Weber State University Athletics
WSU announces track and field coaching changes
2/26/2014 11:57:00 PM | Women's Track & Field
OGDEN - Weber State University has announced coaching changes to its track and field programs. The school has named Dan Walker the Director of Track and Field and head coach for the WSU men's and women's track and field teams. Paul Pilkington has been named Associate Head Coach for Track and Field and will continue as the head men's and women's cross country coach. WSU Director of Athletics Jerry Bovee announced the changes Wednesday, which will take effect on July 1, 2014.
The changes were made following the retirement of longtime WSU women's track head coach Jim Blaisdell. Blaisdell will retire following the 2014 track season after 33 years as head coach where he led the Wildcats to 18 Big Sky championships.
“This is an exciting transition for our track and field programs at Weber State,” Bovee said. “We have a long history of success in track and field established by Chick Hislop and Jim Blaisdell. Having Dan and Paul now take now will provide continued momentum with no disruption to our program. They are both veteran coaches with long ties to the program and will help us toward our goals of continuing to win championships and having success in the classroom.”
Walker, an Ogden native, is in his 30th year with the WSU track and field program. He is in his eighth season as the head men's track coach and led the Wildcats to the 2010 Big Sky Outdoor championship. Prior to becoming head coach, he spent 22 years as an assistant with the men's and women's programs. Walker has coached three athletes who have won NCAA Championships and several athletes who have won All-American honors. As head coach of the men's program, he continued to assist the Wildcat women's team in the field events.
“I'm very excited to have the opportunity to lead both programs at Weber State and I'm grateful that the administration had the confidence in me for this new position,” Walker said. “I've worked with both the men's and women's programs since I've been here and I'm looking forward to continuing with both teams. I've learned everything I know about track and field from Chick Hislop and Jim Blaisdell so I just want to continue in their footsteps and build on what they did.”
Walker ran track for four years at Weber State as a distance runner for Chick Hislop. He graduated in 1975 and then went to work at St. Benedict's Hospital in Ogden where he was the Manager of the Chemistry Lab for 12 years. In 1984, he was hired as a part-time assistant track and field coach at Weber State and in 1986 he became a full-time assistant coach. In 2004 he was elevated to the title of Associate Head Coach for Track and Field. Walker graduated from Ben Lomond High School in 1970 and still holds the school record in the mile run.
Paul Pilkington has served as the head men's and women's cross country coach for the past seven years. During his tenure as head coach, he has led the WSU women's team to the last three Big Sky Championships. The Wildcats have also captured the individual title in each of the past three years and have made three trips to the NCAA Championships. In 2012, WSU won the Mountain Region title and was ranked as high as 13th in the nation during the season. In track and cross country, Pilkington has coached eight NCAA All-Americans, earning 13 All-American awards, and one Olympian.
“I'm looking forward to working with Coach Walker and continuing to build on the success we have had at Weber State,” Pilkington said. “I've had a couple of great mentors in Coach Hislop and Coach Blaisdell and I'm excited for the things we have in place here in track and field and cross country.”
Prior to becoming head coach he spent two seasons as an assistant for the WSU cross country and track and field teams, helping the men's and women's teams win the Big Sky Cross Country Championship in 2006. Pilkington was also an assistant coach at Weber State from 2001-03.
From 2003-05, he served as the head cross country coach at the University of Illinois where he coached two athletes to the NCAA Championship and helped one athlete qualify for the US national team for the World Cross Country Championships.
Pilkington, a native of Blackfoot, Idaho, ran track and field at the College of Southern Idaho where he was coached by Jim Blaisdell. At CSI he was a NJCAA All-American in the steeplechase. Pilkington then ran track at Weber State, where he earned All-American honors in the steeplechase. He graduated from Weber State in 1981 and began his coaching career as the head cross country coach at Ben Lomond High School in Ogden from 1982-83. He received his Master's Degree from Utah State in 1992.
Pilkington is a well-known marathon runner and in 1994 he was named the USA Track and Field marathon national champion, the same year he won the Los Angeles Marathon. He is a four-time Olympic Trials qualifier and in 1995 he was a member of the US World Championship team. In 1993 he was the USA Track and Field 20-kilometer national champion and won the Houston Marathon in 1990. He also has top ten finishes in marathons in London, Berlin, Moscow, Venice, San Francisco, and Minneapolis.
Dan Dean, another former WSU runner, will continue in his role as an assistant coach. Dean has been a part of the Wildcat coaching staff for the past five years. Dean specifically coaches the sprinters and hurdles at Weber State and has coached several athletes to all-conference honors over the last few seasons.
WSU will hire full time assistant coach this summer.
