| Title: | Head Coach |
| Phone: | 931-372-3749 |
| Email: | pdalton@tntech.edu |
Peter Dalton is in his fifth year as the head coach of the Tennessee Tech men's and women's cross country and track & field programs.
In 2022, the Golden Eagle women's team earned its second straight top-three performance at the OVC Championships, placing third overall. The Tech men's team secured a fourth-place finish at the league championships, its second consecutive appearance in the top five.
He the Golden Eagle cross country programs to historical showings in 2021. After back-to-back ninth-place showing at the Ohio Valley Conference Championships, the Tech women's team soared to new heights, finishing runner-up for its best finish in program history. The men's team saw improvement after a ninth-place finish in 2019 and a sixth-place showing in 2020-21, finishing third overall at the OVC Championships to tie the 2018 squad for the best finish for the program since 1967.
He saw what the OVC can offer when it comes to cross country and track and field. With five years under his belt at UT Martin, he helped bring the Skyhawk programs to a new level of competition.
Under Dalton's direction, UTM produced a pair of OVC champions and All-Americans in Ann Asipan and Edwin Kurgat. Asipan won the 2015 and 2016 OVC cross country individual championship, then became an NCAA Regional qualifier in the program's first outdoor season, setting a school-record 16:06 in the 5K.
Kurgat won the OVC men's individual cross country title in 2017, then finished 21st in the NCAA Championship. He still holds UT Martin's program bests in the 8K (23:41.0) and 10 K (29:44.0), as well as the indoor and outdoor 5K marks.
In his four seasons at UTM at the OVC Championships, Dalton saw the men's cross country team improve from a 10th place finish up to 5th just two years later and the women's cross country team improve from 11th in 2014 to fifth in 2016 and 2017.
Those teams also showed success in the NCAA South Regionals as the women's team finished 12th in 2016, the men 13th in the 2017 meet.
He also oversaw tremendous growth with UTM's track and field program as the roster grew and the Skyhawks started racking up numerous program bests. During the 2019 track season, the Skyhawks won four events at the men's indoor championship, including the conference's fourth-fastest time ever in the distance medley relay, while the team also shattered seven school records. During the outdoor season, UTM also broke three school records – the men's 110m hurdles and 4x100m, as well as the women's high jump.
Dalton, a native of Ireland, was an outstanding runner himself. He competed as part of the D.S.D. Athletic Club, winning eight consecutive national team titles and finished third in the European Junior Clubs Cross Country Championships. He earned notoriety as he won Ireland's first international victory at the British and Irish Mountain Running Championships, then finished 21st in the World Championships.
Dalton also has a tremendous coaching pedigree, following in the footsteps of his father, who was a seven-time Irish National team manager for the World Champions. He also learned from Irish Olympians Noel Berkeley and Gerry McGrath.
He then came to the United States as a student-athlete, competing for East Tennessee State and NCAA Hall of Famer Dave Walker. In his four-year career in cross country and track and field, he helped lead the Buccaneers to the team highest Atlantic Sun Conference finish in 12 seasons, as well as the inaugural Atlantic Sun Conference Indoor Track and Field Championship title.
During his time in Johnson City, the two-time team captain was a regular fixture on all-conference and all-academic teams for cross country and track and field and was named ETSU's MVP for back-to-back years.
After graduation, Dalton spent seven years at King University, leading the men's and women's cross country teams during his entire tenure, then overseeing the school's track and field program from 2010 to 2012. During that time, he helped oversee the program's transition from NAIA to NCAA Division II, guiding the King University women's cross country team to a second-place finish at the NCAA Southeast Regional, the first team at the institution to qualify for an NCAA Championship event.
During his time there, Dalton led King University to seven Conference Carolinas championships in cross country and track and field, then sent three different teams and individuals to NCAA competition.
