Pfeiffer Welcomes Back Bob Marchinko as Head Cross Country and Track & Field Coach
 
Misenheimer, N.C. (Aug. 16, 2022) – The Pfeiffer University Athletics Department announces the hiring of Bob Marchinko as the next head coach of the Falcon cross country and track & field programs.  Marchinko previously led the Falcon running programs from 2002-2005.

Marchinko returns to Pfeiffer after serving as an assistant coach with the Catawba College running programs since 2016.  While working with the Catawba cross country runners, he had nine runners earn All-South Atlantic Conference awards and also had seven All-Region performers.  In 2021, the Catawba men's team qualified for the NCAA Division II Championship for the first time in school history.

On the track, Marchinko helped guide 14 Catawba indoor track athletes to all-conference awards from 2018-2022.  Primarily working with distance runners, he had one achieve all-region honors in the 800m.

He helped mentor five all-conference athletes, had one conference champion and four that posted provisional qualifying marks for the NCAA Division II Outdoor Championships.

While previously at the helm of the Pfeiffer programs, he guided the Falcon men's cross country team to the 2002 CVAC Championship, the schools only running title, and was tabbed as the CVAC Coach of the Year that season while reaching the NCAA Division II Championships.

In 2003, he coached Chris Hiatt to his second CVAC individual title and second appearance in the NCAA Division II Championships.

Most recently, he has served as a high school coach with Rowan-Salisbury Schools. 

He earned the 2010 North Piedmont Women's Cross Country Coach of the Year while coach at South Rowan High School, a position he held on two occasions (2007-2011 and 2016-2017).

 He would later be named the South Piedmont Coach of the Year in 2014 and 2015 while guiding the Carson High School program.  While at Carson from 2011-2016, he helped the Cougars qualify for the NCHSAA Championships for the first time in school history.

Prior to teaching and coaching in North Carolina, he served as the cross country and distance coach at Northeast High School in Clarksville, Tenn., coaching several THSAA state champions and All-State athletes.

As a student athlete at both Cleveland State and Kent State, Marchinko earned all-conference honors in both cross country and track. He was Mid-Continent Conference Cross Country Champion and Runner of the Year in 1991. In addition, Marchinko has won the Charlotte Marathon in 2003 and 2005 and Myrtle Beach Marathon in 2005.

Marchinko and his wife Wendy live in Salisbury.

Their son, Zach, ran cross country and track at Charlotte and was a four-time All-Conference USA performer in Cross Country.

He graduated from Kent State University in 1994 with a degree in health and physical education.