Coaching Staff

Dan Schofer, Head Coach

Dan Schofer enters his fourth year as Cornell College head coach of men's and women's cross country and assistant coach of men's and women's track and field in 2009-2010. 

A native of Wilmette, Ill., Schofer graduated magna cum laude from Carleton College in Northfield, Minn., in 2000 with a major in biology. He earned an MS degree in exercise physiology from the University of Oregon in December 2001. While at Oregon, he taught running and weight training courses in the physical education department, worked as a teaching assistant in the exercise physiology department, and competed for Team Eugene, a running club active in the Pacific Northwest.

In his first year at Cornell, Schofer was selected by the student-athlete advisory committee as the school's Coach of the Year, as he guided the women's cross country team to its best season in the program's history - fourth place at the Iowa Conference Championships with 2 all-IIAC performers.  In his first 3 years with the cross country and track programs, Schofer has coached 11 all-IIAC performances. Under his guidance, the distance runners have set new school records in 11 different events.

Cornell's distance runners enjoyed a successful season in 2008-2009. Rachelle Hawkins became the school's first NCAA national qualifier in cross country since 1993. She finished her cross country career as a three-time all-IIAC and two-time all-region honoree. Hawkins earned all-America honors with her eighth-place finish at the NCAA Indoor Track & Field Championships in the mile. Her time of 4:58.08 is one of Hawkins' five individual school records. Andrew Tobben earned all-region honors in cross country for the second straight season and has been all-IIAC in both cross country and track in his first two years at Cornell.

At the 2009 IIAC Indoor Championships, the distance men earned all-IIAC honors in the 4x800 meter relay and set a new indoor school record in that event as well as in the distance medley relay. At the IIAC Outdoor Championships, the men scored twice in both the 10k (fifth and eighth) and 5k (sixth and eighth) and took fourth in the 800. All point scorers were freshmen and sophomores.  In 2009, the distance women set new school records in the 4x800 relay and distance medley relay and six different women ran 11:13 or better in the 3,000 run.

The men's and women's teams enter the 2009-2010 year with solid recruiting classes and high expectations. The men return their entire roster from the previous year, while the women's squad features six freshmen and no seniors in its lineup.

Schofer came to Cornell from Rhodes College in Memphis, Tenn., where he served for four years as assistant coach of men's and women's cross country and track and field. During his time at Rhodes, he helped coach 40 individual all-conference performances, one team and nine individual conference championships, one team and seven individual national qualifiers, and four all-American performances.

Schofer also served as assistant coach for the Carleton women's track and field program for the 2002 winter and spring seasons.

During his junior and senior years at Carleton, Schofer captained both the cross country and track and field teams. Additionally, he earned three most-improved awards, several all-conference citations, and qualified as an individual for the NCAA Cross Country Championships in the fall of 1999. Schofer has continued to train and compete at a high level since graduating from college.

Schofer has USA Track and Field Level II coaching certification and is a member of the US Track and Field and Cross Country Coaches Association. 

"I have high expectations for the student-athletes in our program, in terms of discipline, hard work, sportsmanship, and citizenship. Participating in cross country and track at Cornell is one of the most demanding aspects of our students' college experience, but there is no question that it is also one of the most rewarding. From our fastest to our slowest runners, all members of our program enjoy the lifelong bonds of friendships formed and the satisfaction gained from working hard and improving as part of a competitive team."

Schofer and his wife, Marie, a competitive distance runner herself who works in Cornell's office of admission, live in Mount Vernon.

All-Iowa Conference – Cross Country
Rachelle Hawkins 2008 (4th)
Rachelle Hawkins 2007 (6th)
Andrew Tobben 2007 (8th)
Rachelle Hawkins 2006 (14th)
Patricia Gonzalves 2006 (15th)

All-Central Region -- Cross Country
Rachelle Hawkins 2008 (7th)
Andrew Tobben 2008 (24th)
Rachelle Hawkins 2007 (13th)
Andrew Tobben 2007 (35th)

NCAA Division III National Qualifiers
Rachelle Hawkins 2009 (Indoor Mile -- 8th place, All-American)
Rachelle Hawkins 2008 (Cross Country -- 65th place)

All-Iowa Conference – Track & Field
Andrew Tobben 2009 (Indoor 3,000-meter run - 2nd place)
Men's 4x800-meter relay 2009 (Donavin, Skoog, Purkey, Rooyakkers - 2nd place)
Rachelle Hawkins 2009 (Indoor 3,000-meter run - 2nd place)
Rachelle Hawkins 2008 (Indoor 3,000-meter run - 3rd place)
Rachelle Hawkins 2007 (Indoor 1,000-meter run - 2nd place)
Patricia Gonzalves 2007 (Outdoor 10,000-meter run - 3rd place)

Cornell College Records
Rachelle Hawkins (6,000 meters, cross country)
Women's 4x800-meter relay (Kuhlmann, Jagielo, Aerts, Hawkins)
Women's distance medley relay (Jagielo, Carberry, Jepson, Hawkins)
Men's 4x800-meter relay (indoors - Donavin, Skoog, Purkey, Rooyakkers)
Men's distance medley relay (indoors - Donavin, Skoog, Rooyakkers, Nowak)
Rachelle Hawkins (1,000-meter run)
Rachelle Hawkins (1,500-meter run)
Rachelle Hawkins (mile run)
Rachelle Hawkins (3,000-meter run)
Patricia Gonzalves (5,000-meter run)
Patricia Gonzalves (10,000-meter run)

United States Cross Country Coaches Association
Academic All-Americans
Rachelle Hawkins 2009 (track and field)
Rachelle Hawkins 2008 (cross country)
Women's cross country team 2008 (team GPA 3.47)
Rachelle Hawkins 2007 (cross country)
Women's cross country team 2007 (team GPA 3.55)
Men’s cross country team 2006 (team GPA 3.27)
Women’s cross country team 2006 (team GPA 3.47)

Lonnie Speidel, Assistant Coach

Lonnie Speidel begins his 10th season at Cornell College. The 2009 campaign is his fourth as an assistant on Dan Schofer's cross country staff. Speidel enters his 10th year as head track and field coach.

Prior to coming to Cornell, Speidel spent three years at Illinois State University in Normal, Ill., (Aug. 1997-July 2000) which produced four Missouri Valley Conference championship teams and five MVC runner-up teams during his tenure as an assistant coach.

Speidel graduated from Mount Vernon (Ill.) High School in 1993 and Elmhurst (Ill.) College in 1997, earning a bachelor's degree in physical education while competing in cross country and track and field. He was team captain for the Bluejays during his senior campaign. He earned a master's degree in sports management from Illinois State in 2000.

Speidel has completed his USATF Level II certification for the sprint/hurdles/relays, jumps, endurance, and multi-event areas. He is also a USATF Certified Level I instructor.

Under Speidel, Cornell's track and field programs have set 97 school records in the past nine seasons. The Rams have also crowned eight all-Americans, 39 NCAA provisional qualifiers, 15 Iowa Conference champions and 61 all-IIAC performers.

Cornell’s track and field athletes also excel in the classroom. The 2009 women's track and field team was honored by the United States Track and Field Coaches Association as an all-Academic Team.

Speidel resides in Lisbon with his wife, Keri, and sons, Baylor and Brody.