Brandon is entering his fourth year as the Assistant Distance Coach for Rhodes College Cross Country and Track & Field. He was born in Green Bay, WI and was raised and graduated from Denmark High School in 2006. Between XC and Track he was a 6 time state qualifier including an all-state finish in the 3200 meters in 2006.
Brandon attended the University of Wisconsin Stevens-Point and competed collegiately for the XC and Track teams for the Pointers. He earned All-Midwest Region honors during his XC career in 2007, 2008, and 2009. He also helped the Pointers to 6th and 4th place finish at the DIII NCAA Championships in 2007 and 2008. He graduated in the Fall of 2010 with a degree in Political Science and a minor in Coaching.
In the Fall of 2011 he began Graduate School in Boise, Idaho at Boise State University. He served as a Volunteer Assistant for the Broncos from 2011-2013, assisting with Cross Country and Track & Field. In these two years the Broncos produced several runners that qualified for the first round of Division I NCAA’s (regionals) and some to the final round, including Emma Bates who finished 3rd and 7th in the 10K and 5K respectively in the 2013 Outdoor season. In 2014, Bates won the National Championship in the 10,000, and came in 4th in the 5,000. Brandon graduated in May of 2013 with a M.A. in Criminal Justice. During his tenure here he also earned his Level I USATF coaching certification.
During his first XC season in 2013 with the Lynx, Brandon helped guide Brittany Alexander to an individual title at the SAA Championship, along with freshman Jimmie Stuckey being awarded “newcomer of the year,” as the top freshman on the men’s side. He also assisted in guiding Alexander and fellow sophomore on the men’s side, Alex Noel, to the 2013 National XC Championships in Hanover, IN.
In the 2014 Track and Field season, Brandon helped guide the Lynx to much success during the indoor and outdoor seasons. The Lynx won the inaugural unofficial SAA Indoor Challenge Meet on the both the Men’s and Women’s side. During the outdoor season, the Lynx won their 7th straight conference title on the Women’s side, while the Men repeated for the second straight year. He helped guide female distance runners Becca Olivarez (5K/10K) and Brittany Alexander (1500) to individual championships at the meet. Alex Noel also set the Rhodes school record in the 10,000 on the Men’s side as well during the 2014 campaign.
Dworak’s second cross country season in 2014 proved to be a memorable one. The Women finished in a close second while the Men placed third at SAA’s. Brittany Alexander successfully defended her conference title while Alex Noel came out on top in the Men’s race. The Women placed 4th out of 28 teams (13 points out of 2nd) at the South Region, with the top four runners earning all-region honors. Brittany Alexander placed 3rd and qualified individually for NCAA’s. The Men placed 6th out of 28 teams and the top two runners earned all-region. Alex Noel placed 4th and qualified individually for NCAA’s. Alexander raced well at Nationals in Wilmington, OH, placing 45th and improving by over 80 spots from her 2013 campaign. Noel placed 151st and also improved by over 80 spots from his 2013 race.
During the 2015 track campaign, the distance crew saw vast improvement all around with most setting personal bests in multiple events. Alex Noel (jr.) reset his own school record in the 10,000 at the San Francisco State Distance Carnival. He also helped guide Kendall Reed and Abby Watkins to a 1-2 finish in the 800 while Ashley Litoff finished runner-up in both the 5,000 and 10,000 at the conference championship. As a team at the the SAA Conference Meet (hosted by Rhodes), Dworak helped the Lynx Women claim their 8th straight title while the Men finished a close runner-up to rival Centre.
The 2015 XC season was one that won’t soon be forgotten at Rhodes. The Men claimed their first conference championship since 1999, holding off a tough Berry squad. The Women also made their presence known, as they also were able to claim victory, their first since 2010, at the SAA meet, hosted by Centre. At the South/Southeast Region meet, 4 Lynx runners earned all-region honors, as the Women’s team placed 2nd and earned a trip to the NCAA meet, their first appearance since 2011. The Men had their highest finish in years, placing 4th in the South/Southeast, with frosh Spencer Fields, qualifying individually for the NCAA meet.
Rhodes continued its strong march in the Spring of ’16. The Women were able to win another SAA title, their 9th straight year as conference champions, while the Men finished up in a close 3rd. The Women swept the podium in the 800, going 1-2-3, with Abby Watkins earning the individual title. Brittany Alexander won the 1500 title, along with being runner-up in the 5,000. Also earning runner-up were Ellery Hayden in the steeplechase, and Reagan Alley in the 10,000. On the Men’s side, Matt Dsida earned a title in the 1500, while freshman Spencer Fields earned his own title in the 10,000. The Men placed 4 runners in the top 5 of the 10K with all 5 Rhodes runners earning points (top 8). There were a number of Rhodes school records in the distance events that went down in 2016 as well; Matt Dsida in the mile, Spencer Fields in the 10,000, the Men’s DMR consisting of Connor Fagan, Matt Dsida, Jeremy Phillips & Alex Noel, and the Women’s 3200 relay, consisting of Brittany Alexander, Abby Watkins, Kendall Reed & Rosie Lobelson.
Brandon still continues to race competitively, and at a semi-professional level. He has been affiliated with Saucony since 2014, and a member of the Saucony Hurricanes Racing Team in 14 & 15. On October 13, 2013 he ran 2:20:46 in the Chicago Marathon placing 30th overall and 14th among Americans. Other notable performances for Dworak were the Eugene half marathon in 2012 where he placed 2nd and ran 1:06:50. He followed that up at the USA half marathon championships which were held in Duluth, MN where he placed 61st and ran a PR of 1:06:37. In January of 2014, Brandon ran 1:07:15 and placed 50th at the USA Half Marathon Championships held in Houston, TX. Later on in April, he ran 2:28:32 and placed 76th at the Boston Marathon. After injury forced him out of the second half of 2014, Dworak got back on the racing circuit in the Spring/Summer of 2015, winning 6 of the 8 races he appeared in, in distances ranging from 2 miles to 10K. Most recently, Brandon won the 2015 Memphis St. Jude Half Marathon by a margin of nearly five minutes, with a time of 1:08:21.
