Dave Marks, who redshirted this season at the University of Portland, will transfer to Lewis-Clark State College and run for the Warrior men’s cross country and track teams next year, LCSC coach Mike Collins has announced.
Marks will be a freshman in eligibility in the fall. Although he didn’t compete in meets during the fall, he did work out with the Portland cross country team, which finished seventh in the NCAA Division I national meet.
“His experiences on this great team should help him a lot in conveying within our program, much of what it takes to run at that level,” Collins said. “We believe we have a group of individuals right now for next fall that is very talented. Our goal will be to get this group to compete as a team. Dave will play a big role in helping that development along. Assuming they develop like I think they can I believe we can have a men’s team that is capable of finishing as one of the top four teams in the country at nationals.”
Collins said Marks was hampered by a few nagging injuries this year at Portland, which is part of the reason he redshirted, which allowed him to retain his freshman year of eligibility.
“Dave is an extremely talented runner and will undoubtedly come in and be an immediate contributor to the team,” Collins said. “Dave has great things to say about Portland and its program, but feels that Lewis-Clark State is a better fit for him in both his running and academic future.”
Marks is from Lake Oswego, Ore., and attended Lakeridge High School.
"In high school Dave was probably one of the top three of four guys in the state of Oregon to graduate last year," Collins said. "This says a lot considering the talent level of Oregon running in general. "
As a senior in cross country Marks won six of the nine races he competed in and ended up finishing 12th in the Class 6A state championship race, which was a huge improvement from his junior year where he was No. 79.
In track, he finished fifth at the 6A state track championships in the 1,500 meters in a time of 4:00.75 and second in the 3,000 with a time of 8:37.59 (more than 10 seconds faster than the LCSC school record). That race also was the only 3,000 run he didn't win that year.
Collins said Marks also excels in the classroom because he currently has a GPA over 3.5 at Portland. Marks will likely major in Business at LCSC.
