2009 will be Coach Danker's 20th year of being on the Upper Iowa Baseball coaching staff. In those 19 seasons, the Peacocks have posted a record of 484-356. Coach Danker's first 10 years were spent as the assistant coach/pitching coach. This will be his 10th season as Upper Iowa's Head Coach. Each of the three season's of active membership in NCAA Division II, Upper Iowa has had winning records. 26-24 in 2006 ,29-21 in '07 and 30-25 last year. The '07 and '08 teams were ranked as high as 5th in the Central Region late in the season. 2007 team had Upper Iowa's 1st Division II All-American in Mitch Walser (2nd Team Outfield). In 2008, Catcher Ryan Arp became the 1st Peacock drafted in Major League Baseball's amateur draft, being selected by the Los Angeles Dodgers. While a Peacock coach, Upper Iowa Baseball has had 16 winning seasons, three conference titles and appeared in the 1996 College World Series. As a pitching/assistant coach, there have been six pitchers who went on to play professional baseball. Also in the 19 seasons, there were three D-III All-Americans, three conference MVPs and 60 all-conference selections. In 2008, Coach Danker was selected as the Northern Sun Conference Coach of the Year. His experience at Upper Iowa also includes 11 seasons (from 1990 to 2001) as an assistant football coach.

Under Coach Danker, the underlying philosophy and foundation of Upper Iowa Baseball is to "Respect the Game." The Coaching Staff stress the importance of "preparing to succeed" in all aspects of their players' lives as well as passing on their enthusiasm for baseball and it's lifelong enjoyment.

Coach Danker's college playing experience includes two seasons at Waldorf College, when it was a junior college. At Waldorf, Danker still owns school records for ERA and most shutouts in a single season. During his sophomore year, the team went 41-7 and was ranked as high as fifth nationally. Coach Danker played at Iowa State University in 1982 and 1983. He was named Iowa State's most valuable pitcher for the 1982 season.

After college, Mark played two seasons for Queensland and the Western District Bulldogs in Brisbane, Australia, where he earned Team MVP and League Best Pitcher awards. From '77 until the age of 40, he played 20 seasons for Fritz Kinzenbaw's Ladora Red Top Sports Shop amateur baseball team in the Iowa Valley League and was the League MVP in '88 and Best Pitcher Award winner in '89. Back in the summer of 1988, Danker was chosen to be one of the ghost players and played first base in the movie "Field of Dreams" that was filmed in Dyersville, Iowa.

Coach Danker is a native of Marengo, Iowa, where he graduated from Iowa Valley High School in 1979. His wife Sarri is a middle school language arts teacher in Jesup, Iowa. They have two sons, Sam and Levi. The Dankers reside in Fayette.