Bio

"If you don't believe, you don't belong..."  These are words that Coach Marc J. Harrison chooses to preach to his athletes the minute that they arrive for track camp.  He emphasizes that "you must have a strong belief in the mission of the program or you may not survive. It also has dual meaning stressing that if you don't belong to this program, you may not believe in our mission and can't understand how the job gets done."

Now in his third season as the Head Coach of the UDC Cross Country/ Track and field program, the university is reaping the benefits of Coach Harrison's commitment, drive, and pursuit of perfection. Under his leadership, UDC is having a serious impact on the Track and Field world.  They are seen in the upper echelon of talent in not only Division II but in the track world as a whole.

Last year was an incredible one for the Firebird family.  In it, UDC had its first ever XC Regional Champion in Stellah Sang, who won the Southeast Regional in Wingate, NC and went on to become the first female in UDC history to go to the 2007 NCAA XC National Championships.  The amazing year continued to roll on as the Firebirds sent three representatives to the NCAA Indoor Track and Field Championships in Mankato, MN in March.  This was the largest contingent of athletes to attend the Championships for the university.  Two females set school records in the 400m and 800m outdoors and also participated in the NCAA Outdoor Track and Field Championships last May in Pomona, CA.  There were four individual on the provisional qualifying list and both relays.  These accolades led his peers to select him as the 2008 NCAA Southeast Region Coach of the Year.  The program's quick path to success was well documented in a feature story on Comcast SportsNet last year.

Off of the track, Coach Harrison's teams can boast amongst the highest team GPA's as both teams achieved GPA's over 3.0 last year. His successes have not gone unnoticed by his peers or the track and field community as he has continues to speak on issues regarding college athletics.  He has dedicated a lot of his time to educating youth on the ways of excelling on and off the playing field and how to get the most out of the experience of being a student athlete.  He has been appointed to several committees for Division II track and field including the "Equity in Division II" and the Hall of Fame committees.  His reputation has also landed him the honor of being the representative for all Division II Independent institutions with track programs.

Coach Harrison said, "I truly value the opportunity to grow a program and uplift a department committed to the common goal of excellence."

In 2006, his first year at UDC, things took off great with a male XC runner finishing third at the NCAA Southeast Regional Championships which earned him a trip to the NCAA National XC Championships in Pensacola, FL.  The women's team had several top 20 performances, but did not have any earn the trip to the national championship meet. 
 

Coach Harrison was brought to the University of the District of Columbia from Bowie State University where he was Assistant Director of Athletics and Track and Field Head Coach. Harrison built a powerful track and field program at Bowie, having the most successful program in the school's history and three-times receiving the Central Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (CIAA) Coach of the Year Award. He was the only track and field coach in the BSU history to win the Women's Track and Field CIAA Championship and boasts a graduation rate of over 90%.

Harrison has received other distinguished athletic awards through the years, including being named 2006 NCAA Southeast Regional Coach of the Year, 2004 CIAA Women's Indoor Coach of the Year and the 2005/2006 CIAA Women's Outdoor Coach of the Year. Also among his many achievements at Bowie is that he coached 16 students who were CIAA Champions, coached 35 NCAA All-Americans, and placed 39 student-athletes on the Athletic Honor Roll, and two Arthur Ashe Scholar award winners.

 Originally brought to Bowie as the Football Wide Receivers Coach, he later coached in the CIAA Football Championship Game. A couple of his former student-athletes went on to play professional football in the NFL. While at Bowie, Coach Harrison also served as Assistant Athletic Director, Director of Compliance, Professor of Freshman Seminar, Weight Lifting and Conditioning Coach and campus advisor to Omega Psi Phi Fraternity, Inc.  He was also one of the founders of the Bulldog Varsity Christian Fellowship and received multiple Community Service Awards from area Boys and Girls Clubs.

Coach Harrison is well rounded in his coaching career having spent time coaching and/or teaching at:  Woodbury HS(NJ) in 1992, Williamstown HS (NJ) in 1993, Camden HS (NJ) from '93 to '96, Walbrook HS (MD) '96, Coppin State (MD) from '96 - '98, Garrison Middle School (Balt, MD) '96, Woodlawn HS (MD) from '98 - '00, Morgan State (MD) in '00, and Randlestown HS (MD) in '01.

Harrison, a native of Woodbury, New Jersey, earned a Bachelor's Degree in Secondary Education from Bucknell University in 1992. He is a member of Omega Psi Phi Fraternity, Inc.

He is married to the former Barbara Willis, and they are the parents of two beautiful children: six-year old daughter, Maya and three-year old son, Marc Jr.

Office Phone: (202) 274-6353

E-mail: mjharrison@udc.edu