Brown Named Interim Head Coach
Paul Brown, who was in the midst of his first season as an
assistant coach for the UW-Oshkosh men’s cross country and
track and field programs, has been selected as the school’s
interim head coach for both sports.
Brown replaces John Zupanc, who coached UW-Oshkosh’s
men’s cross country team since 1982 and the school’s
men’s track and field squad since 2005. Zupanc retired from
his coaching positions in December after guiding the Titans to four
National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) Division III cross
country titles and two national track and field championships.
Brown joined the UW-Oshkosh men’s cross country program in
August after serving the previous two years as an assistant coach
for the UW-La Crosse men’s cross country and track and field
programs. Last fall, Brown’s coaching efforts helped the
Titans to a third-place finish at the Wisconsin Intercollegiate
Athletic Conference (WIAC) Championship and an 11th-place ranking
at the NCAA Division III Championship.
"Our goal in this hire was to find someone who would help produce
a seamless transition for our student-athletes, and Paul was the
obvious choice," UW-Oshkosh Director of Athletics Darryl Sims said.
"He has all the tools to effectively lead our cross country and
track and field teams on an interim basis through the end of the
2012 track and field season.”
While working on his master’s degree at UW-La Crosse, Brown
mentored 10 NCAA Division III All-Americans and helped coach the
Eagles to one NCAA Division III title and five WIAC
championships.
“The opportunity to lead the UW-Oshkosh men’s cross
country and track and field teams is truly a dream come
true,” Brown said. “It has been a life-changing
privilege to be a student-athlete and friend of John Zupanc, and I
look forward to carrying on the tradition that he has so diligently
built.”
Brown inherits a UW-Oshkosh men’s cross country program that
owns four NCAA Division III titles (1998, 1989, 1990, 2002) and
nine WIAC championships (1966-1967, 1989, 1990, 1992, 1995, 2000,
2002-2003). The Titans have qualified as a team for the NCAA
Division III Championship 20 times in the past 25 years.
In men’s track and field, Brown takes over a UW-Oshkosh
program that won NCAA Division III indoor and outdoor titles in
2009. The Titans have placed among the top four nationally at each
of the last five indoor championships. Last spring, UW-Oshkosh
finished fourth indoors and seventh outdoors at the NCAA Division
III Track and Field Championship.
Brown earned eight varsity letters for UW-Oshkosh from 2001-2006.
He was a member of the school’s cross country squad in 2001
and 2003, while earning indoor track and field letters in 2002,
2003, 2004 and 2006. Brown also competed in outdoor track and field
for the Titans in 2003 and 2006.
Brown achieved his best success in the sport of indoor track and
field. In 2003, he led off the Titans’ distance medley relay
that captured the NCAA Division III title with a time of 10:10.07.
UW-Oshkosh finished second in the national team standings that year
after placing fifth in 2002. Brown was also a member of UW-Oshkosh
indoor squads that placed third at the NCAA Division III
Championship in 2006 and 12th in 2004.
Brown was a competitor on UW-Oshkosh outdoor track and field teams
that finished third at the NCAA Division III Championship in 2003
and 10th in 2006. He qualified for the 2006 national meet in the
3,000-meter steeplechase.
In cross country, Brown was a member of UW-Oshkosh teams that
placed sixth at the NCAA Division III Championship in 2001 and
ninth in 2003. Brown’s 12th-place finish at the 2003 WIAC
Championship helped the Titans to the team title.
Brown also serves as an instructor in UW-Oshkosh’s Human
Kinetics and Health Education Department. The West Allis native
earned his bachelor’s degree in physical education from
UW-Oshkosh in 2006 and his master’s degree in human
performance from UW-La Crosse this past August.