Reuben Jones

In his time at Princeton, Jones has coached fifteen Ivy League Champions, twenty eight All-Ivy honorees, three NCAA finalists and one U.S. Olympic Trials qualifier. Fourteen school records, two Ivy League records, three Ivy League Field Performers of the Meet and one Ivy League Championship record have also been set under his watch.

The 60m, 300m and 4x400m relay indoor records were set as well as the 100m and 200m outdoor records under Jones’ watch. The 4x100m school record was set at the 2022 Outdoor Heps Championship where the quartet of Brianna Mponzi ’24, Nia Mosby ’24, Olivia Hee ’23, and Grace Lanouette ’22 won from lane two. In the hurdles, Coach Jones has coached Princeton’s #1 60m and 400m hurdlers (Isabella Hilditch ’22/Arianna Smith ‘23, 8.50; and Smith ’23, 57.84). This includes a Second-Team All-Ivy honor in 2019 from Randolph in the 100m hurdles and Smith in the 400m hurdles in 2023.

In the jumps, Coach Jones has facilitated the training of four Ivy League Champions. Tessa Mudd ’26 is a 4x Ivy League Champion, setting program and Ivy records, and in 2024 finished as a second-team All-American at the Indoor NCAA Championships and honorable mention All-American at the Outdoor NCAA Championships. Since 2022, three different Princeton women have won a Heps Indoor Triple Jump title – Tia Rozario ‘23 in 2022, Alexandra Kelly ’26 in 2023 and Georgina Scoot ’26 in 2024. Kelly and Scoot swept All-Ivy honors in both horizontal jumps at the 2024 Indoor and Outdoor Heps Championships. Scoot went on to finish 20th at the NCAA Outdoor Championships in the triple jump, while Kelly became a first-time NCAA Outdoor finalist in the long jump.  Kelly won the 2024 Outdoor Heps Long Jump title, missing the Championship record by 5 cm.  Her best long jump mark (6.45m) qualified her for the 2024 United States Olympic Trials, where she finished 21st overall.  Scoot set three school records – indoor/outdoor Long Jump (6.29m & 6.49m, respectively) and outdoor triple jump (13.26m) - and won Ivy Heps titles in the indoor and outdoor triple jump as well as the indoor long jump.

Jones came to Princeton after being at Columbia University from 2012-2015. While there, the women earned 26 combined All-Ivy honors including program records in the women’s 60m, 60m hurdles, 100m, 100m hurdles, 400m and 800m relays and triple jump. Nadia Eke secured a respective 3rd- and 4th-place finishes in the triple jump at the 2015 Indoor and Outdoor NCAA Championships. In 2013, Marvellous Iheukwumere became the first woman since 2006 to win the indoor and outdoor Ivy Heps sprint quadruple (60m, indoor 200m, 100m, outdoor 200m champion).

Jones began his Ivy League coaching career at Brown University (2010-2012). In 2011, Evan Weinstock ‘14 and Rachel Biblo ‘11 won respective outdoor Ivy Heps titles in the decathlon and triple jump. In two years, Jones saw the jump/multi-event group earn five All-Ivy honors and record 16 marks that rank within the school’s all-time top 10. 

Prior to the Ivy League, Jones spent the 2009-2010 season as an assistant track & field coach at Coastal Carolina University.  He saw two Chanticleers set Big South conference records in the women’s 100m (Ikeiylah Brown, 11.48) and indoor high jump (Kierra Gabe, 1.73m). Their team won indoor individual Big South titles in the women’s 60m, 200m, 4x400m relay, long jump, and high jump, and outdoor individual Big South titles in the 110m hurdles, men’s triple jump, men’s and women’s high jump, and women’s pole vault.

His time at Coastal Carolina came on the heels of being a volunteer assistant coach at his alma mater, the University of Virginia, from 2008-2009. That year, the Cavalier men tied for first at the 2009 Outdoor ACC Championships – the first men’s team title in Virginia track history. Jones assisted with recruiting, daily workout scheduling, and managing meets.

Jones graduated from the University of Virginia in 2008 with a bachelor’s degree in sociology. He was a three-time Intercollegiate Association of Amateur Athletics of America (IC4A) champion combined across the 100m, 200m and 4x100m relay. He still holds the second fastest 60m (6.78) and 100m (10.45) times in school history.