Assistant coach Dave Osanitsch ‘96 begins his eighth season as an assistant to head cross country coach Steve Spence. Osanitsch will begin his 14th season as a track and field coach at the collegiate level with the start of the 2011-12 campaign.
Osanitsch is an 11-time PSAC Coach of the Year and an 8-time United States Track and Field/Cross Country Coaches Association (USTFCCA) Division II Region Coach of the Year. Last season, Osanitsch won all four PSAC Coach of the Year awards and earned three of the four regional coach of the year awards from USTFCCCA. Under his guidance and along with his outstanding coaching staff, Shippensburg has amassed five individual national championships, three national-champion relay squads, 35 All-Americans and five All-American relay squads.
During his tenure, Shippensburg track & field has reached new levels of success. SU has won 12 PSAC championship crowns and has finished second five other times. Over 70 school records have been broken and the program has produced well over 90 NCAA automatic or provisional qualifiers along with a multitude of conference champions.
He began coaching at his alma mater in 2002 as an assistant coach in track and field, primarily work¬ing with the jumpers and multi-event athletes, a role he maintains as the head coach. Since his arrival at Shippensburg, the jumps squad has garnered 29 individual PSAC championships and numerous all-PSAC honors. Additionally, Osanitsch has produced 54 NCAA provisional qualifiers and 10 All-Americans as the jumps coach. His jumpers and multis competitors have broken more than 15 school records under his tutelage.
A 1996 graduate of Shippensburg with a bachelor of science in criminal justice, Osanitsch was a five-time NCAA Division II Championship qualifier in the 55-meter and 110-meter hurdles. He was a two-time PSAC indoor champion in the 110-meter hurdles in 1993 and 1995 as well as a two-time ECAC indoor champion in the 55-meter hurdles. In 1993 and 1995, Osanitsch was a member of both the PSAC and ECAC outdoor track and field championship teams.
Osanitsch was also an NCAA All-American in the 55-meter hurdles in indoor track. In 1994, he finished sixth at the NCAA Division II Indoor Track and Field Championships before placing seventh as a senior in 1996. Osanitsch currently holds the school record in the indoor 55-meter hurdles with a time of 7.49 seconds, a mark that is one of the fastest times in PSAC history. For his college athletic efforts, Osanitsch was inducted in 2010 into the Shippensburg University Athletic Hall Of Fame.
Following his graduation, Osanitsch gained new success as an assistant coach at nearby Dickinson College. Osanitsch was instrumental in producing numerous Centennial Conference qualifiers, place-winners and champions as well as a NCAA Division III All-American in the high jump. The Devils became a Centennial Conference powerhouse during his four seasons, winning four women’s championships (two indoor and two outdoor).
Osanitsch, along with his wife Julie and children, Madison and Brayden, reside in Shippensburg.
