Jonathan Marcus begins his first season at University of Portland after coaching in the NAIA and Oregon high school ranks for the past four years.
Marcus comes to UP after two seasons as an assistant track & field coach with Warner Pacific College and four seasons with Franklin High School. He will assist in all phases of the women’s track & field and cross country program, with a primary focus on the women’s recruiting efforts and coaching the women’s sprints, hurdles, and relays.
While at Warner Pacific, Marcus assisted with the development of three NAIA Outdoor Track & Field National qualifiers for the Knights: Jonathan Graves (Men’s Steeplechase), Brett Van Ash (Men’s Decathlon) and Karim Shakalia (Men’s 10,000m). In addition, he helped mentor Haley Ricker, who claimed a stunning victory in the Women’s 100m at the NAIA Cascade Conference Championships in 2009.
In his four years at Franklin High School, Marcus helped oversee the growth of a competitive sprinting, hurdling, and relays contingent at a school best known for its distance running prowess. He coached several state qualifiers and league champions, including the school’s first PIL sprinting champion in over 20 years in the boys 200m.
In 2010, Marcus coached Julia Fonk to an Oregon High School state title in the girl’s 1500m for Franklin HS and a 12th place finish in that event at the USATF Junior National Outdoor National Track & Field Championships in Des Moines, Iowa. He also helped guide the girls 4x400m team and three girls hurdlers to the Oregon High School state meet.
Also, during his tenure at Franklin, Marcus assisted with the development of the two-time boys Oregon High School 3,000m and cross country state champion.
When not coaching and recruiting for the Pilots, Marcus is the Northwest Region Grassroots Marketing Representative for Road Runner Sports Inc, the head girls soccer coach at Franklin High School, a member of the USATF-Oregon Track & Field LDR Committee, and a locally competitive middle distance runner for the Bowerman Athletic Club based out of Nike in Beaverton, Oregon.
Marcus is a Portland, Oregon native and graduated from Columbia University in the City of New York in 2006 with a degree in Religion Studies, specializing in philosophy and ethics, where he was a four year cross country and track & field varsity letter winner for the Lions.