Marcus Whitehead will be in his 13th year as the head coach of the Trinity University Track & Field program when the 2025 season gets underway.
During the 2023-24 track season, the Tigers had an electrifying season on the track last year, achieving remarkable success. Trinity produced four All-Americans, eight NCAA qualifiers, 11 broken school records, and 35 All-SCAC performances. The Tiger men also secured their fourth consecutive SCAC championship. Joy Areola and Will Salony were honored as USTFCCCA All-Americans. Areola earned recognition for the outdoor triple jump, while Salony was recognized for the indoor mile. Additionally, 17 athletes from the team received USTFCCCA All-Region honors. CC Gray earned the SCAC Elite 19 Award alongside her All-Region and All-SCAC distinctions. Adding to their accolades, Areola was named Female Field Athlete of the Year, Price Schultea was named Male Newcomer of the Year, and head coach Marcus Whitehead was honored as Coach of the Year.
Since his appointment before the 2013 season, Coach Whitehead has led Tiger Track & Field to remarkable success. Under his leadership, the program has produced 546 All-SCAC athletes, 23 SCAC Athletes of the Year, 19 USTFCCCA All-Americans, eight SCAC Newcomers of the Year, three SCAC Elite 19 Award winners, and one SCAC Woman of the Year. Coach Whitehead has also been named SCAC Coach of the Year an impressive 17 times. During his tenure, Trinity’s Track & Field teams have claimed 17 SCAC Championships, with eight men’s titles and nine women’s titles.
During the 2018 season, a school-record nine Trinity student-athletes competed in the NCAA Division III Outdoor Track & Field Championships. Cody Hall placed second in the men’s 110-meter hurdles for All-America honors, while Matt Love finished eighth in the discus for an All-America performance. Britney Sullivan competed in her fourth consecutive Outdoor Championships and became an All-American in the women’s triple jump. Sullivan was elected the 2018 SCAC Woman of the Year, and Love was a finalist for the SCAC Man of the Year kudos.
Coach Whitehead was a full-time Trinity assistant coach during the 2011-12 season and was a part-time coach the previous year. He holds a Level 1 Coaching Certificate from USA Track & Field. Coach Whitehead was the sprints coach at Green Valley High School in Henderson, Nevada, in 2008. He coached two Class 4A state champion relay teams, and guided a runner to the 300-meter hurdles title. Coach Whitehead’s Green Valley sprinters set five school records during his tenure. He later coached sprints and hurdles at Sierra Vista High School in Las Vegas, Nevada, and assisted with the distance runners. The Sierra Vista runners set two school records with his leadership.
He was a standout student-athlete at Southwestern Oregon Community College and Eastern Washington University. Coach Whitehead earned a Bachelor of Arts degree in education and social studies from Eastern Washington in December 2007, and qualified for the Dean’s List. He received an Associate of Arts degree from Southwestern Oregon in general studies in 2004. Coach Whitehead was team captain at Eastern Washington, and was a member of the NCAA Division I All-West Region 4x400-meter relay team. He also earned All-America honors in the 400 meters at Southwestern Oregon.
He earned a Master of Science degree in physical education from the University of Nevada-Las Vegas in 2010 with a focus on athletic administration. He also managed physical education facilities and taught activity classes.
Coach Whitehead and his wife, Jennifer, have a daughter, Addison, born in 2016.
