Martin Maric - Track & Field Coach

Martin Maric

Title:
Assistant Coach, Throws
Email:
mmaric@usc.edu

Two-time Olympian Martin Maric is in his third season as the USC assistant track and field coach for the throws. He was named to the position by Director of Track & Field and Cross Country Quincy Watts on Sept. 2, 2022.

Maric’s athletes had a banner 2024 season, posting five all-time USC top 10 marks, seven throwers establishing personal bests and two athletes earning first-team All-America honors. Racquil Broderick had a PR in the discus throw of 204-6 (62.34m) to set the USC freshman record and move into second on the Trojans’ all-time list. He won the 2024 Pac-12 discus throw champions and finished second in the event at the NCAA Championships with a mark of 202-8 (61.77m). Broderick’s mark was the best ever in the finals by a Trojan and his second-place finish was the best by a USC athlete since Ralph Fruguglietti also placed second in 1977. Also earning first-team All-America honors was Nikolaos Polychroniou in the men’s hammer throw by placing fifth. He also placed second at the Pac-12 Championships in the hammer throw and moved into third on USC’s all-time list with a mark of 246-10 (75.24m). Leif Nelson moved into fourth on the USC men’s all-time javelin throw list (239-11), placed second at the Pac-12 Championships and placed 10^th at the NCAA Championships to earn second-team All-America honors. Sara Zabarino moved into third on the USC women’s all-time discus throw list (171-3) and placed fourth in the event at the Pac-12 Championships. Freshman Reese Garland had a discus throw PR of 178-2 (54.32m) to move into fifth on USC’s women’s discus throw list and placed eighth in the event at the Pac-12 Championships. In addition, his work with Allie Jones helped her set nearly a three-foot PR in the shot put to help her establish the school pentathlon record with 4,528 points at the Razorback Invitational. She went on to earn indoor All-America honors by placing fourth in the pentathlon at the 2024 NCAA Indoor Championships.

In his first season with USC, Maric guided Polychroniou to All-America honors in the hammer throw, with the sophomore placing fifth at the NCAA Championships with a mark of 238-4 (72.65m) which moved him to sixth on the Trojans’ all-time list in the event. Polychroniou also placed second in the hammer throw at the 2023 Pac-12 Championships. During the indoor season, Summer Mosley set the USC women’s weight throw record with a toss of 63-9.00 (19.43m). At the USC-UCLA Dual, Meet Karlee Freeman placed second in the shot put with a PR of 53-11 (16.43m), which ranks eighth on USC’s all-time list. He was also instrumental in All-American heptathlete Allie Jones improving in all of the throwing events which contributed to her setting the USC record in the event.

Maric was the throws coach at Virginia from 2013-22, where he produced four NCAA champion throwers, 29 All-Americans and 18 ACC Champions. Two times he was named the U.S. Track & Field and Cross Country Coaches Association (USTFCCCA) Southeast Region Assistant Coach of the Year.

He was named the 2022 Southeast Region Assistant Coach of the Year as he guided Claudio Romero to the NCAA discus throw title (217-1). He also led Ethan Dabbs to the USATF Outdoor Championships javelin throw title (266-8) and to a second-place finish in the event at the NCAA Championships (261-5).

In all, the Virginia throwers set four outdoor school records and two ACC records during the 2022 campaign. He guided Maria Deaviz to the Virginia indoor shot put record with a mark of 54-11.50 and to the school’s outdoor record with a mark of 56-10. Maric guided the Virginia men and women to four ACC titles during the indoor and outdoor seasons. His throwers recorded eight All-ACC honors and five All-American honors in 2022.

In 2021, Ethan Dabbs repeated as the ACC javelin champion, and Claudio Romero captured his first conference discus crown. At the NCAA Championships, Romero finished first, and freshman Jacob Lemmon placed fifth to give UVA a pair of All-Americans in the event.

While the 2020 outdoor season did not take place due to the pandemic, Maric’s athletes recorded three All-America honors during the 2019 season as Ethan Dabbs (javelin), Hilmar Jonsson (hammer) and Oghenakpobo Efekoro (shot put) competed at the 2019 NCAA Outdoor Championships. All three athlete also captured ACC titles in their respective events. Jonsson became the first male ACC competitor to capture four consecutive titles in the hammer throw. Jonsson also set the Icelandic national record in the event during the regular season.

During the 2018 season, Hilmar Jonsson captured his third ACC title in the hammer throw. He advanced to the NCAA Outdoor Track and Field Championships, earning second-team All-America honors in the event.

Maric led the Cavaliers to a program-best third place finish at the 2017 NCAA Outdoor Championships. Virginia scored in five throwing events, tallying all 36 of the team’s points, the most by a throwing unit since SMU in 2002. Filip Mihaljevic captured the NCAA title in the shot put and discus, earning him recognition as a Bowerman semifinalist. Mihaljevic was named the ACC Outdoor Field Athlete of the Year, ACC Championships Outdoor Field MVP, the 2017 USTFCCCA Southeast Regional Field Athlete of the Year and ACC Outdoor Scholar Athlete. At the ACC Championships, Mihaljevic placed first in the shot put and discus, while Hilmar Jonsson won the hammer title. Maric led five males and one female student-athletes to All-American honors. Jordan Young was named an All-American in the weight throw at the NCAA Indoor Championships, finishing third in the event. He also won the ACC title in the event, earning the Indoor ACC Field Performer of the Year. Mihaljevic finished first in the shot put at the conference meet.

Maric’s group had a stellar 2015 season, which earned him USTFCCCA Southeast Region Men’s Assistant Coach of the Year honors. He guided the throwers to six NCAA Championship entries during the outdoor season, as Jordan Young was the only male to compete in three individual events in Eugene. Young earned first-team All-America honors in both the discus and hammer throw, while Filip Mihaljevic finished third in the discus.

The Cavaliers broke four school records during the outdoor season, with Mihaljevic setting the marks in the shot put and discus, Young in the hammer throw and Christine Bohan in the shot put. During the indoor season, Young had a fourth-place finish in the weight throw at the NCAA Championships. Between the indoor and outdoor seasons, Mihaljevic and Young won a combined four ACC Championships.

Maric spent the 2015-16 school year as a member of the Virginia IM-Rec staff.

In 2014, Maric coached Mihaljevic, the ACC Outdoor Track & Field Freshman of the Year. Mihaljevic won the ACC Outdoor Championship in the discus and earned first-team All-America honors in both the shot put and discus.

Maric is the Croatian national record holder in the discus throw with a mark of 222-10 (67.92m) and he represented his home country in the discus at the 2008 Olympics in Beijing and the 2012 Games in London. He finished 29th in 2008 before placing 17th in 2012. He was named Croatian Athlete of the Year for this effort in London.

He also represented Croatia at the 2011 World Championships in Dague, South Korea, and at the 2007 and 2009 World University Games.

Maric competed collegiately at California and was the NCAA champion in the discus throw in 2009 (196-3), as well as an All-American in the discus in 2008 and the javelin throw in 2007.

Maric spent the springs of 2010 and 2011 as a volunteer assistant coach at the University of Florida and served as an assistant coach at the ASK Split Athletic Club in his native Split, Croatia.

Maric graduated from California with a bachelor’s degree in political economy of industrial societies in 2009. He then completed a Master's degree program in Exercise Physiology at Virginia in 2015.

He and his wife, Danielle, have a son named Elijah.