Jeff Marcus takes a moment with his regional champion girls team of 2011. Contributed photo.
One of the bigger stories of the summer of 2014 where cross country is concerned is the resignation of Jeff Marcus as the cross country coach at Brush. Marcus has coached a long list of highly successful teams and individuals in his 12 years at Brush. We took a few moment with Coach Marcus to fill in some of the pieces of the story.
After more years than I can remember at Brush, you have to have some pretty deep connections with the community and the people there. What brought you to the decision to pack up and leave?
After 12 seasons of coaching for the Brush Beetdigger cross country team, we have decided it is best for our family to move closer to the Front Range to limit the driving for our business. It was one of the hardest decisions of my life. The tradition and respect that all of you have brought to the community in making Brush a well known running town and culture has been amazing. I have owned several business in Brush, I just closed Diggers Diner in January which we owned since 2004. It was a restaurant which our slogan was "Where the BeetDigger past comes Alive" We were even featured on the TV show Outrageous Foods for our State Champion Burger. I have also been a member of the Brush Volunteer Fire Department for over 15 years. In 2010 I started a business called Hungryrams.com in Fort Collins. It is now called orderup. We are in Greeley, Loveland, and Fort Collins which are all pretty far from Brush.
With your son in high school, moving takes on some additional considerations. Where are you moving and where will Adam be running this fall?
We are moving close to Loveland which will be close to all three areas mentioned above. Adam will be attending Mountain View High School. Which was also a very tough decision because moving from such a small town to big town for Adam will be a tough adjustment. Ultimately it was Aj's decision on the move, I would drive 200 miles a day for the next three years or we would move now.
Does this mean you're done coaching or...?
I will be assisting Mountain View as well with Coach Clark. I love to help kids learn to love the sport of running as it is a life long skill that teaches them how to succeed in everything they do.
When did you begin at Brush? Was Brush your first coaching job?
I actually started as an assistant cross country in 1998 and middle school track coach in 1999.
Pick a favorite memory or two for us from your years at Brush.
Favorite memory is tough, I have thousands, just ask my Facebook followers. Yes, the state champion winners stand out: Anthony Thomas, Amos Bowen, and Ryan Dollerschell. The girls cross country team has qualified every year since 2003. I think 2003 was a special year and a special beginning. All the great 4 x 800 teams in track. The 2005 girls team placed 2nd at state which was a huge surprise. I have coached dozens of amazing runners, and I would love to name all of them. We have won several league and regional championships. I think one that really sticks out is in 2002 my first year of coaching, Todd Tolentino falling on some leaves at state about half way through the state meet and getting up without missing a beat to finish third in Kent Denver, and then last year my daughter Morgan at regionals finishing with an injured ankle her senior year and carrying her off.
So, we will see Jeff Marcus on the cross country courses this fall, just not in the familiar maroon and gold of Brush. And, an already-strong team at Mountain View appears to have just become a little stronger.