Head Coach: Steve Shutt
Office: (937) 327-6493
E-mail: sshutt@wittenberg.edu

Postal Address: Wittenberg University P.O. Box 720 Springfield, Ohio 45501

Package Shipping Address: Wittenberg University 225 Fountain Ave. Springfield, Ohio 45504

Steve Shutt took over the coaching reins of the Wittenberg University men's and women's cross country and track & field teams in 1999. Since then he has regularly put the teams in position for North Coast Athletic Conference championships. Under Shutt, Wittenberg's track & field teams have set 38 men's and women's school records. Twelve athletes have been NCAC champions in track (multiple times in several cases) and one in cross country, dozens have earned All-NCAC honors, eight have been NCAA Division III national qualifiers (multiple times in several cases), 12 have been Coaches Association Academic All-Americans and numerous NCAC Athlete of the Year designations have been earned under Shutt's direction.

A 1994 graduate of Allegheny College with degrees in physics and psychology, Shutt is no stranger to the NCAC. He was a four-year letterwinner for the Gators' indoor and outdoor track and field squads, earining all-conference honors in the pole vault.

Shutt came to Wittenberg after serving as the assistant coach at Hillsdale College, where he also served as director of the intramural program. While at Hillsdale, Shutt coached several national qualifiers and an All-American.

Shutt also served as a graduate assistant coach at Slippery Rock University. While at SRU he studied exercise science, and worked numerous camps and clinics involving such events as men's and women's pole vault, high jump, javelin, multi-events and cross country. In addition, Shutt is an instructor for USATF Level I coaching schools and a Level II coach in the endurance events, jumps and throws.

Shutt resides in Springfield.

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Assistant Coach: Ralph Bergdoll

Ralph Bergdoll became part of the Wittenberg coaching staff in 2000 after more than 40 years of coaching in the Dayton area. A graduate of West Virginia Weslyan and Xavier University, Bergdoll is also certified in Level I and II with the USTAF and is Level I instructor.

As a scholastic coach Bergdoll has experience with both cross-country and track programs. For ten consecutive years (1990-1999), he has had competitors qualify for the OHSAA State track meet. In 1988 Bergdoll was inducted in the Ohio Track and Cross Country Coaches Hall of Fame. He has served many years as a meet manager and has conducted four Level I schools for USATF.

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Assistant Coach: Dennis Robinson

Dennis Robinson joined the Tiger coaching staff in 2004 after working in the Dayton Public School District the last 17 years. Robinson taught physical education, health and driver's education at MacFarlane Middle School and Meadowdale High School, and he also served as head coach for the boy's and girl's cross country and track and field teams.

During his career at Meadowdale, Robinson led dozens of athletes to high finishes in the annual Ohio High School Athletic Association championship meet. His team's best finish was third in the 2001 boys state championship, and in 2002 Robinson coaches the second-fastest high school 110-meter high hurdler in the nation. In addition, Robinson served as head coach of the All-Ohio Boys' Track and Field team in 2001, earned recognition in Who's Who Among America's Teachers in 2000 and was a recipient of the OHSAA's Sportsmanship, Ethics and Integrity Award in 2002.

A graduate of Central State University and a native of Dayton, Robinson's first head coaching assignment was in the Jefferson Township School District as head coach of the boys' and girls' track and field and cross country teams. He earned Coach of the Year in the Southwestern Ohio Association of Track and Cross Country Coaches in 1977, and he guided the boys team to the AA State Championship that same year.

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Assistant Coach: Scott Benzel

Scott Benzel was as an assistant football and outdoor track and field coach in 2004 after two seasons as a graduate assistant coach at Robert Morris University.

Benzel coached defensive backs at Robert Morris in the 2002 and 2003 seasons, and he was involved in recruiting, game planning, scouting opponents and coordinating academic programs. In 2002, Robert Morris ranked first in the nation in NCAA Division I-AA in pass defense and seventh overall in total defense. Benzel was a two-year starter at Mercyhurst College and was named Defensive Most Valuable Player in 1996 as a senior. He earned a bachelor's degree from Mercyhurst and a master's from Robert Morris.








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