Marnie Binney served as SOU's head cross country coach for the past two seasons.
Binney to Step Down as Southern Oregon's Cross Country Coach in June
ASHLAND, Ore. -- Southern Oregon University Department of Athletics announced today the resignation of head cross country coach Marnie Binney, effective June 1. Binney, who is also the distance coach for the track and field program, served as the head cross country coach for the NAIA Raiders for the past two seasons and is finishing up her third season as an assistant track coach.
In her two years at the helm of the Raider cross country program, Binney had five individual national qualifiers. This past season the men's team was ranked as high as 11th in the National polls, but due to illness only two harriers qualified for the national meet in Kenosha, Wisconsin. Kevin Jeffers and Cameron Kreuz qualified in 2006 for the men along with Alicia Jeffers for the women. In 2007 both Jeffers and Kreuz again qualified for the men, with Jeffers finishing 37th in the field of 258.
As the distance coach for track and field, Binney has assisted Head Coach Mike Jones in accruing four All-Americans and has three runners qualified for the National meet in St. Louis at the end of May.
Binney, who is married to legendary softball coach Larry Binney, is also a special education teacher for Medford School District. "It has been difficult to be the only head coach not on campus full time and really do the job justice. I don't feel as if I have given the athletes the attention and personal time they truly require at this level," said Binney. "It has been tough to have the time necessary to really move the program forward. I hold the student-athletes dear to my heart and will genuinely miss them."
"Coach Binney has done an excellent job with both the cross country and track and field programs. Her ability to recruit and develop young talent is evident and she has left the cupboards full," stated SOU Athletic Director Dennis Francois. "We were fortunate to have someone of Marnie's caliber in the position even if it was only for two years."
The Klamath Falls native ran for the NCAA Division I BYU Cougars in college and served as the head cross country coach for Klamath Union and North Medford high schools and spent two years as the women's head cross country coach at the University of Oregon prior to her tenure at SOU.