Oswego State Athletics

The Oswego State athletic department hired Derek Rousseau in August 2013 to head its men's and women's indoor and outdoor track and field teams. In 2016, Rousseau coached Adam Crumb and Ben Griffin of the men's outdoor track and field team to top finishes in the SUNYAC championship and also sent Griffin to the NCAA Indoor Track and Field Championships for the 800-meter dash.

In his first year at Oswego, Rousseau helped guide individuals to five SUNYAC crowns and had three NCAA Championship qualifiers between the indoor and outdoor seasons. Katie Bott qualified in the 800-meter run for both season while Matt Wagenhauser, the two-time 400-meter SUNYAC Champion, qualified for the 800-meter in the last two meets of the season. At nationals, Rousseau mentored Wagenhauser to the second-fastest time in the three preliminary heats before taking a fifth place finish in the finals, which was good for First Team All-America status. 

His second year only showed improvement as he led the track and field squad to break 14 school records throughout the 2015 indoor/outdoor seasons.

Rousseau came to Oswego by way of Merrimack College, as he was an assistant coach for the Warriors. For the year that Rousseau spent at Merrimack, he was in charge of guiding student athletes participating in pole vaults, jumps, hurdles, throws and multi-events. Rousseau developed all aspects of the training program for each of the areas that he coached.

Previous to Merrimack, Rousseau spent a year at Trinity College where he assisted with sprints and relays while also doing his teaching fellowship in physical education. Before his time at Trinity, Rousseau spent three seasons as a volunteer assistant coach, two at the University of Massachusetts Lowell and the other at Providence College.

In his time at Lowell, Rousseau helped train six all-conference winners and three All-New England jumpers in the long jump, triple jump and high jump.

Rousseau has several certifications in both jumps and pole vaults while he is also a Certified Sports Conditioning Specialist and Strength Training Consultant by American Fitness Professionals & Associates (AFPA). He has been certified as IAAF Level 5 Jumps and USATF Level 3 jumps. Both certifications are the highest certifications awarded by each governing body. IAAF is the global governing body for track and field.