Brandan Bettenhausen enters his fifth season with the University of Dayton track and field coaching staff in 2016-2017. He specializes in coaching the throws.
Bettenhausen has had a huge impact on the Flyer’s throws program. After inheriting a program with only two throwers, the group has quickly transformed into the most dominate group in the Atlantic 10 Conference.
In just three years, they have had 11 Atlantic 10 Champions, 26 conference scorers, and the reigning A-10 Indoor and Outdoor Most Outstanding Field Perfomer in Jenni Rossi. The Dayton history book has also seen many changes with nine new performances that rank top five in school history.
Under Bettenhausen’s guidance, Dayton throwers have started receiving great recognition for their accomplishments. This past year, Jenni Rossi swept the Atlantic 10 Outdoor Championships in the shot put, hammer, and discus with three more gold medals to go along with two golds from the indoor meet. Sonya Napariu added a silver indoor and a bronze outdoors. Freshman Jessica Birdsong put herself in the top five all-time at Dayton in the javelin as well.
In 2015, standout freshman Erin Reese was named the A-10 Conference’s Most Outstanding Rookie Performer at both the indoor and outdoor championships. Nationally, Aly Weeman represented the Flyer’s twice at the NCAA East Preliminary Championships in the hammer throw and was honored both years as a USTFCCCA All-Academic Team member.
Bettenhausen came to Dayton after spending one year at Western State Colorado University. There he was the men’s and women’s throws coach. Bettenhausen coached a NCAA Division II provisional qualifier, an All-Region performer, an All-RMAC Academic recipient, two conference champions, and eight Western State Top 10 All-Time performances. Western State's men's and women's teams finished fifth and 19th, respectively, in the nation that season.
Prior to his time in Colorado, Bettenhausen coached as a volunteer at his alma mater, the University of Wisconsin. In his stint with the Badgers, he helped oversee All-Americans, US Olympic Trials qualifiers, indoor and outdoor national qualifiers, eight school records, and a Big Ten Conference team championship.
A 2011 graduate of Wisconsin, Bettenhausen was a standout performer for the Badgers while earning his degree in Mechanical Engineering. Bettenhausen is also a USTFCCCA certified technical coach, and C.S.C.S. certified strength and conditioning coach.
