Dario Donatelli

Head Men's Cross Country Coach

Dario Donatelli enters his 11th season as the head men’s cross country coach in 2011 after the team’s sixth consecutive showing at the NCAA Division III Championships and seventh during his tenure. Donatelli is also the head women’s cross country and men’s and women’s track & field coach. He began his coaching career at Carnegie Mellon in 1987 with the women’s cross country team.

Donatelli, a 1981 graduate of Carnegie Mellon, was named the University Athletic Association Men's Cross Country Coach of the Year for the first time in 2005 when the Tartans took the men's UAA title. The award marked Donatelli's sixth UAA Cross Country Coach of the Year honor, as he also received the award in 1999 for the fifth time as the women's coach after the Tartans captured their third UAA crown his leadership.

The 2010 team hosted the Mideast Regional, finishing third at a course off campus. The Tartans received an at-large bid to the NCAA Championships where they finished 20th with five individuals making a second appearance.

In 2009, the Tartans finished 12th in the nation behind a total team effort and second at the Mideast Regional and the University Athletic Association Championship. This followed a 2008 Mideast Regional Championship where Donatelli was named Regional Coach of the Year for the second time, as Brian Harvey won the race for the second time. The team then placed 13th at the national meet where Harvey earned his second All-America honor.

The 2007 and 2006 teams finished third at the Mideast Regional and received at-large births to the NCAA Championship. The Tartans finished ninth as a team in 2007 and were led by Harvey's 12th-place showing. Under Donatelli's leadership Carnegie Mellon has had two male All-America runners, as Dana Irrer earned the distinction in 2004 and 2005. In addition, Donatelli has coached 40 All-Region male athletes.

In 2003, Donatelli's men's cross country team placed second at the Mideast Regional as the team advanced to the NCAA Championship for the first time. Donatelli was named Regional Coach of the Year following the meet.

Overall, Donatelli has coached nine All-America and 65 All-Region athletes in cross country and 27 All-America athletes in track.

In addition to their athletic honors, Donatelli's athletes are among the best students at Carnegie Mellon and the nation at large. The cross country team received Team All-Academic honors for the 16th straight year.

Carnegie Mellon has won six conference titles under Donatelli (four in cross country, two in track and field). He has been named a conference Coach of the Year ten times.

Donatelli's coaching success followed an outstanding collegiate athletic career. As a senior cross country runner at Carnegie Mellon, under retiree Gary Meckley, Donatelli earned All-America honors and led the Tartans to the NCAA Mideast Regional title. Donatelli was a three-time All-Mid East runner, four-time national qualifier and the Presidents' Athletic Conference Most Valuable Performer in 1980.

If you would like to speak to Coach Donatelli by phone, call 412/268-2220(O) or 412/243-3601(H).

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