Daniel Haakenson joined the Western Carolina family in August, 2022.
Haakenson arrives in Cullowhee after serving as the Director of Track & Field / Cross Country at South Dakota School of Mines in Rapid City, S.D. In this role, Haakenson managed daily operations of the program, managed budgets, and oversaw assistant coaches. He also served as an assistant coach for the Hardrockers and worked with the throws group, mentoring two-time Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference (RMAC) women’s javelin champion Jaycie Stubbs, as well as Jayla Jarnigan, who is the school record holder in the weight throw and earned All-American honors in the event in 2020. Haakenson additionally served as an assistant coach at Western Colorado from 2014-18 where he had multiple All-RMAC selections as well as national qualifiers.
A three-time conference champion as a thrower at Pacific Lutheran, Haakenson began his coaching career at his alma mater in 2005 and worked with All-Americans Taylor Hacker, Samantha Potter, and Kyle Peart along with several NWC event champions and all-conference selections.
