Staff
Steve Dolan •
Director of Track & Field / Cross Country
Middle Distance/Distance
Dolan is currently in his eighth season as the Director of Track & Field/Cross Country at the University of Pennsylvania in 2019-20. In this position, Dolan oversees all aspects of the men’s and women’s track & field and cross country programs and serves as the distance coach.
One of the most highly regarded coaches in the country, Dolan has transformed the Quakers’ program. In every season since his arrival, the Quakers have broken or matched the school record for NCAA Outdoor qualifiers and produced at least two All Americans. In the past 7 years, Dolan has overseen a total of 31 All Americans, 73 Heptagonal champions, 176 All Ivy honorees, 35 Academic All-Ivy recipients. Dolan is a 6-time Ivy League Coach of the Year and has been named Mid-Atlantic Regional Coach of the Year 10 times since arriving at Penn.
Riding the momentum of 2019 Track & Field year in which the Women’s team defended their Ivy League titles both indoor and out, the 2019-20 campaign is already off to a tremendous start with both cross country teams setting the tone. The men became Heptagonal Champions for only the third time in 50 years and the second under Dolan’s leadership. The women landed in third, matching their best finish in 14 years.
In his career, Dolan has coached 5 Penn Relays Championship of America-winning relays, most recently when the Penn Women claimed the DMR title, becoming the first Ivy League women’s team ever to win a COA. Dolan’s athletes have earned some lofty individual accomplishments over the years as well. Just last year, Nia Akins finished as the runner-up in the NCAA 800m both indoors and out, made it to the final round of the USATF Championships and ran a best of 2:01.67 along the way. On the men’s side, Dolan coached Thomas Awad to a 3rd place finish in the mile at the 2016 NCAA indoor championships, and school records in the mile indoors (3:57.03) and the 5,000m outdoors (13:33.29). Prior to his arrival at Penn, Dolan guided Donn Cabral to an NCAA Championship, the American Collegiate Record (8:19.14) and an 8th place finish in the 2012 Olympics in the 3,000m Steeplechase.
Chene Townsend •
Rogers Family Assistant Coach
(Hurdles/Women's Sprints)
Chene Townsend joined the staff in January 2021 as the Rogers Family Assistant Track & Field Coach, taking the lead on women’s sprints as well as men and women’s hurdles.
Townsend joins the Quakers after a four-year stint at Division I Saint Francis University in Loretto, Pa., where she worked primarily with sprints, hurdles and jumps. Through those four years, she mentored 10 Northeast Conference (NEC) champions, 25 All-NEC selections, a two-time NCAA East preliminary qualifier, and a first-team All-America. She also coached her student-athletes to 14 school records.
Prior to her time in Loretto, Townsend spent two seasons as a graduate assistant at West Virginia University, working primarily with hurdles and jumps. She also worked with the West Virginia Flyers club program, preparing and managing training programs for that program’s athletes, and Morgantown (W.Va.) High School where she assisted with sessions for hurdles and jumps.
A standout track athlete at West Virginia, Townsend earned Academic All-Big 12 second team honors and Big East Academic All-Star honors. She was also named to the Big 12 Commissioners’ and Garrett Ford Honor Roll.
Townsend graduated with a Bachelors of Science in exercise physiology and a Masters of Science in athletic coaching education. She is certified in USOC Safe Sport and Level One USA Track and Field.
Joe Klim •
Assistant Coach
(Vertical Jumps/Multi-Events)
Coach Klim recently concluded his seventh season at the University of Pennsylvania in 2018-19, specializing in jumps and multi-events.
2019 saw Klim's group represented with two All-American performances in the outdoor season, including a third-place finish for Anna Peyton Malizia at the NCAA Championships in the high jump, while Sean Clarke earned second-team honors in the pole vault.
It was a sweep for Klim's vertical jumps group at the 2018 Ivy League Outdoor Heptagonal Championships, as Mike Monroe (high jump), Sean Clarke (pole vault), Anna Peyton Malizia (high jump) and Nicole Macco (pole vault) all captured individual Ivy Heps titles, adding to Malizia's crown during the indoor season as well. Malizia conclued her record-breaking season in the high jump with a trip to the NCAA Outdoor Championships in Eugene, earning honorable mention All-America status.
In all, Klim has coached Penn athletes to a combined 18 NCAA appearances and six All-America awards. In addition, Penn jumpers have collected nine heptagonal championships, an IC4A title, five current school records and 22 All-Ivy honors under Klim's tutelege.
Moose Akanno •
Assistant Coach
(Men’s Sprints/Horizontal Jumps)
Akanno joined the staff in November 2020 and is the lead on men's sprints as well as men and women's horizontal jumps.
Akanno joins the Penn staff after spending the last six years at his alma mater, the University of Connecticut, the first five as an assistant coach and last year as an assistant director. He directed all aspects of the Huskies' sprints, jumps and multi-event programs while also developing strength & conditioning programs for all speed and power events.
