Eight years ago, Maruša Jonas (then Maruša Černjul) was preparing for an unforgettable experience – competing at the 2016 Olympic Games in Rio de Janeiro.
Jonas, a native of Slovenia, was a contemporary dancer growing up, but was encouraged by a P.E. teacher to try high jumping.
“I pretty quickly qualified for World Championships for my country and then I just focused all my time in that sport,” Jonas said.
She was recruited to the University of Nebraska-Lincoln as a track and field athlete in 2011. Jonas won the Big Ten outdoor title in the high jump as a freshman and went on to become a first-team All-American at the 2015 NCAA Outdoor Championships. Her collegiate best of 1.86 meters (6 feet, 1.25 inches) remains in the Huskers’ all-time top-10 lists for both indoor and outdoor. Jonas was also named Nebraska’s Women’s Most Outstanding Track & Field Athlete in 2015.
Jonas graduated from Nebraska with her bachelor’s degree in Nutrition and Health Sciences in May 2016, just before realizing her Olympic dream. She earned a master’s degree in Nutrition and Health Sciences with a specialization in nutrition and exercise in 2018, and now she is an assistant extension educator for the Nutrition Education program, while also teaching courses in the Department of Nutrition and Health Sciences .
Although she had international experience for her home country early in her career, it wasn’t until her senior year at Nebraska that Jonas recognized qualifying for the Olympics was a realistic goal.
“That’s when I really improved my PR – I think it was four inches in that one year,” Jonas said. “I think that’s when I finally figured out my diet and all the other factors that were affecting my performance and that’s when I started dreaming about possibly making it to the Olympics, which made it about a year for me to qualify. My coach, Dusty Jonas, and I were on a mission that year to qualify me and it definitely worked out.”
To qualify, Jonas needed to clear 1.93 meters (6 feet, 4 inches) to achieve the Olympic standard.
“I jumped this height at my national meet, at my home city where my family was watching me,” Jonas said. “So it was just an amazing day.”
Jonas recalls a long bus ride to the stadium in Rio the morning of the qualification round for the high jump.
“I remember I was so nervous I was thinking to myself, ‘Oh my gosh, I might just vomit right now.’ But, when I stepped onto the track, everything went away. It kind of felt like any other track meet.”
Clearing the first bar also brought her some relief.
“After the first jump, and after I made it and then I walked to my coach,” Jonas said. He would always have some criticism to say how do I get better. But that day he looked at me and he said, ‘Great jump. Just keep going.’ And I could not even believe it. I’m like, ‘OK, I’ve got this.’”
Ultimately, Jonas cleared a height of 1.92 meters (6 feet, 3.5 inches) during the qualifications, finishing just shy of advancing to the final.
As she reflects on her experience as a track and field athlete who competed not only in the 2016 Olympics, but also two World Championships (2017 and 2019) and several European Championships, Jonas understands the lessons she learned that continue to help her now.
“Being a student-athlete and then being a professional athlete, managing that time for personal life and work life, that really helps me now,” Jonas said. “Also, it helps me to go with the flow. Not being able to have a plan for everything because track and field, and any sport, is very unpredictable. It also helped me build strong relationships when I’m not there.
“I think now having connections all over the world and calling them friends, that’s very special.”
College of Education and Human Sciences
Nutrition and Health Sciences
