A former student-athlete and long-time assistant track and field coach at Angelo State, Tom Dibbern has also been the head cross country coach since 2011. He is the primary coach for the Rams and Rambelles long jumpers, triple jumpers and high jumpers, and also coaches the javelin throwers, short sprinters, short hurdlers, sprint relay teams and multi-event athletes.
During his career at ASU, Dibbern has coached two NCAA Division II national champions, 31 individuals and three relay teams who achieved All-America status, and 29 athletes and one relay team who won Lone Star Conference titles. He was named the 2011 NCAA D-II Men’s Regional Assistant Coach of the Year after winning the Women’s National Assistant Coach of the Year honors in 2009 and 2010.
Under Dibbern’s guidance in 2011, ASU’s Chrystal Ruiz placed sixth and set a Mexico national record in the heptathlon at the Pan American Games. She also achieved All-America status in 2011 with a runner-up finish in the pentathlon at the NCAA D-II Indoor National Championships, and again in 2012 with a third-place finish at the indoor national meet.
In 2010, Dibbern played a pivotal role in the Rambelles winning the NCAA D-II Outdoor National Championship, the first in school history. In addition to his regional honors, he was named National Assistant Coach of the Year, and later was named head coach of the ASU cross country team. In the 'Belles’ run to the national title, Dibbern coached Aisha Adams to Regional and National Field Athlete of the Year honors. Adams won a individual national championships in the heptathlon and set a the D-II national record in the event. She was among seven individuals and a sprint relay team that Dibbern guided to LSC titles and/or All-America status in their particular events.
Adding to an already impressive year, Dibbern then coached Adams, Ruiz and Andria Nussey to the U.S.A. Championships, and Adams to her second Thorpe Cup appearance. For the ASU men in 2010, Dibbern coached two individuals and a sprint relay team to All-America honors as well as guiding several Rams and the relay team to LSC titles.
2010 was also Dibbern’s first year heading up the ASU cross country teams. His first 'Belles team was runner-up at the LSC Championships and finished eighth at the regional meet. With strong showings all year, Emeline Crutcher was named All-LSC.
In 2009, Dibbern was honored by the coaching fraternity as the NCAA D-II National Women’s Track and Field Assistant Coach of the Year. Helping him earn that award were four Rambelles who achieved All-America status – Adams in the heptathlon, Nussey in the long jump, and Culley Jo Dawson and Adree Lakey in the javelin. Adams also made her first trip to compete in the Thorpe Cup, where she posted the U.S.A.’s second-highest score.
Three Rams athletes also gained All-America honors under Dibbern in 2009 – hurdler and decathlete Ryan McWilliams, javelin thrower Tyler Orlando and decathlete Chase Moore. It marked the second time in four years that the Rams have had multiple All-Americans in the decathlon.
Before arriving at ASU, Dibbern spent one season as the assistant men’s and women’s track coach at Oklahoma Baptist University, where he coached the multi-event and field event athletes. He helped lead the men’s and women’s squads to third-place finishes at the NAIA Indoor National Championships, and the women’s team to a fifth-place effort at the NAIA outdoor national meet. Under his guidance, four OBU athletes garnered All-America honors, including one NAIA national runner-up, 15 qualified for NAIA national meets, and five new school records were set.
Prior to his time at OBU, Dibbern spent two seasons as a graduate assistant coach at Hastings (Neb.) College, working with the multi-event athletes, jumpers and javelin throwers. At Hastings, he coached three NAIA national champions, three national runners-up and 13 All-Americans. He also helped HC qualify more than 25 athletes to NAIA national meets and set four new school records. In addition, he helped coach the women’s team to a fifth-place finish at the NAIA Outdoor National Championships in 2002.
Dibbern also spent one season as an assistant at Christoval High School, where he coached the long, triple and high jumpers.
As a student-athlete, Dibbern competed for the Rams track and field team from 1997-99 and in 2001. He placed as high as third at the LSC Championships in the triple jump, and twice qualified provisionally for the NCAA D-II National Outdoor Championships. After taking time off due to an injury, he returned in 2001 to compete in the decathlon. Also a prep star, he was a two-time state qualifier in the high jump for Albany High School and placed second at the state meet his senior year.
Dibbern holds an Instructor Training Certificate and a Level II Coaching Certificate from U.S.A. Track and Field in the jumps, throws, multi-events, sprints and hurdles. He received his bachelor’s degree in kinesiology from Angelo State in 2001 and his master’s degree in physical education from Hastings College in 2003. In addition to his track and cross country duties, he also serves as an instructor in the ASU Kinesiology Department.