Akanno had countless career highlights with UConn that included coaching two NCAA All-Americans, 34 NCAA qualifiers, a Southeast Asian Games champion, a Philippines national record holder, and the fastest 4x100 relay run by a New England school. He has helped the Huskies to 15 school records, eight American Athletic Conference (AAC) championships, 120 all-conference selections, and an AAC team championship in 2015 when he was included among the Coaching Staff of the Year.
Akanno also has experience within the Ivy League, spending four years at Dartmouth College before his return to UConn. Working with the Big Green's jumps and multi-event programs, he coached an NCAA All-American, 12 NCAA qualifiers and 14 Ivy Heptagonal champions including Janae Dunchak who won four straight pentathlon championships. Overall, Akanno guided student-athletes to 24 school records and 46 All-Ivy selections.
Prior to his stint with the Big Green, Akanno started his full-time coaching career with Fairleigh Dickinson University in his home state of New Jersey for one season, developing practice and workout plans for horizontal and vertical jumpers, intermediate high hurdles, and short sprinters. He also had recruiting responsibilities in sprints, hurdles and jump groups.
Recently, Akanno was named an assistant coach for the United States National Team for the 31st Summer World University Games which are scheduled to take place in Chengdu, China in August 2021. He will oversee vertical jumps and the decathlon on the staff.
Prior to coaching, Akanno was a four-year letter winner at UConn and was a part of Huskies track teams that won three indoor Big East championships as well as three New England titles. A captain his senior season, Akanno was an eight-time All-Big East selection with four coming in the triple jump and three in the long jump.
Akanno has four USTFCCCA certifications and two USATF certifications. He graduated from UConn with a degree in psychology with a concentration in sports psychology.
Fletcher Brooks •
Assistant Coach
(Throws)
Fletcher Brooks joined the Penn track and field program in the fall of 2021, taking the lead on all men's and women's throws.
Brooks has a long resume of accomplishments with over two decades of experience between Division I and III. Over his career, he has coached 106 All-Americans and 14 NCAA champions.
His most recent venture was an eight-year career at Iowa State University as the associate head coach for both the men's and women's indoor/outdoor track and field teams. Responsible for all jump, throws and combined events, Brooks coached athletes to 10 school records, 12 conference championships and 31 All-America honors, including the 2014 Indoor and Outdoor Women's NCAA shot put champion.
Prior to his time with the Cyclones, he spent one year with the University of Oklahoma in a similar role as the assistant coach, working primarily with jumps and combined events.
His coaching career started in Division III in 1998 at Williams College where he was the assistant for the track and field program before bumping up to the associate head coach title in 2001.
After the 2005 season, he was given his first opportunity to lead his own program. Staying in the same state, he shifted to the Massachusetts Institute of Technology for three years as the head coach of the women's indoor/outdoor track and field program. In 2007, Brooks led the women's program to the its first-ever NEWMAC title while earning the honor of Coach of the Year.
In 2008, he returned to Williams as the head coach of both the men's and women's programs where he remained until 2012. Under his tutelage, he coached the programs to NESCAC conference championships from 2009-12, while the women placed fifth as a team at the NCAA championships in 2012. Through his time at Williams, he coached 77 All-Americans and 14 national champions, and was named NCAA, New England and NESCAC Coach of the Year.
Brooks graduated from Allegheny College in 1993 where he earned a bachelor's degree in English and minored in women's studies. He was also an All-American in the shot put and lettered on the football team, which won the Division III National Championship in 1990.
Matt Gosselin •
Assistant Coach
(Middle Distance/Distance)
Matt Gosselin has just completed his first cross country season back at Penn, in which the women finished third, matching their best finish in the past 15 years.
Gosselin returns to Penn – where he spent two years as a volunteer assistant from 2013-2015.
For the 2015-16 season, Gosselin landed at Binghamton, where he spent a season as an assistant, helping the Bearcats' cross country teams to a pair of third-place finishes in the America East. In his lone year there, athletes in his discipline captured a pair of conference titles and three runner-up finishes.
Following his stint at Binghamton, Gosselin returned to Philadelphia to serve as the assistant coach at La Salle, beginning in 2016-17 the season. In his time with the Explorers, athletes in his discipline accounted for nine Atlantic 10 individual champions.
Following his stint at Binghamton, Gosselin returned to Philadelphia to serve as the assistant coach at La Salle, beginning in 2016-17 the season. In his time with the Explorers, athletes in his discipline accounted for nine Atlantic 10 individual champions.
He graduated in 2012 with a bachelor's degree in human physiology.
Claire Hewitt • Director of Operations
Hewitt, a 2005 graduate, returns to Penn as Director of Operations after a 3-year stint as Co-Head Coach of cross country and track & field at Earlham College.
Before joining the staff at Earlham, Hewitt previously served as Penn’s Director of Operations and an assistant coach with the cross country and distance squads from 2014-2016 and as the assistant coach with the women’s cross country and track programs at St. Joseph’s University from 2008-2014.
As an undergraduate, Hewitt became the first recipient of the "125 Years of Women at Penn" Scholarship and competed in cross country and track. During her career, Hewitt set the program record in the 3K Steeplechase and was a three-time Academic All-American.
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