James Trautmann Position: Asst. Coach - Distance Alma Mater: Notre Dame, '95

Coach James Trautmann is in his third season as the men's and women's assistant coach for the University of Pittsburgh, overseeing Pitt's middle and long distance runners.

Coach Trautmann led the 2005 men's cross country team to their best regional finish to date. He coached Sam Bair to a ninth-place regional finish and a 12th-place finish at the Big East Championships. The team had three top-35 placewinners at the regional championships in Bair, Tim Konoval and Nicki Angstadt. Coach Trautmann was additionally responsible for having three middle-distance runners qualify for the NCAA East Regional Track and Field Championships in the 1,500 meters. Bair went on to earn an NCAA berth en route to All-America honors.

In his first season with the Panthers, Coach Trautmann contributed to Maureen McCandless' first NCAA berth in cross country and a fifth-place finish at the national championships. She was additionally the regional champion that year and placed third in the conference.

Throughout his tenure at Pitt, nine school records in middle and long distance events have been broken, including the men's distance medley relay in 2005 and the men's indoor mile in 2006. On the women's side, he coached McCandless to shattering nearly every distance record in the school's existence.

Coach Trautmann came to Pitt from Ball State University, where his athletes set school records in 2003 in the distance medley relay and the 800 meters. While achieving a 3.08 grade point average, Trautmann's 2002 team ranked 6th in the nation academically among all NCAA Division I teams in cross country and track, respectively. During his four-year tenure at Ball State, the cross country and track and field teams produced seven individual Academic All-Americans.

Leading up to his first year at the University of Pittsburgh, Trautmann worked in 2003 with the distance runners at Robert Morris University; resulting in a new school record in the 10,000 meters. Prior to his time at Ball State University, Trautmann was head coach of the cross country team and assistant to the track and field team at Saint Mary's College in 1997, where he initiated a first-year cross country program as a member of the NCAA Division III, as well as the Michigan Intercollegiate Athletic Association. While attending graduate school at Indiana University, Trautmann coached at White River Valley High School in Switz City, Indiana. Since he first began coaching in 1995 as a volunteer at Notre Dame, Trautmann has impressively coached ten NCAA All-America honorees.

Coach Trautmann competed for the University of Notre Dame track and field team where he earned the honors of conference champion in the 3,000 meters and 5,000 meters, as well as being a three-time IC4A Qualifier. Trautmann was an NCAA championship competitor in cross country for the Fighting Irish; his teams placed third, sixth and fifth at the NCAA Championships in 1990, 1992 and 1993, respectively.

Coach Trautmann's brother, John Trautmann, competed for Georgetown University and is a two-time U.S. National Champion and Olympic team member (1992) in the 5,000 meters.

Trautmann attained a master of science in kinesiology from Indiana University in 1999 while majoring in applied sport science, concentrating in exercise physiology. He also earned a bachelor of business administration degree in 1995, majoring in human resource management, organizational behavior and psychology at Notre Dame. He has been married for three years to his wife, Gail.