PHILADELPHIA – The University of Pennsylvania's James P. Tuppeny/Betty J. Costanza Director of Track & Field/Cross Country, Steve Dolan, announced the newest addition to his coaching staff on Wednesday, naming Moose Akanno an assistant coach. Akanno will take the lead on men's sprints as well as men and women's horizontal jumps.

"I am extremely excited to return to coaching in the Ivy League," said Akanno. "I am honored to be a part of such a historic program at Penn, and I look forward to the opportunity to continue the success that Coach Dolan and his staff has built."
 
"I am very excited to welcome Moose to our staff," said Dolan. "I have been consistently impressed by his outstanding work over the last decade. Coach Akanno is highly respected in the track & field world for his elite-level technical knowledge across a wide variety of events. His great character and high-energy coaching style is sure to help our student-athletes chase their potential on and off the track in the years to come."
 
Akanno joins the Penn staff after spending the last six years at his alma mater, the University of Connecticut, the first five as an assistant coach and last year as an assistant director. He directed all aspects of the Huskies' sprints, jumps and multi-event programs while also developing strength & conditioning programs for all speed and power events.
 
Akanno had countless career highlights with UConn that included coaching two NCAA All-Americans, 34 NCAA qualifiers, a Southeast Asian Games champion, a Philippines national record holder, and the fastest 4x100 relay run by a New England school. He has helped the Huskies to 15 school records, eight American Athletic Conference (AAC) championships, 120 all-conference selections, and an AAC team championship in 2015 when he was included among the Coaching Staff of the Year.
 
Akanno also has experience within the Ivy League, spending four years at Dartmouth College before his return to UConn. Working with the Big Green's jumps and multi-event programs, he coached an NCAA All-American, 12 NCAA qualifiers and 14 Ivy Heptagonal champions including Janae Dunchak who won four straight pentathlon championships. Overall, Akanno guided student-athletes to 24 school records and 46 All-Ivy selections.
 
Prior to his stint with the Big Green, Akanno started his full-time coaching career with Fairleigh Dickinson University in his home state of New Jersey for one season, developing practice and workout plans for horizontal and vertical jumpers, intermediate high hurdles, and short sprinters. He also had recruiting responsibilities in sprints, hurdles and jump groups.
 
Recently, Akanno was named an assistant coach for the United States National Team for the 31st Summer World University Games which are scheduled to take place in Chengdu, China in August 2021. He will oversee vertical jumps and the decathlon on the staff.
 
Prior to coaching, Akanno was a four-year letter winner at UConn and was a part of Huskies track teams that won three indoor Big East championships as well as three New England titles. A captain his senior season, Akanno was an eight-time All-Big East selection with four coming in the triple jump and three in the long jump.
 
Akanno has four USTFCCCA certifications and two USATF certifications. He graduated from UConn with a degree in psychology with a concentration in sports psychology.