The 2007 season marks Dan Witmer's 25th at the helm of the Laker lacrosse program. He has coached more years at one school than any other college coach in New York. During his tenure, the Lakers have made five trips to the ECAC tournament (winning the championship once and finishing second twice), won three Empire Lacrosse League titles, sent seven players to the prestigious North/South Game, been ranked among the nation's top 20 teams in both 1994 and 1996, and had five Lakers named USILA All-Americans and one USILA Academic All-American.

As a part-time head coach and a 1996 inductee into U.S. Lacrosse's 100-win Century Club, Witmer enjoys the competitive rivalry of NCAA coaching, but keeps busy with his full-time position teaching high school English. The frequently hectic and demanding pace is balanced by commitment, enjoyment, and support from family, friends, and administration.

Witmer, the 1990 and 1995 Empire Lacrosse League Coach of the Year, is a two-time graduate of Oswego State, earning his BA in Secondary Education in 1982 and his MS in Education in 1987. For the past three years, he has returned to the classroom to take four additional graduate courses, and he plans to take more as his schedule allows. Besides teaching 12th grade english at nearby Hannibal High School, he also teaches college english, in which students earn six credits through an articulation agreement with Onondaga Community College. He has also taught a children's literature elective, a course he created. Witmer serves as chair of the Hannibal Faculty Association's Scholarship Committee, liaison between Oswego State's field placement office and Hannibal's student teachers, and a charter member of the school's Professional Development School committee. He also coached the Warriors junior varsity girls soccer team for eight years.

An experienced and active guest speaker and clinician, Witmer has worked at various lacrosse camps each summer and he currently directs the Oswego State Lacrosse Camp, the first-ever overnight camp at the college. Witmer has served on the Alumni Association's "REUNION" planning committee and he has made presentations at alumni and educational forums at SUNY Oswego. He recently served a five-year term on the USILA Division III All-American Committee and has also served on the NCAA Championship Advisory Committee. In 2002 he was a co-coach for the USILA's annual North/South Game, leading his team to a dramatic 16-15 victory at Johns Hopkins University. Witmer also serves on the executive board of the Oswego Lacrosse Club.

Originally hailing from Lynbrook on Long Island, the Laker head coach resides in Minetto with his wife Sue, sons Brian (17) and Eric (15), and their lively mutt Rocky (4). He has participated in the Oswego County Runs for Fun series for the past 10 years, running in races ranging from 5 kilometers to 15 kilometers in distance. In 2000 and 2001 he completed two marathons, including the San Diego Rock and Roll Marathon as a Leukemia and Lymphoma Society "Team in Training" member (since then, Witmer has limited his longest runs to half-marathons). Other interests include family travel, reading, coaching youth lacrosse, and playing men's league ice hockey.

E-mail: witmer@oswego.edu
Campus Phone: X2407