Daniel Caulfield, a two-time PSAC Women’s Cross Country Coach of the Year, enters his 13th season as the head coach for the California (PA) track & field programs and begins his 20th season as head coach of the cross country programs.
Caulfield has mentored a combined 24 NCAA All-Americans during his tenure with the Vulcans in cross country and track & field with All-America honorees in the 800m, 1500m, 1 mile, 3K, 5K, 10K and the steeplechase. Additionally, the programs have combined for 25 Academic All-Americans over the last 17 years, plus the only Academic All-American of the Year in school history. Caulfield has also coached three Cal student-athletes that were selected to compete at the USATF National Championships (Christopher Clark 3K-7:58; Aaron Dinzeo 10K-28:40; Julie Friend steeplechase-10:04).
In recent years, Caulfield has led the women’s cross country program to unprecedented success while at the NCAA Division II level. The Vulcans earned a team qualifier for the NCAA National Championships three times in four years from 2015-18, highlighted by winning the 2015 regional title. Cal has been represented at the national race eight times since 2013 after featuring an individual qualifier five times, including in both 2022 and 2023. On the men’s side, the Vulcans have boasted an individual national qualifier twice in the last three years.
The Vulcans have won 76 league titles in 19 different events in track & field at the PSAC Championships since Caulfield became head coach in 2014. Last spring, the women’s track & field team posted a top-five finish at the PSAC Outdoor Championships for the third time in five years. During the 2023 outdoor season, the men’s track & field team placed fourth at the league meet to match its best finish at the PSAC Championships since 2008.
Caulfield has directly coached six separate athletes that have combined to break four all-time PSAC records and set two PSAC Championships records, plus receive PSAC Athlete of the Year and Outstanding Athlete and/or Outstanding Track Athlete of the league championships honors 19 times.
Prior to Cal, Caulfield previously served as the head men’s and women’s track & field and cross country coach at Clarion. He started coaching at his alma mater Adams State in Alamosa, Colorado. As a coach, he helped the Grizzlies capture multiple National Championships, including a sweep of the men's and women's cross country titles in 1998 and 2003, before leaving Colorado in 2004.
Caulfield was a 10-time All-American and a four-time National Champion during his college career while competing at both the NAIA and NCAA levels. He helped the Grizzlies capture the 1992 NAIA National Championship in indoor track & field before winning back-to-back NCAA National Championships in 1993 and 1994, plus set the indoor school record in the 800 meters. Caulfield was named to the inaugural RMAC All-Time Men’s Cross Country Team in 2009 before being inducted into the Adams State Athletic Hall of Fame in 2017. He was also inducted into the RMAC Hall of Fame as part of the Class of 2022.
A native of Ireland, Caulfield immigrated to the United States at the age of 13 and attended John F. Kennedy High School in the Bronx, a borough of New York City. At Adams State, he earned his bachelor’s degree in exercise physiology and returned to Adams State in 1998 to complete his master’s degree.
Caulfield held the Irish indoor national record in the 800 meters for over a decade. He also ranked among the top 50 in the International Association of Athletics Federations (IAAF) World rankings. Caulfield was a European Cup champion in both the 800 and 1,500 meters and was the runner-up at the Millrose Games in Madison Square Garden twice.
He and his wife Jackie, a former longtime assistant coach for the Vulcans, reside in California with their daughter, Ellie.
