”

Dunn was an assistant coach at UVA – overseeing the distance runners and cross country teams – from 2000 to 2004. In 2004, he was formally named the head men’s and women’s cross country coach. He held that position until 2008 before leaving UVA for Stanford. Upon his return to Charlottesville in 2016, he served as the Cavaliers’ director of operations until 2018. He made his return to coaching the distance runners and cross country teams in 2018.

“Returning to Charlottesville in 2016 was a move based on family decisions, to be closer to my mom who lives here in town and to start a business with my wife Ann,” Dunn said. “Shortly after we arrived, an opportunity at UVA came my way. Having previously spent eight great years on the coaching staff here and having gained an affinity for this place, it was hard to turn down. I have so appreciated the chance to be on the staff here the last five years and to personally continue the work I had started back in 2000 towards building a national-caliber program at Virginia.

“While I am truly excited for the direction the program is heading, it is now time for me to follow a different path. I wish the athletes and coaching staff under Coach (Vin) Lananna’s leadership all the best in the years to come and I will continue to root for their success as I pursue other passions and interests in the Charlottesville community.”

Dunn coached the cross country teams at Stanford from 2008 to 2012 and was the men’s cross country coach and assistant track coach at Kentucky for the 2012-13 season. From 2013 to 2016 he worked as the associate head cross country coach and assistant track and field coach at Oklahoma.

While at Stanford, the men’s cross country team held the No. 1 national ranking for most of the 2009 and 2010 seasons. The men’s team captured the Pac-12 team championship both of those years, while the women won the conference title in 2010. Dunn coached 59 All-Americans, seven Pac-12 individual champions and the cross country program posted three top-five and two other top-10 finishes at the NCAA Championships. Dunn’s efforts earned him two Pac-12 Men’s Cross Country Coach of the Year honors and seven USTFCCCA Assistant Coach of the Year accolades (two cross country, three indoor track and two outdoor track).

Dunn started his collegiate coaching career when he served as an assistant cross country coach at William & Mary for the fall of 1996. From 1997 to 2000, he was an assistant track and field and cross country coach at Arizona State before joining the UVA program.