Brief: Utah hires Dykstra as new head coach
Audra Stamp / Staff Writer
The UNT head swimming coach Joe Dykstra officially became the head men’s and women’s swimming and diving coach at the University of Utah yesterday.
Dykstra was the 2013 Sun Belt Conference co-Coach of the Year and led UNT to a second place finish at the 2013 Sun Belt Conference Championships – the best finish in school history. The team was also named No. 4 in the 2013 CollegeSwimming.com mid-major poll, which is also the highest ranking in school history.
He also made more history this season in helping Kimmy Phillips, the first UNT swimmer to qualify for the NCAA Championship meet. Dykstra has spent his last seven years as the head women’s swimming coach at UNT.
He will be leaving the Mean Green just before its switch to Conference USA, but will become a part of the Pac-12 Conference, something he became familiar with when he coached at the University Tennessee and the University of Washington before taking the job at UNT.
“I couldn’t be more excited to join the Utah program,” Dykstra said in an article on UtahUtes.com. “To be able to lead a coed program in the Pac-12 Conference is a tremendous honor. Utah has limitless potential and I am looking forward to building on its recent success and taking this program to new heights.”
UNT media relations assistant Tim McNamara said that there would be no comments from the assistant coach or athletes at this time.
Dykstra joins the list of coaches and athletes to leave the university in the past few months. Head volleyball coach Ken Murczek left for Wake Forest University in February and assistant softball coach Erin Glasco resigned earlier this month.
In the past three weeks, four Mean Green basketball players have also announced that they will transfer.
Dykstra starts as the head coach at Utah today, and assistant coach Michele Lowry will lead the Mean Green until a new coach is selected.
There are no comments at the moment, do you want to add one?
Write a comment