Aug. 14, 2009

COLLEGE PARK, Md. - Desmond Dunham, who brought tremendous success to the nearby Eleanor Roosevelt High School track and field program, has been added as an assistant coach to the track staff at the University of Maryland, head coach Andrew Valmon announced Friday.

Dunham was a volunteer assistant for the Terrapins during the 2008-09 season and has now been added to the full-time staff.

"I'm excited about working with such a positive and talented group of student-athletes," said Dunham. "Being a part of the Terrapin family is an honor and a privilege, and I look forward in helping to carry on the prestigious legacy of excellence in academics and athletics."

Immediately, Dunham is expected to work with the distance athletes at Maryland. The cross country season opens for the Terrapins in early September.

"Desmond is one of the top up-and-coming college coaches in track and field and cross country," said Valmon, who will begin his seventh season as the Terps' head coach after his stint as an assistant coach for Team USA at the 2009 World Outdoor Championships this month in Berlin, Germany.

"He showed tremendous success at the high-school level and is ready to transform this into the collegiate setting," said Valmon. "He is knowledgeable in multiple disciplines of the sport and has a strong understanding of distance athletes.

"Desmond is a relentless recruiter, and I am confident he will bolster the program with talented student-athletes."

Dunham, who has 12 years of coaching experience, was on the staff at Eleanor Roosevelt HS in Greenbelt from 2002 to 2008. While as a head coach there, his teams won the Maryland Class 4A state indoor and outdoor girls championships in 2007 and 2008, and won three girls state cross country titles (2004-05-06). The girls teams qualified for two Nike Team Cross Country Nationals appearances in Portland, Ore. His boys teams won state titles indoors in 2007 and outdoors in 2008.

Many of Roosevelt's relay teams earned national recognition and U.S. national prep records, along with Nike Outdoor Championships and Penn Relays titles. Roosevelt became the first high school program and made U.S. history by upsetting the Jamaicans and winning two relays in the 2007 Penn Relays Carnival. The Lady Raiders later posted national records in the sprint medley and 4x800 relays.

Dunham is a three-time honoree as the Washington Post All-Met Coach of the Year and was awarded All-Gazette Coach of the Year honors eight times.

His club experience includes work from 1998 to 2003 as head coach of the D.C. Redwings program, where he coached more than 50 All-Americans and individuals to Junior Olympics national competitions in track and cross country.

An experienced sports massage therapist, Dunham holds a bachelor's degree in physical education from Howard University, where he was captain and MVP of the track and cross country teams as a senior. He earned a master's degree in teaching secondary science from Trinity University.

Dunham currently resides in Washington, D.C., with his wife Jami and two children, Niles and Nia.

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