Track and Field Coach Gottsleben Announces Retirement
Gottsleben was twice named the NCAA Division II Coach of the Year by the U.S. Track and Field/Cross Country Coaches Association. He has won more conference championships than any coach in USD history with 20 between men’s cross country and men’s indoor and outdoor track and field.
Under Gottsleben, the Coyote men accumulated 125 All-America awards with seven NCAA titles and 13 NCAA runner-up finishes. USD’s lone NCAA Division II team title also came under Gottsleben at the 1997 NCAA Cross Country Championships.
Gottsleben’s teams have captured 20 conference championships between the North Central Conference, the Great West Conference and the Summit League. The Coyotes were one of the most consistent teams in the NCC with six NCC titles, 15 runner-up performances and a pair of third-place efforts in the last 24 NCC meets.
Gottsleben has been inducted to the South Dakota Sports Hall of Fame (2015), Howard Wood Dakota Relays Hall of Fame (2016) and Sioux City Relays Hall of Fame (2001). He also received the NCAA Division II Men’s and Women’s Track and Field Coaches Association Award in 1994 for his distinguished service to Division II track and field.
Gottsleben and his wife, Helen, reside in Yankton. He has one daughter, Kendra.
