Julio Martinez was named the Head Cross Country Coach at Bethel College in September of 2023 and enters his third season leading the Threshers in 2025. In just his second year at the helm, Martinez coached Bethany Schrag, who became an NAIA National Qualifier in 2024—the first Thresher woman to achieve the honor in over a decade.
A Bethel College alumnus and one of the most decorated distance runners in school history, Martinez became the first male distance runner from Bethel to qualify for the NAIA Cross Country National Championships, a feat he accomplished twice. He also placed 10th and 13th at the KCAC Cross Country Championships during his junior and senior seasons.
On the track, Martinez won the KCAC title in the 1500m in 2017 and earned multiple podium finishes in the 800m, 1000m, and Mile during his career. He qualified for the NAIA Indoor Track & Field Championships in 2018, finishing 10th in the 1000m. Over his collegiate career, he set five school records, including in the indoor and outdoor 800m and the indoor 1000m (twice).
Before transferring to Bethel, Martinez ran for Hutchinson Community College, where he was the NJCAA national runner-up in the indoor 800m in 2012 and set a school record. As a high school standout in Phoenix, Arizona, he won the 2010 5A-D1 state title in the 800m and was a seven-time regional champion across events ranging from the 400m to the Mile.
Martinez holds a degree in Business and resides in Newton, Kansas, with his wife and their five children.
