PHILADELPHIA – After eight incredibly successful years with the University of Pennsylvania track & field programs, Porscha Dobson is moving from the Southern tip of the Ivy League to the Northern tip after being named the Director of Track & Field and Cross Country at Dartmouth College. The announcement was made earlier today by Dartmouth.

Under head coach Steve Dolan's stewardship, Dobson helped to lead a resurgence of the women's sprint program for the Red and Blue. Most recently, Dobson's athletes played a major role as the Penn women won five Ivy League Heptagonal Championships team titles over a three-year span—three indoor, two outdoor—after a 22-year drought. Penn women have dominated the Ivy League and Mid-Atlantic Region while also making their presence known on the national stage. It's no wonder Dobson was twice awarded Regional Assistant Coach of the Year by the United States Track & Field/Cross Country Coaches Association (USTFCCCA), following the 2018 indoor and 2019 outdoor seasons.

The fastest women in program history in every indoor and outdoor sprint, hurdle and relay event are all Dobson recruits and protégés.
 
"It has been an honor and pleasure to work with Coach Dobson over the past eight years," said Dolan, Penn's James P. Tuppeny/Betty J. Costanza Director of Track & Field. "She has made a significant contribution to the success of Penn Track & Field and has positively impacted so many student-athletes here. I am excited for Coach Dobson as she embarks on the next chapter in her career as the leader of the Dartmouth Cross Country/Track & Field programs. Above all I value our friendship, so I'm glad we will have the opportunity to stay connected as fellow coaches in the Ivy League.

Dobson came to Penn in the summer of 2012 after three years as the women's head coach at Montclair (N.J.) State University in 2009. Under her leadership, the Red Hawks boasted a national champion and an NCAA runner-up, a Regional Track Athlete of the Year, two NCAA All-Americans, four individual national championship appearances, five national qualifiers, 11 school records, 20 conference champions, one New Jersey Athletic Conference (NJAC) Most Outstanding Athlete of the Year, three NJAC Track Athletes of the Year, four NJAC Rookies of the Year, two Montclair State Athlete of the Year awards, and two USTFCCCA Academic All-America honors in addition to five NJAC honor roll selections and more than 75 all-conference honors. In just her second season at Montclair, Dobson was recognized by her peers as the NJAC Outdoor Coach of the Year for the 2011 season.
 
Prior to Montclair State, Dobson served as a volunteer assistant at Seton Hall University where she worked primarily with the hurdlers in 2008-09. At the 2009 Penn Relays, Dobson's shuttle hurdle relay took first place in the ECAC section and third in the Championship of America.
 
One of the top hurdlers in the history of New Jersey high school track & field, Dobson took her talents to the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, where she served three years as a team captain for the Tar Heels. She received All-Atlantic Coast Conference (ACC) honors as she helped UNC to two ACC championships. Dobson was a finalist in the 2006 Millrose Games as she etched her name into the UNC record book among the top five hurdlers in school history. A versatile athlete, Dobson also showcased her talent as a staple on the Heels' 4x400 relay team. Dobson earned her degree in Communications and Media studies from UNC in 2008.
 
A Statement from Porscha Dobson to the Penn Track Community
It has been an incredible eight years! I am so pleased with the progression of Penn Athletics and the Penn Track & Field and Cross-Country programs. It has been an honor to work with some of the best and brightest in the country in one of our sport's most historic programs.
 
Upon arriving to Penn, the goal was to simply improve and then become one of the best in the league. Today, we find ourselves among the tops in the region and have made noise across the nation. The program is headed in the right direction with one of the best staffs in the country, there's no doubt about that. I thank Steve Dolan for bringing us together, his continuous support, and for believing in me and trusting my leadership. I appreciate and respect Joe Klim, Jeff Pflaumbaum, Matt Gosselin, Claire Hewitt and Meghan Cartafalsa for their intelligence, work ethic, competitiveness, and passion for the program and the student-athletes.
 
I would like to thank Scott Ward and Matt Valenti for their understanding and endless support of the program and myself. To the Penn Track Family & Friends, thank you for your commitment and generosity.
 
Penn and the city of Philadelphia are not just great places to work, they have been my home. Although I am very excited about the next journey at Dartmouth, I will truly miss Penn. We became a family. I always think of myself as an aunt to the student-athletes, so they are like nieces and nephews to me. We experienced much growth together and I taught them as much as I could.
 
I will always remember my first day at Penn, when Coach Dolan walked me to the Penn Bookstore to purchase my first Penn paraphernalia. I selected a grey sweatshirt that read, "PENN" in navy blue crushed velvet outlined in red (that I wore the next day) and Coach Dolan picked out a traditional Penn "P" baseball cap for me. We both walked back to the office all smiles, as it was Coach Dolan's first few days on campus as well. I will hold on to small memories such as that one, as well as the first years of building the program and the final years of winning.