Gustavus Adolphus College

Dean Aurich is in his fourth season with the Gustavus track & field coaching staff in the 2024-25 academic year. 

Aurich serves as the pole vault coach, a title he has had since the fall of 2021.

Prior to joining the Gustavus coaching staff, Aurich held the same position at the University of St. Thomas for 11 seasons. In 2014 alone, he coached athletes who won three All-America honors and three MIAC championships. Abby Baier (indoor and outdoor), Max Dunne (outdoor) were MIAC pole vault champions; Connor O’Neill placed fourth in the nation with an impressive 16-4 3-4 vault, setting the St. Thomas school outdoor record; while Dunne placed sixth at outdoor nationals in the decathlon and and third in the indoor nationals in the heptathlon.

Aurich has helped the Gusties build one of the most successful track & field teams since the exit of his former team St. Thomas. With Aurich on staff, the Gustie women won their first two ever MIAC Outdoor Championships, taking the titles back-to-back in 2022 and 2023. 

Aurich has 30 years of head track and field coaching experience at the high school level in Minnesota. His track and field teams at Mayer Lutheran High School won 23 conference team championships, participated in 16 True Team state meets which included three state championships. He was honored in 1997 as the Minnesota State Track and Field Coach of the Year in Class A and the True Team Track and Field Coach of the Year in 2000. 

In 2024, Aurich announced his retirement from Mayer Lutheran after serving as the head football and track & field coach for the last 36 years. 

His specialty is coaching the pole vault, ranging from the middle-school age to elite vaulters at the college level. Dozens of his high school vaulters competed at the Minnesota State High School Track and Field Championships, including two state champions. 

Dean and his wife, Becky, have five children, Nick, Lindsey, Chad, Justin, and Stephanie, who were all pole vaulters at the high school and collegiate levels.