Hometown - Sioux Falls, SD
High School - Sioux Falls Lincoln
College - Liberty University
Jarvis Jelen took over as UJ's Director of Track & Field and Cross Country on March 1st, 2023.
During his first 1.5 years at the helm (2 x OTF, 1 x ITF, 1 x XC), Jelen has led the Jimmies Track & Field program to their highest team point total in the GPAC era (2024 GPAC Outdoor TF Championships) as well as guided the program which produced 2 NAIA Individual All-Americans, 11 NAIA Individual National Qualifiers, & 30 GPAC All-Conference Individual Performances.
Specifically within the events Jelen oversees for the Jimmies (XC, 800m - 10k), the 2024 Jimmies XC program achieved its best combined (M/W) GPAC XC Championship team finish (2024 GPAC XC Championship), its best Men's GPAC XC Championship team finish by 3 places & 53 points, its best Women's GPAC XC Championship team finish by 45 points, & 1 NAIA XC National Individual Qualifier. In Track, his event group athletes achieved 4 All-Conference Performances.
Coaching Career Stats
2016 - 2023 (Head XC/Assistant TF - NCAA Dl Abilene Christian University - Abilene, TX)
2015 - 2016 (Assistant XC/TF - NCAA Dll King University - Bristol, TN)
2014 - 2015 (Head XC - NCAA Dlll Cedar Crest College - Allentown, PA)
2013 - 2014 (Graduate Assistant XC/TF - NCAA Dl South Dakota State University - Brookings, SD)
2012 (Assistant XC - Sioux Falls Lincoln HS - Sioux Falls, SD)
2008 - 2009 (Assistant XC - Liberty Christian Academy - Lynchburg, VA)
Coaching Results
- 1 XC Conference Team Championship
2017 Women’s Cross Country (NCAA Dl Southland Conference)
- 2 XC Conference Team Runner-Up
2020 Women’s Cross Country (NCAA Dl Southland Conference)
2015 Men’s Cross Country (NCAA Dll Conference Carolinas)
- 2 XC Conference Team Third Place
2021 Women’s Cross Country (NCAA Dl WAC Conference)
2019 Men’s Cross Country (NCAA Dl Southland Conference)
- 2 XC Region Team Top 5 Finishes
2021 Women’s Cross Country (NCAA Dl South Central Region)
2017 Women’s Cross Country (NCAA Dl South Central Region)
- 6 XC Individual National Championship Qualifiers
2022 (1 Individual)
2021 (2 Individuals)
2020 (1 Individual)
2017 (2 Individuals)
- 7 Track & Field NCAA National Championship West Prelim Qualifiers
4 x Women’s 10k
2 x Men’s 3kSC
1 x Women’s 5k
- 10 XC/TF Individual All-Region Performances
2022 (1 Individual)
2021 (2 Individuals)
2019 (2 Individuals)
2017 (3 Individuals)
2015 (1 XC Individual, 1 Track Individual)
- 6 XC/TF Student-Athlete of the Year Awards
2021 (WAC Conference Cross Country)
2020 (Southland Conference Cross Country)
2019 (Southland Conference Outdoor Track & Field)
2018 (Southland Conference Indoor Track & Field)
2017 (Southland Conference Cross Country)
2017 (Southland Conference Indoor Track & Field)
- 11 XC/TF Individual Conference Champions
3 x XC
2 x 10k
2 x 5k
2 x 3k
2 x 3kSC
- 63 XC/TF Individual All-Conference Performances
- 10 Southland Conference All-Time Top 5 Performers
Men’s 3kSC
Women’s 5k
4 x Women’s 10k
W Indoor 3k
3 x Women’s Indoor 5k
- 30 ACU Top 10 All-Time Performers (As of 2023)
5 x Men’s Indoor 3000m
1 x Men’s Indoor 5000m
2 x Men’s Outdoor 3kSC
1 x Women’s Indoor Mile
6 x Women’s Indoor 3000m
3 x Women’s Indoor 5000m
1 x Women’s Outdoor 1500m
3 x Women’s Outdoor 5000m
6 x Women’s Outdoor 10,000m
2 x Women’s Outdoor 3kSC
- 9 x USTFCCCA XC All-Academic Team Awards
- 17 USTFCCCA All-Academic Individual Awards
- 38 Conference All-Academic Individual Awards
Personal
As a student-athlete, Jelen made the Big South's All-Decade Cross Country Team for the 2000's as he was a six-time all-conference honoree and an all-region selection for Liberty XC in 2007. He also made the league's Presidential Honor Roll on three occasions.
Jelen began his collegiate career at Augustana College, where he was a DII Academic All-America following the 2004-05 season.
At the high school level, Jelen was a three-time XC/Track state champion for Lincoln High School.
Jelen earned his Bachelor of Science degree in kinesiology: fitness specialist from Liberty University in 2009. He is a certified USATF Level I coach.
Jelen and his wife, Emily, have four sons: Judah, Shepherd, Keane, and Leo and a daughter, Rosie.
