Dennis Weber is in his 21st season with the Tiger track and field program and 12th year as head coach after serving as co-head coach for three years. Weber's current responsibilities include running the fall track program and overseeing the sprinters, jumpers, hurdlers and multi-event athletes. He also is responsible for recruiting, organizing the weight training program, maintaining the Tigers' records and performance standards, and directing the annual track meets and camps.
In his 20 years at FHSU, Weber has led 98 athletes to NCAA II All-America status including five national title winners. The Tiger men's teams have won seven conference titles as well. In 2002, a former local sprinter was ranked 12th in the world in the 60-meter dash. Two other sprinters have been ranked in the top 25 in the U.S. and have qualified in the U.S. Championships and Olympic Trials. Coach Weber has developed a sprint training program called "response training" that is used with the current program.
Coach Weber is USATF Level I and II certified in the jumps. He was named coach of the year in the RMAC during the 2002, 2003, 2004 and 2006 outdoor seasons. He has recently served on the NCAA Championships Committee. He is currently on the board of the USATF Missouri Valley Association.
Prior to coming to Fort Hays in the fall of 1996, Weber was the head men's and women's track and cross country coach at Baker University in Baldwin, Kan., from 1987 to 1996. He led the men and women Wildcats to their first ever conference cross country titles. While competing as a distance runner, he graduated from Hutchinson Community College with an Associate Arts degree and received his bachelor's degree in Industrial Education and Physical Education from the University of Idaho. He then completed master's work in Exercise Science at Emporia State. Weber served as a graduate assistant coach for the Hornets in both track and cross country. Before that, the Goodland, Kan. native taught and coached at the high school level for five years. Dennis is married to the former Patty O'Connor. They have three daughters, Pamela, Lindsey and Stephanie.
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