Matthew Jelley is in his fourth season with the Rutgers cross country and track and field programs. He enters his third season as cross country head coach and associate head track and field coach. Jelley arrived at Rutgers in 2020, serving as the women's cross country and distance coach.
The Rutgers distance program has enjoyed success under the guidance of Jelley who helped the women’s team to its best-ever finish, taking eighth in the overall standings at the NCAA Mid-Atlantic Regional with three top-50 finishers in 2022. Alex Carlson highlighted the campaign earning All-Mid Atlantic Region honors for her 20th-place finish. It marked the first Scarlet Knight to earn all-region selection since 2015.
The women’s squad earned its second-best finish at the 2021 NCAA Mid-Atlantic Regionals, placing 11th.
Carlson was a standout during her freshman season in 2021 as she set four indoor marks and was part of the two school-record relay teams (4x800-meter and distance medley relay). She posted the top Rutgers time in the 800, 1,000, mile and 3,000-meter runs. Carlson added Big Ten medals to her list of accolades as a sophomore, earning gold in the 3,000-meter and silver in the mile at the 2023 Big Ten Indoor Championships. The distance group added another medal finish in the 800-meter at the indoor championships with Kassidy Johnson delivering bronze in the event. Johnson also collected three distance records during the 2023 season.
A native of Toms River, New Jersey, Jelley served as the men's and women's cross country and assistant track and field coach at the University of Maryland prior to joining the Scarlet Knights. Jelley coached seven seasons with the Terps where he oversaw the cross country squads and distance track and field runners.
In cross country, Jelley's squads saw improvement each year at NCAA Mid-Atlantic Regionals. Jelley trained NCAA Nationals individual qualifiers, Alex Lucki (2018) and Emily Bracher (2019). The Terrapins also saw marked improvement at Big Ten Conference Championships from year to year, climbing the ladder up the conference rankings from 14th to 10th. His harriers posted many of the best team averages in school history.
On the track, Jelley propelled Maryland's distance runners to success, guiding 36 women and 24 men to the University of Maryland's all-time top-10 lists in track and field, ranging from the 800-meter to 10,000-meter races. Five of the all-time top 10 indoor 5,000-meter times came from different athletes coached by Jelley. During his tenure, Jelley's athletes set Maryland school records in the indoor 800-meter for both men and women's teams with Dan Trettel (1:50) and Julie Sinkovitz (2:06), both indoor and outdoor distance medley relays, the men's 4x800 relay. Under Jelley's direction, Jakub Zivec earned Honorable Mention All-America in the 1500-meter in 2015, running a 3:44 personal best.
At Maryland, Jelley focused on academics and internship opportunities for his student-athletes, often maintaining individual and flexible workout schedules for each member of his squad. His Terrapin squads responded well and excelled academically. In five of his seven seasons at Maryland, his cross country teams earned the President's Cup for the highest GPA of any athletic team each fall semester.
Prior to arriving at Maryland, Jelley spent five seasons at Temple University as the head men's and women's cross country coach and assistant track and field coach. Jelley transformed the Owls' distance program and was directly responsible for mentoring and coaching some of the best distance athletes in Temple's school history.
During his tenure at Temple, Jelley's athletes broke 21 of the 26 distance school records from the 800 to the 10,000 meter. Notably, Jelley helped the women capture the 2010 Atlantic 10 (A10) Outdoor Conference Championship and the runner-up trophy in 2012 and the men and women to their best finishes ever at the A10 Championships in cross country. The Owls' men won back-to-back IC4A Championships in 2011 and 2012 under Jelley's guidance. His distance squad went from not scoring a single point before his arrival to scoring 51 points at the 2012 Atlantic 10 Outdoor Track & Field Championships.
Temple saw many firsts under Jelley. Mike May became the first All-Atlantic 10 selection for a Temple athlete - a feat he accomplished twice. Many of Jelley's athletes followed May's lead to earn all-conference honors. In 2012, Cullen Davis (1,500-meter), Matt Kaycon (3,000-meter steeplechase) and Jenna Dubrow (3,000 and 5,000-meter) qualified for USA Junior Outdoor Championships. Travis Mahoney, who ranks among Jelley's finest protégés, blossomed into one of the nation's top distance runners and an Olympic hopeful. A two-time All-American in the 3000m steeplechase with a collegiate personal best of 8:36, Mahoney finished fifth in the 3,000-meter steeplechase at the 2012 NCAA Outdoor Championships, and qualified and competed at the 2011 USA Championships, and the 2012 Olympic Trials at Historic Hayward Field at Eugene, Oregon. He was named Male A-10 MVP three times, one for one indoor (2011-12) and two for the 2011 and 2012 outdoor track and field seasons, having won titles in the indoor 1 mile and 3,000-meter and the outdoor 5,000-meter, 3,000-meter steeplechase and 1,500-meter. By earning second team All-America honors in 2011, Mahoney became only the second two-time All-American in Temple history. With his fifth-place finish in the 3,000-meter steeplechase in 2012, he became the first Owl to earn first team All-America honors.
Prior to coaching at Temple, Jelley was the head cross country and track and field coach at Toms River North High School in Toms River, New Jersey. While at Toms River, Jelley was named the 2001 New Jersey Cross Country Coach of the Year by the Newark Star-Ledger and named Coach of the Year a total of 24 times by various sources, including at least once every year he was a head coach. He coached four cross country teams (2001-2004) to national rankings by Harrier Magazine, placing as high as 17th in the United States. Jelley led the Mariners' to one New Jersey Group IV State title, three South Jersey Group IV Championships, six Ocean County Championships and one Shore Conference Championship title in cross country. He also developed 10 high school All-Americans and owned a 41-5 dual meet record during his time at Toms River North (1999-07). His most successful athlete at Toms River North, Pete Hess, won the 2003 Meet of Champions title in the 3,200-meter and was ranked fourth on the Holmdel Park All-Time List at the time of his graduation.
Jelley not only coached at Toms River North, but was also an alumnus of the school. During his own time as a high school athlete, he led the Mariners to two Group IV State Championships (1989, 1990) and earned an all-state selection.
A 1996 graduate of Clemson University, Jelley was a distance athlete on the Tigers' cross country and track and field distance squads from 1993-96. He also attended Monmouth University (1991-92), where he set five school records, and Ocean County College (1992-93), where he was an academic and athletic All-American in cross country.
