Jason Maus enters his 11th season as the head men’s and women’s cross country and track & field coach at Ohio Northern.

In his 10 seasons as track & field head coach, Maus has led the men’s program to three indoor conference championship titles and the women’s program to two outdoor titles and one indoor title.

He has also coached four national champions at Ohio Northern: Josh Colbert, who won the outdoor long jump title in 2014; Matt Molinaro, who claimed the indoor 800-meter run title in 2018; Maddy Reed, who captured the outdoor pole vault title in 2018; and Emily Richards, who is a nine-time national champion. Richards won the 800-meter run at the 2016 Outdoor National Championships meet before claiming the 800-meter and 1-mile run national titles at the 2017 national indoor meet and the 800- and 1,500-meter run titles at the 2017 national outdoor meet. In 2018, she would go on to sweep the 800- and 1500-meter titles at both the NCAA Indoor Championships and NCAA Outdoor Championships.

Maus also coached Richards to an eighth-place finish in the 800-meter run at the 2017 USA Championships in Sacramento, California.

Last season, Maus guided the men's track and field team to a 22-10 indoor record, a 53-13 outdoor record, and two fourth-place finishes at the OAC Indoor and Outdoor Championships. Meanwhile, the women's squad posted a 24-8 indoor record, a 59-12 outdoor mark, and top-five finishes at both conference championships.

In 2018, Maus led the Ohio Northern women's track & field team to its second consecutive OAC Outdoor Championships title and a third-place finish at the NCAA Indoor Championships, the best finish in program history. During the outdoor campaign, he would be tabbed the All-Great Lakes Region Women's Head Coach of the Year.

He also garnered Outdoor All-Great Lakes Region Female Coach of the Year honors in 2017 after guiding the Polar Bears to a conference title and its best team finish in school history at the outdoor national championships.

Maus earned All-Great Lakes Region Female Coach of the Year honors in the 2016 outdoor season after leading the women's team to a first-place regional ranking. 

Maus and his staff were named the 2017 OAC Women's Coaching Staff of the Year, claiming the honor at both the indoor and outdoor conference championships. They also swept the OAC Men's and Women's Coaching Staff of the Year honors at the 2014-15 OAC Outdoor Championships.

He is no stranger to the Polar Bear program, having served as an assistant cross country and track & field coach at ONU from 2002-08, where he coached the distance runners and was the recruiting coordinator.

Maus came to Ohio Northern from Heidelberg where he was a three-time Academic All-American in cross country and track & field. He was also a two-time OAC Champion in track and a two-time All-OAC honoree in cross country.

He received his bachelor’s degree from Heidelberg in 2002 and his master’s degree at Bowling Green State University in 2005.

Maus was part of the OAC Women’s Cross Country Coaching Staff of the Year in 2005, 2006, and 2008 and Men’s Cross Country Coaching Staff of the Year in 2007 and 2008.

Maus previous served as the Division III President of the United States Track & Field and Cross Country Coaches Association (USTFCCCA) for two seasons.

He also serves as a lecturer in the business college at ONU. Maus is USATF Level I and Level II certified in distance and throws.

He and his wife, Lindsey, live in Ada with their sons, Hayden and Jackson.

Track & Field under Maus

Casey Gantt is in his 11th season as an assistant coach for men’s and women’s cross country and track & field at Ohio Northern.

In 2014, he coached Josh Colbert to a national title in the long jump at the NCAA Division III Outdoor Championships in Delaware, Ohio.

He also guided Kelsey Commager to the 2017 indoor and outdoor national championships in the triple jump.

Gantt was named the outdoor All-Great Lakes Region Female Assistant Coach of the Year during the 2016 campaign.

He has been recognized on the OAC Men's Cross Country Coaching Staff of the Year in 2011, 2015, 2016, and 2017 and the OAC Women's Cross Country Coaching Staff of the Year in 2010 and 2011. Additionally, he was a member of the OAC Coaching Staff of the Year in 2015 and 2017 for the men's and women's track and field programs.

Gantt started at ONU in early 2011 as a recruiting assistant before taking over the assistant coach role. He brings coaching experience from his time as a volunteer coach at Carthage College and from Grayslake Central High School (Ill.).

Gantt received his bachelor’s degree from Illinois State where he was a four-year varsity letterman and multiple-time All-Conference athlete. He was named a scholar-athlete and was inducted into the Lake County (Ill.) Athletics Hall of Fame in 2010.

Gantt earned his master’s degree in Sport Management from the United States Sports Academy.

Gantt has USTFCCCA Event Specialist Certifications in the sprint, hurdles, relay, and jump events. He also has earned a USTFCCCA Strength and Conditioning certification and a USATF Level 1 certification.

Gantt and his wife Erin reside in Lima with their son, Michael, and daughter, Emily.

Molly (Cummings) Amidon enters her third season as an assistant track & field coach for Ohio Northern, focusing on the sprint and hurdle events..

In her three seasons at ONU, she has coached three athletes to NCAA Championships bids and had athletes break nine school records.

Her athletes have also won four OAC titles, had 11 All-Great Lakes Region honors and posted 16 All-OAC finishes in the sprints and hurdles.

Amidon joined the Polar Bears after a three-year stint as an assistant coach and recruiting coordinator at Marian (Ind.) University. While there, she coached hurdles and was responsible for the fall training of all sprinters, jumpers, and hurdlers.

During her three seasons at Marian, Amidon guided Taylor Killings to two national championship titles in the indoor 60-meter hurdles and one national championship in the outdoor 110-meter hurdles.

She helped 18 other student-athletes qualify for national championship meets in the sprints, hurdles, javelin, and combined events with 15 of those student-athletes breaking Marian school records.

Prior to her stint at Marian, Amidon served as a graduate assistant coach at New Mexico Highlands University for two years. She served as the hurdles and combined events coach, while also coaching athletes in the high jump and pole vault.

She coached two All-Americans in the long jump and 200-meter dash and instructed 14 national qualifiers in the pentathlon, heptathlon, sprints, hurdles, pole vault, and high jump during her time at New Mexico Highlands University. Amidon left NMHU with her Masters of Arts in Sports Administration in 2014.

After earning a Bachelor of Arts in Exercise Science from Anderson University (Ind.), Amidon began her coaching career as an assistant coach for the Ravens from 2008-2009 in the horizontal jumps. She also served as an assistant coach at Marian from 2009-2010, where she helped with sprints, hurdles, and jumps.

She is USATF Level II certified in throws, combined events, sprints, hurdles, and relays.

Amidon lives in bellefontaine with her husband, Mark.

Jason Fisher is in his second season as an assistant coach for men’s and women’s track & field.

Fisher works primarily with the throwers.

He came to ONU after four seasons as a throws coach for Bluffton Universaity and two more as a throws coach at Parkway High School.

Fisher was a four-year letetrman in track and field and Bluffton, earning All-Conference accolades in track and field and football for the Beavers.

He received his bachelor's degree in sports management from Bluffton in 2011.