The name Paul Olsen has become synonymous with Augustana cross country and track & field and with good reason. The energetic and enthusiastic mentor has been producing winning teams and individuals since the mid 1960’s and he shows no signs of slowing down. He took over the head cross country coaching position in 1966 and he assumed the reigns of the track & field program in 1969. He completed his 52nd season as the head cross country coach in 2017 and will be in his 50th season as the head coach in track & field in 2018.
Through it all, success has been his constant companion, no matter whether the sport is cross country or track & field. In cross country, he has led the Vikings into the NCAA national meet a total of 25 times, including three times since 2007. 11 times during his illustrious career his teams have been in the top 10 in the nation and his 1980 unit placed second, just four points shy of a national title.
Augustana has won two College Conference of Illinois & Wisconsin cross country titles in the school’s history and both have come under Olsen. The Vikings have placed second 33 times under his tutelage. Only twice during his tenure have his teams finished as low as fourth in the conference. Five individual Augustana runners have won a total of seven league titles and in national competition the Vikings have garnered 25 All-America certificates and three individual national titles.
Olsen has served as meet director of the NCAA Division III national meet five times and his team has hosted the Midwest Regional 23 times since 1979. In 1996 and 2001 the Vikings hosted both the NCAA Midwest Regional and the NCAA Division III national meet.
His track & field resume is just as impressive, as he has led Augustana to 14 CCIW outdoor titles, including 2016, when his squad also won its first indoor conference championship. His Vikings also have 45 runner-up finishes, 33 in the outdoor meet and 12 during the indoor championships. In the spring of 2010, Olsen was named the NCAA Division III Midwest Region’s “Coach of the Year” by the United States Track & Field and Cross Country Coaches Association.
A total of 288 individuals and 46 relay teams have won league titles in indoor and outdoor track & field during Olsen’s tenure.
He has also coached a total of 234 NCAA Division III All-America selections in both indoor and outdoor track and 26 times Viking athletes have been crowned national champions. The Blue and Gold has placed in the top 10 in a national meet 20 times including second-place outdoor finishes in 1975 and 1981. In 2017, his team was 10th at the outdoor national championships and tied for 15th indoors.
He was inducted into the Illinois Track & Field Coaches Association “Hall of Fame” in January of 2004 and went into the Augustana “Tribe of Vikings Hall of Fame” in October of 2005. Olsen was also a member of the USTFCCCA Hall of Fame class of 2013.
A native of Onamia, Minnesota, Olsen came to Augustana after a teaching and coaching stint at Lincoln High School in Manitowoc, Wisconsin. During his first couple of years at Augustana he served as an assistant in both football and basketball before assuming full time duties in track and cross country.
Olsen is a man of many talents and interests. As a professor in the English Department at Augustana, Olsen ranks as one of the most popular teachers in the entire school with his classes in Black Literature and the Sacred and Profane consistently filled to capacity. In 1989 Olsen was one of just 120 teachers nationwide who were honored at the American Association for Higher Education convention in Chicago. He was the only Augustana faculty member named to the elite group. He has been selected by the seniors at Augustana to give the final lecture 15 times during his career. At one time he used to perform a one-person play entitled “Pilgrimage with Poets” that was highly acclaimed.
Olsen is a graduate of Luther College in Decorah, Iowa, where he was captain of the track team and a starter for the football team as a defensive back. He holds an M.A. and Ph.D. in English Literature from the University of Oregon. He resides in Bettendorf, Iowa with his wife Jeanne, who is a hospital Chaplin in Davenport. The couple has a pair of sons - David, a former United States Navy S.E.A.L. who currently works in Los Angeles as an entrepreneur for the U.S. State Department, and Eric, who is an actor and a graduate of Pepperdine University. Eric has appeared in several movies, including “Pearl Harbor”, “Not Another Teen Movie” and “Arthur’s Quest”, and television shows, such as “ER”, “Smallville”, and “Get Real”. He is currently starring as lead detective Marty Deeks in CBS’s “NCIS-Los Angeles”.
