Jon Hill - Women's Cross Country Coach - Rice University Athletics

Jon Hill

Title:
Assistant Coach
Email:
jonathan.hill@rice.edu

Rice assistant Jon Hill is entering his fifth season (2022-23) with the Owls and since his arrival in 2019 has played a vital role in the Owls' success.

Hill primarily works with the sprints, hurdles, jumps, and combined events. In his four seasons on South Main, Hill has coached six USTFCCCA All-Americans (two First-Teamers), five NCAA qualifiers, eight regional qualifiers, 28 C-USA All-Conference honorees, and four C-USA Performers of the Meet. During that stretch the Owls have won six C-USA Athlete of the Week awards.

Hill's athletes have won five USTFCCCA Academic All-American awards and earned eight C-USA Academic Medals.

While at Rice Hill has coached the likes of Michelle Fokam, Hannah Jackson, Zinedine Russell, KC Nwadei, Giulia Sportoletti, Eliza Kraule, Maryam Hassan, Josie Taylor, Ginnie Okafor, and Alexander Slinkman.

The 2023 season opened with Lindsay Simms' second-place finish at the C-USA Championships with 3594 points in the pentathlon. Under Hill's direction, Eliza Kraule and Simms would go 1-2 for Rice in the heptathlon with Kraule setting a Rice record with 5501 points. The 18 points Rice grabbed from the heptathlon helped cruise the Owls to a first-place finish as a team with a program record 187 points. Josie Taylor also had a strong showing at the outdoor meet with a second-place finish in the high jump, with Kraule finishing 7th. Kraule and Taylor would both qualify for the NCAA West Prelims in high jump with Taylor finishing 13th.

In 2022, Taylor had a breakout freshman campaign by earning USTFCCCA First Team All-American honors at the NCAA Indoor Championships with an eighth place finish in the high jump. That came on the heels of Taylor breaking the C-USA Indoor Championship high jump mark, as well as the school record. Taylor also placed second in the high jump at the C-USA Outdoor Championships and advanced to the NCAA Regionals. Slinkman earned All-American Honorable Mention accolades with an 18th place result at the NCAA Outdoor Championships and was joined by Okafor and Taylor at Regionals. Kraule established a school record in the pentathlon to win an individual title at the C-USA Indoor Championships.

The 2021 season saw the Owls climb to as high as No. 14 in the USTFCCCA Top-30 Poll, and was highlighted by Fokam's final season as an Owl. Fokam won both the long jump and triple jump (broke school record) at the C-USA Outdoor Championships before placing third at the NCAA Outdoor Championships in the triple jump to earn First Team All-American honors. Fokam would go on to represent Rice at the U.S. Olympic Trials, finishing fifth overall.

In 2020, Jackson (200m), Fokam (triple jump), and Russell (pentathlon) all won C-USA Indoor titles while helping the Owls secure the team championship. Fokam was also named the C-USA Field Performer of the Meet.

In Hill's first season on South Main his athletes combined to win four C-USA titles while Fokam advanced to the NCAA Championships in both the indoor and outdoor seasons.

A former Army multi-event and pole vault coach, Hill was named the newest assistant coach for Rice on Aug. 21, 2018.

A native of Oregon, Hill spent the previous six years at West Point where he coached pole vault and combined events, before being promoted to jumps in 2013-14. He would later add sprints/hurdles in 2016. Under his guidance, Army set school records in the men’s/women’s pole vault, men’s 60m, men’s 100m, men’s 200m, men’s high jump, men’s and women’s 4x100, men’s and women’s 4x400 relay, and the women’s triple jump.

In addition to his collegiate résumé, Hill has coached with USATF Level I and II (jumps, sprints, hurdles & relays, and combined events). Hill has expanded his leadership experience by serving as a USATF Northeast Region Coaching Education Coordinator and also assisted with USATF as part of the Inland NW Association Chair of Coaching Education and Youth track.

Prior to West Point, Hill spent four years as an assistant at Eastern Washington, where he coaches jumps/combined events and pole vault. During his tenure, Eastern Washington broke school records 11 times and exceeded the team’s best finish in school history each season.