Jason Dunn

Dunn is in his third year with the Cavaliers, 11th year overall, since his return to the program, serving as an assistant coach to the distance runners. He holds 20 years of coaching experience including serving as the UVA head cross country coach from 2004-08. Dunn returned to Virginia as the track and field director of operations in 2016 after successful coaching stops at Stanford, Kentucky and Oklahoma.

Dunn helped coached the men’s cross country team to its 17th NCAA Championships appearance during the 2019-20 season, where the program captured a 20th-place finish in the team standings. The Cavaliers earned an automatic berth to the national meet with a first-place finish at the NCAA Southeast Regional Championships. All five of Virginia’s scoring runners earned All-Southeast Region honors for just the second time in UVA history. During the indoor season, Ari Klau set the UVA record in the 3000m while AJ Ernst joined the sub-four-minute mile club. Ernst and Rohann Asfaw earned All-ACC honors at the conference championships for their performance in the mile and 3000m, respectively.

In his first season, after his return as the men’s cross country coach/assistant men’s track and field coach, Dunn coached Brent Demarest to two All-America honors with a 31st-place finish at the NCAA Cross Country Championships and a 14th-place finish in the 10,000-meter run at the NCAA Outdoor Track and Field Championships. Dunn’s athletes captured seven All-ACC honors throughout the year, in addition to four athlete earning All-Southeast Region honors.

Dunn coached at Virginia for eight years, serving as an assistant coach for the Cavaliers from 2000-04 before being promoted to head cross country coach following the 2004 track and field season. With Dunn’s leadership, the men’s cross country team captured the 2005 and 2007 ACC titles. The program had two runners honored as the ACC Freshman of the Year and produced 28 All-ACC cross country selections. Dunn was named the 2005 and 2007 ACC Men’s Cross Country Coach of the Year for his success. Both the men’s and women’s team advanced to the NCAA championships four times with 2005 marking the first time in school history that both programs qualified to the national meet in the same season. Virginia had five All-American cross country honorees and 40 All-Region selections.

On the track, Dunn’s athletes recorded seven All-America honors, 12 ACC individual champions and 55 All-ACC performances.

Before his return to UVA as the track and field director of operations, Dunn served as the associate head cross country coach and assistant track and field coach at Oklahoma from 2013-16. During his tenure with the Sooners, Dunn led the men’s cross country program to a 15th-place finish at the 2015 NCAA Championships and coached the women’s team to its highest Big 12 and NCAA Midwest Regional finish in program history. Dunn coached five Big 12 champions and 95 All-Big 12 honorees during his three years with the program.

Prior to Oklahoma, Dunn served a one-year stint (2012-13) as the men’s cross country coach and assistant track coach at Kentucky. He coached an SEC champion in the mile, an NCAA individual qualifier in cross country and two NCAA finalists on the track.

While at Stanford (2008-12), 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. He led 16 student-athletes to 59 All-America honors. Dunn coached seven Pac-12 individual champions in addition to seeing six Cardinal student-athletes record a sub four-minute mile. The cross country program posted three top-5 and two other top-10 finishes during his time with the Cardinal. 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).

Prior to coaching at UVA, Dunn served as an assistant track and field and cross country coach at Arizona State from 1997-2000 and an assistant cross country coach at William & Mary for the fall of 1996.

Dunn has a master’s of education from Arizona State in curriculum and instruction with an emphasis on physical education and a bachelor’s of arts degree from William & Mary in government and a minor in history.

Dunn and his wife Ann, a former All-American track athlete at Wisconsin, reside in Earlysville, VA.