THE PAUL OLSEN RECORD AT AUGUSTANA
|
CROSS COUNTRY |
|
|
TRACK & FIELD |
|
|
|
|
| YEAR |
DUAL MEETS |
CCIW |
NCAA |
DUAL MEETS |
CCIW INDOOR |
CCIW OUTDOOR |
NCAA INDOOR |
NCAA OUTDOOR |
| 1966-67 |
7-5 |
3rd |
|
|
|
|
|
|
| 1967-68 |
6-1 |
2nd |
17th |
|
|
|
|
|
| 1968-69 |
4-4 |
4th |
----- |
2-5 |
|
1st |
|
35th |
| 1969-70 |
4-2 |
1st |
19th |
4-2 |
|
1st |
|
----- |
| 1970-71 |
6-1 |
1st |
12th |
4-1 |
|
2nd |
|
----- |
| 1971-72 |
2-1 |
3rd |
9th |
4-0 |
|
1st |
|
----- |
| 1972-73 |
3-3 |
3rd |
10th |
6-1 |
|
1st |
|
40th |
| 1973-74 |
4-1-1 |
3rd |
6th |
4-0 |
|
1st |
|
6th |
| 1974-75 |
2-3 |
2nd |
5th |
1-1 |
|
2nd |
|
2nd |
| 1975-76 |
2-4 |
3rd |
17th |
2-2 |
|
2nd |
|
25th |
| 1976-77 |
3-3 |
2nd |
14th |
3-1 |
|
2nd |
|
16th |
| 1977-78 |
4-2 |
2nd |
22nd |
4-0 |
|
2nd |
|
19th |
| 1978-79 |
2-4 |
2nd |
----- |
5-0 |
|
2nd |
|
34th |
| 1979-80 |
0-4 |
2nd |
4th |
5-0 |
|
1st |
|
4th |
| 1980-81 |
0-1-1 |
2nd |
2nd |
4-1 |
|
1st |
|
2nd |
| 1981-82 |
0-4 |
2nd |
17th |
1-0 |
|
1st |
|
10th |
| 1982-83 |
1-1 |
2nd |
----- |
1-0 |
|
1st |
|
20th |
| 1983-84 |
1-0 |
2nd |
----- |
1-0 |
|
1st |
|
10th |
| 1984-85 |
1-1 |
3rd |
9th |
0-1 |
|
2nd |
|
----- |
| 1985-86 |
1-1 |
4th |
----- |
2-1 |
|
2nd |
|
42nd |
| 1986-87 |
3-0 |
2nd |
8th |
0-1 |
|
2nd |
|
41st |
| 1987-88 |
1-1 |
3rd |
----- |
1-0 |
|
2nd |
|
61st |
| 1988-89 |
2-4 |
2nd |
19th |
0-0 |
|
2nd |
|
52nd |
| 1989-90 |
0-2 |
2nd |
11th |
0-0 |
|
2nd |
|
22nd |
| 1990-91 |
0-1 |
2nd |
11th |
0-0 |
|
2nd |
|
32nd |
| 1991-92 |
4-2 |
2nd |
11th |
0-0 |
|
2nd |
|
7th |
| 1992-93 |
3-0 |
2nd |
5th |
0-0 |
|
2nd |
|
9th |
| 1993-94 |
1-0 |
2nd |
9th |
0-0 |
|
2nd |
|
8th |
| 1994-95 |
0-0 |
2nd |
----- |
0-0 |
|
2nd |
6th |
5th |
| 1995-96 |
1-0 |
2nd |
----- |
2-0 |
|
2nd |
10th |
4th |
| 1996-97 |
0-0 |
2nd |
10th |
0-0 |
|
2nd |
10th |
----- |
| 1997-98 |
0-0 |
2nd |
----- |
0-1 |
|
2nd |
6th |
22nd |
| 1998-99 |
0-0 |
3rd |
----- |
0-1 |
|
2nd |
----- |
56th |
| 1999-00 |
0-0 |
3rd |
----- |
0-1 |
|
2nd |
27th |
56th |
| 2000-01 |
0-0 |
3rd |
----- |
0-1 |
2nd |
3rd |
30th |
62nd |
| 2001-02 |
1-0 |
3rd |
----- |
0-1 |
3rd |
2nd |
----- |
----- |
| 2002-03 |
0-0 |
2nd |
----- |
0-1 |
3rd |
2nd |
----- |
56th |
| 2003-04 |
0-0 |
2nd |
----- |
0-0 |
2nd |
2nd |
----- |
----- |
| 2004-05 |
0-0 |
2nd |
----- |
0-0 |
4th |
3rd |
----- |
39th |
| 2005-06 |
0-0 |
3rd |
----- |
0-0 |
2nd |
2nd |
26th |
18th |
| 2006-07 |
0-0 |
2nd |
----- |
0-0 |
2nd |
2nd |
45th |
8th |
| 2007-08 |
0-0 |
2nd |
15th |
0-0 |
2nd |
1st |
46th |
16th |
| 2008-09 |
0-0 |
2nd |
21st |
2-0 |
2nd |
2nd |
11th |
44th |
| 2009-10 |
0-0 |
2nd |
----- |
0-0 |
2nd |
1st |
55th |
38th |
| 2010-11 |
0-0 |
2nd |
----- |
1-0 |
2nd |
2nd |
23rd |
53rd |
| 2011-12 |
0-0 |
3rd |
----- |
0-0 |
2nd |
2nd |
---- |
7th |
| 2012-13 |
0-0 |
3rd |
----- |
0-0 |
2nd |
2nd |
14th |
18th |
| 2013-14 |
0-0 |
3rd |
----- |
0-0 |
3rd |
2nd |
24th |
5th |
| 2014-15 |
0-0 |
2nd |
----- |
0-0 |
2nd |
2nd |
11th |
7th |
| 2015-16 |
0-0 |
2nd |
20th |
0-0 |
1st |
1st |
16th |
60th |
| 2016-17 |
0-0 |
2nd |
----- |
0-0 |
2nd |
1st |
15th |
10th |
| 2017-18 |
0-0 |
2nd |
----- |
|
|
|
|
|
