SIU taps Ohio State coach for track, cross-country
Southern Illinois University named Rosalind Joseph the new director of track and field and cross-country, replacing Kathleen Raske, who left last week to pursue other opportunities.
Joseph just completed her 10th year on The Ohio State University's track and field staff. The last six seasons, she served as the associate head coach of the Buckeye's team. During her tenure at Ohio State, Joseph worked primarily with the jumpers and multi-event athletes.
This past season, Joseph helped to coach Zach Bazile to a 2018 NCAA Outdoor title in the long jump. He became the first OSU male athlete to accomplish a national championship in 25 years, while Abie Ehimwenman, a Buckeye long jumper, broke Joseph's own school record during the season under Joseph's guidance.
While Joseph coached at OSU the Buckeyes won a combined six Big Ten championships and produced a host of Big Ten champions and Academic All-Americans. This past season Joseph earned the Great Lakes Region Men's Assistant Coach of the Year.
"I like to build a culture of integrity, with competent and confident student-athletes," she said. "I want to develop well-rounded people who can succeed both on and off the track and continue to succeed in life."
At SIU, Joseph will inherit a very good track and field program that had produced 29 Olympians, 19 NCAA Champions, 204 All-Americans, and 778 conference champions over the years.
"I know a lot about the history of Saluki Track and Field and I am honored to have the opportunity to continue that tradition," shew said. "I witnessed SIU's success when I was a student-athlete and I respect the accomplishments of my predecessors in the coaching profession.
"The program they built and the athletes they've produced have been of national caliber," Joseph added. "That's a big deal and I don't take the responsibility lightly."
SIU Director of Athletics Jerry Kill called Joseph "a superstar in track and field."
"She comes from a rich pedigree at Ohio State," Kill said. "She is a dynamic recruiter, a tremendous person, and she'll fit in like a glove in Southern Illinois with her personality. She is a difference-maker in our program and will take us where we want to go; and that's to be the best."
Joseph is a 2006 graduate of Ohio State and earned a degree in human ecology. At OSU, she was a two-time, all-American in the triple jump, placing fifth at the 2005 NCAA Outdoor Championships and sixth at the 2004 championships. She was a six-time Big Ten Champion and won the Big Ten Indoor Champion titles in triple jump and long jump in 2004 and 2005. In 2004 she won the Outdoor title in triple jump and she won the Outdoor title in long jump in 2005.
Joseph was inducted into the Ohio State Hall of Fame in 2014 and she still holds the Outdoor triple jump record at OSU (13.50m/44-3.50), the Indoor triple jump record (13.37m/43-10.50); and the Indoor long jump record (6.39m/20-11.75). Joseph was a 2004 U.S. Olympic Trials triple jump qualifier and a 2005 9th place finisher at the USA Track and Field Championships.
Her coaching career includes Assistant Coach at Auburn (2006-2008); Assistant Coach at Ohio State (2008-2012); and Associate Head Coach at Ohio State (2013-2018).
Raske, who had been the Saluki's director of track and field and cross-country for three seasons, produced 98 All-Conference honorees and 16 All-Americans including Chester's Kyle Landon during her term. She also produced a pair of top-25 NCAA finishes with the men finishing 14th at the 2017 NCAA Indoor Championships and the women earning 23rd place at the 2016 NCAA Outdoor Championships.