The University of Tennessee Southern

Dawson arrived in Pulaski after spending two years as a graduate assistant at Northwestern State University, where he led the distance athletes in track and field and worked directly with the cross country program. While at NSU, Dawson coached three athletes to scoring performances at the NCAA Division I Southland Conference Championships, including:

• Ceyda Bayur – 800m

• John Klein – 3000m Steeplechase

• Korbin Shumate – 800m & 3000m Steeplechase

Before entering the coaching ranks, Dawson was a standout student-athlete at Lewis-Clark State College in Lewiston, Idaho, where he was a multi-time national qualifier in cross country, indoor track, and outdoor track and field. He earned All-Conference honors and was a scoring member of the 3rd-place team at the 2019 NAIA Cross Country National Championships. He also helped his team win three Frontier Conference Championships before the program transitioned to the Cascade Conference, where they captured another team title.

A native of Chelan, Washington, Dawson was an All-State performer in both cross country and track & field at Chelan High School. He earned a Bachelor of Science in Kinesiology–Coaching from Lewis-Clark State College in 2022 and completed his Master of Science in Health and Human Performance at Northwestern State University in 2024.

Dawson brings competitive experience and coaching versatility to the Firehawk program as he enters his second year on staff.

THE 411

Hometown: Chelan, Washington

Education: B.S. in Kinesiology–Coaching (Lewis-Clark State College, 2022)
MS in Health and Human Performance (Northwestern State University, 2024)

Seasons at UTS: 2nd Season (2025-26)