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JAMESTOWN — The University of Jamestown has announced the hiring of Jarvis Jelen as the new director of track and field and cross country. Jelen replaces Andrew Raske, who left the track and cross-country programs on Sept. 30.
Jelen will immediately assume his duties overseeing the men’s and women’s indoor and outdoor track and field and cross-country. Interim head coach Jim Clark will return to his previous position as associate head coach for track and field.
Jelen takes over a program that had three athletes make the national tournament last year and is three events into the indoor season.
Jelen ran collegiately at Liberty University (Virginia), running multiple events including the steeplechase and 3K and 5K.
Jelen comes to the program after six seasons at NCAA Division I Abilene Christian University, where he served as the head cross-country coach and assistant track and field coach. During his time with the Wildcats, 11 runners won conference championships, along with 51 All-Conference performances and 21 performances that rank in the top 10 of the Wildcats' all-time charts.
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Jelen is no stranger to the Midwest, though, as he is from Sioux Falls, South Dakota. Prior to coaching at Abilene Christian, he coached at his alma mater Sioux Falls Lincoln High School along with Liberty Christian Academy, South Dakota State University and more.
Jelen said in a news release on the University of Jamestown website that he was excited about the opportunity.
“We look forward to honoring the excellent tradition of the cross country and track and field programs and building future successful teams by building a great culture and developing every student-athlete that comes through this program,” Jelen said.
