For more than one week, Ben True ’08 has been the only coach commuting to Dartmouth’s track and field offices in Alumni Gym. Typically, the team has around five to six active coaches, according to coaching records.
True was announced as the interim men’s and women’s cross country/distance coach by Dartmouth athletics director Mike Harrity on Aug. 5. He previously served as a volunteer assistant coach for the track and field and cross country teams from 2022 to 2023.
Porscha Dobson Harnden, who is still listed on the Dartmouth Athletics website as the director of track and field and cross country, has not communicated with the team since February — just a week before the 2024 Ivy League Indoor Heptagonal Track & Field Championships — according to former cross country/distance runner Jason Norris ’24. On June 6, the College posted a listing for interim director of track and field and cross country on its job search website.
Dobson Harnden did not respond to a request for comment by time of publication.
The four additional members of the track and field and cross country coaching staff — all still listed on the Dartmouth Athletics website — have left the College, according to cross country/distance runner Mac Hadden ’25.
Jeff Forino, a former assistant throwing coach, left to be the head coach of Yale University men’s track and field, according to the Yale Athletics staff directory. Yale Athletics announced his hiring on July 19.
The whereabouts of the other three coaches — former women’s cross country head coach Kendra Foley Andrews, former assistant sprints and hurdles coach Antwan Wright and former assistant jumps and multi-events coach Tim Wunderlich — are unknown. According to automatic email replies, Wunderlich officially resigned from his position on Aug. 2, and Antwan Wright is no longer at Dartmouth. Andrews did not respond to a request for comment by time of publication.
Now, True is currently coaching solo, he said.
True, a professional distance runner who holds the American record in the 5km road race, competed in track and field, cross country and Nordic skiing as a student athlete at Dartmouth. He co-founded Northwoods Athletics, a professional running team based in Hanover in 2021, and currently serves as head coach and owner. He will serve as the Dartmouth team’s interim coach through the 2024 cross country season, which ends on Nov. 2.
“I think this place has some of the most phenomenal running in the entire country outside of the winter months,” True said. “This is the environment where one can build a phenomenal college program.”
Members of the men’s cross country team who are familiar with True’s coaching share his optimism for the program’s future — particularly in light of the recent coaching challenges the program has faced.
In September 2020, Barry Harwick ’77, who was the cross country and track and field head coach for 28 years and served as the Marjorie and Herbert Chase ’30 track and field and cross country director since 2014, retired from both roles.
From September 2020 to December 2023, five different coaches — John Simons, Courtney Jarwoski, Justin Wood, Andrews and True — supported the men’s distance program in respective periods.
As a volunteer assistant coach, True helped lead the team to its best finish since 2018 at the 2022 Ivy League Heptagonal Cross Country Championships, The Dartmouth reported in February 2023. However, at the end of the season, True was not hired despite strong athlete support for him. The reason given to the team was a lack of experience, anonymous sources previously told The Dartmouth.
Instead, Sean McNulty, who coached the Transylvania University men’s cross country team, was hired. Despite being disappointed, True said he reached out to McNulty, determined not to sever his ties with the team.
“I emailed him, congratulated him [and] offered my support, but I acknowledged that I had worked with the guys on the team the previous fall, that I had applied for the job and all the guys on the team knew I had applied for the job,” True said.
While True said he insisted he would not help in person and wanted the team to follow its new coach, he offered to help McNulty behind the scenes. McNulty said no, according to True.
Under McNulty’s leadership from the fall 2023 season until his termination in December 2023, athletes allegedly suffered a disproportionate number of injuries and were trained according to unreasonable standards, The Dartmouth reported.
Hadden, who trained with both True and McNulty during their respective prior tenures, said he and his teammates now “feel a sense of hope that [they had] not felt the past few years” in response to True’s hiring.
“Through coaching changes and … turmoil, it felt like it would be impossible for me to leave this program better than I found it,” Hadden said. “With Ben being hired, I finally have hope that [the men’s distance] program is headed in the right direction.”
Hadden said his optimism for the program’s future is rooted in True’s approach to training and personal development.
“The amount of detail he goes into about why we are doing certain workouts, backed up by the fact that he’s been there and done that, instills a lot of confidence in his athletes,” Albert Velikonja ’25, who will be one of the 2024-25 men’s cross country and track and field team captains, said.
True is on the same page.
“I’m somebody who always wants to know the ‘why’ behind everything,” True said. “It really empowers athletes in starting to understand the sport, understanding how they can see themselves improve and the steps they should take to improve.”
Velikonja said he developed a more personal relationship with True during his sophomore summer in 2023. Despite True no longer officially working with the College, the two went on long runs together “pretty regularly,” Velikonja said.
“He’s really great about making himself available when it comes to needing advice or a perspective on running, or life in general,” he added. “I’m looking forward to even more runs with him now that he’s my coach.”
While Norris said the future looks bright for men’s and women’s cross country, recruiting has been a challenge. When high school cross country recruits reached out to Dartmouth’s team this spring, Norris and Velikonja ended up fielding those calls.
“It’s evidence of the responsibility that’s fallen on the athlete’s shoulders because of all the turmoil,” Norris said. “But it’s encouraging to see that there is all this excitement about Dartmouth despite the coaching turnover.”
Harwick said he believes hiring True was “the first very important, very positive step” in transitioning the program back in a more positive direction, referencing Dartmouth’s past Ivy champions, All-Americans and Olympians. Still, despite the “unfortunate” recent publicity on the team related to recent turnover, Harwick said he still believes in “the bones of the program” — the athletes.
“If you love … cross country, there’s simply no better place than Hanover, New Hampshire and all the resources of the Upper Valley there,” he said.
Harwick said the alumni he has spoken to are “cautiously optimistic” about True being hired and “still have a ‘wait and see’ attitude” about the future of the program.
Thomas Carley ’80, a former member of Dartmouth’s track and field and cross country team, said “the entire Dartmouth running community looks forward to Coach True returning the Dartmouth running program to its previous national prominence.”
Meanwhile, True’s goal for his tenure is simple — give alumni “someone to root for.” He looked back to the 1986 and 1987 squads, which each finished second at their respective NCAA meets — the best results ever for an Ivy League team.
“I’ve always thought it would be fun and exciting to see if I could spark some life back into the program, to be able to bring it back to that level of success,” he said. “I want to … bring back the alumni and make them feel like this is their cross country team as well.”
Dartmouth Athletics director Mike Harrity did not respond to a request for comment by time of publication. College spokesperson Jana Barnello was unable to provide a comment by time of publication.
Jason Norris ’24 previously served as a sports editor of The Dartmouth from March 2022 to November 2022. He is no longer involved in The Dartmouth and was not involved in the editing or production of this story.
If you have any tips or further information related to this story, please contact editor@thedartmouth.com.
Correction Appended (Aug. 16, 10:54 a.m.): A previous version of this article stated that Porscha Dobson Harnden has not communicated with the team since late April. The article has been updated to clarify that she has not communicated with the team since February.
