Coach returns home to STU

With five East Coast Conference titles under his belt, an alumnus from St. Thomas University was brought home from New York to coach the Bobcats’ cross country team, a favorite to win the Sun Conference this year.
Lorne Marcus, who graduated from the Miami Gardens school in 2005 and earned a law degree from its law school in 2008, took over St. Thomas’ second-year program.
Marcus, 40, previously was on the coaching team at Division II St. Thomas Aquinas College in Sparkill, N.Y. and led it for six years.
St. Thomas’s program is a preseason pick to win The Sun Conference after the Bobcats received three-of-ten first place votes, according to The Sun Conference Coaches Poll.
Marcus believes his team will meet the expectations for it.
“This is a recognition that we want to use as motivation for the upcoming season, to work hard and push through adversity,” Marcus said in a Sun Conference press release after the poll was released.
The Bobcats also scored points in the poll by having four top runners who finished in the top 33 at last year’s TSC meet: senior Diego Lopez, 6th place; sophomores Benjamin Guerrero, 20th place and Jose Penalver, 21st place, and junior Alejandro Garcia, 33rd place.
Marcus said told The Miami Laker that his No.1 goal is the make sure his runners are in “great shape.”
“We are going to work hard to win the conference championship,” he said. “Nothing comes easy and it takes a lot of great work to win the conference that has great teams. I’m looking forward to having a great year this year.”
The New York native said he has coached several All-Americans, but stresses the importance of education over sports.
“You got to do well in school,” he told The Laker. “ Winning is good but graduating college is even better.”
Marcus said Bobcats’ Athletic Director Laura Courtney-Todd, who has known him since he was a student at St. Thomas, encouraged him to apply in May.
“I’m so excited to be home again,” he said.
Marcus played football and ran track at North Rockland High School in Thiells, N.Y.
“I was an average player, nothing spectacular,” he said.
Courtney-Todd, who’s been the Bobcats’ athletic director for the past 17 years, said, “We have a long distance friendship. He came down for some of our track meets, and we love talking sports.”
Marcus was the best candidate because he gave her some advice on starting the Bobcats’ cross country team in 2018, she said.
“He showed us how to do this and how to do that, because he started the cross county team at St. Thomas Aquinas College,” she said.
STU President David Armstrong already had a candidate to take over the program before she recommended Marcus.
“He said, ‘I have a guy,’ and I said, ‘I have a guy,’” she said. “I knew the president would like him because they both went to law school, Armstrong was a coach, and they both like football. They have a lot of similarities.”
Courtney-Todd said she believes the Bobcats have the drive to finish atop of the Sun Conference under their new coach.
“They are very hungry to win the conference,” she said.“
-- David Snelling