Dean Colarossi is in his second year as a men's and women's assistant sprints and hurdles coach at Pepperdine.
In his current role, Colarossi trains sprinters, hurdlers and relay teams for both indoor and outdoor track events.
Colarossi tutored under Eric Dixon – Level 5 IAAF, Level 3 USATF, and India Olympic Team coach – and also under world record holder Robert Baker of Amarillo, Texas. While a collegiate runner, he assisted in coaching sprints/hurdles at Tachyon Track Club of Huntington Beach, and he has coached various athletes around the country remotely for the past three years.
Colarossi is a Pepperdine alumni, and was a four-year collegiate athlete at Principia College in Elsah, Illinois. Colarossi set three still-active school records and holds a facility record at the Crafton Athletic Center. He specialized in sprints – 400m, 200m, and relays – and competed in the Texas Relays in Austin and at various schools around the Midwest. Colarossi's success on and off the track earned him All-SLIAC conference honors four years in a row, the Charles F. Buckwalter award for athletic and academic achievement, and lifetime induction into the Phi Alpha Eta honor society with a 4.0 collegiate GPA.
Colarossi is the vice president of the Highest Peak Foundation, an organization whose mission focuses on youth athletic and academic development. The foundation has supported the Athletes for Life foundation, after-school run club Team Long Run, and various Track & Field clubs/programs.
Colarossi graduated valedictorian of Principia College in 2021 with two bachelor’s degrees in business administration and economics and has a master’s of finance degree from Pepperdine Graziadio Business School, which he earned in 2022l.
He holds certifications as a Level 1 USATF sprints and hurdles coach, and as a Level 1 USA Weightlifting coach.
Colarossi is a native of Orange County and currently resides in Malibu.
