Cal Poly track coach, former Olympian dies of cancer: ‘A champion through it all’
A longtime Cal Poly coach who led the San Luis Obispo university’s track and field and cross country program has died at age 61.
Mark Conover, a 20-time Big West Conference Coach of the Year, died April 6 after “a courageous year-long battle” with an aggressive squamous cell carcinoma, a form of skin cancer, according to a Cal Poly sports news release.
Conover served as Cal Poly’s director of Track & Field and Cross Country for more than 13 years and as a coach of the Mustangs for a total of 25 seasons.
The former Olympic athlete previously survived a battle with Hodgkin’s lymphoma in 1993 and 1994, university officials said.
“A champion through it all,” Kelly Conover, Mark’s wife, wrote on the health support network website Caring Bridge. “His journey ended, but his legacy will continue through us all. Celebrate his life, share your memories of him and honor a life well lived.”
Cal Poly Director of Athletics Don Oberhelman said in a statement that Conover “impacted the lives of hundreds of men and women who donned the green and gold, with a far-reaching impact well beyond track and field.”
“I’m not sure I ever met someone who loved being a Cal Poly Mustang as much as Mark Conover,” Oberhelman said.
Conover coached five Cal Poly cross country teams to top-25 finishes at the NCAA championships, including a No. 10 national finish by the men’s team in 2004. And 17 of his men’s cross country teams and seven women’s squads from 1998 through 2019 earned Big West Conference titles.
In spring 2021, the Cal Poly women’s track and field team captured its first-ever Big West team championship.
In 1988, Conover was the U.S. Olympic Trials champion in the marathon with a time of 2:12:26, moving on to compete at the Seoul Summer Olympics. He was a four-time Olympic Trials qualifier.
“Coach Conover’s loss will be felt by the entire conference as he was respected by everyone and mentor to so many individuals, myself included,” said Big West Director of Championships Tyler Huntley, a former Cal Poly track and field student-athlete. “The culture Coach Conover cultivated during his time at Cal Poly is second to none.”
Born on May 28, 1960, in Contra Costa County, Conover earned his bachelor’s degree in natural resource planning and interpretation at Humboldt State in 1983 and his master’s degree from Cal Poly in city and regional planning in 1989, Cal Poly officials said.
Conover is survived by his wife, Kelly, and triplets — two girls, Audrey and Marley, and a boy, Cordell — born in 2007.
A fundraiser has been set up to help support Conover’s family through the sales of socks. To contribute, go to https://supportconoverfamily.itemorder.com/shop/category/266393/.
This story was originally published April 12, 2022 at 3:06 PM with the headline "Cal Poly track coach, former Olympian dies of cancer: ‘A champion through it all’."
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