Jonathan Besselink joined the North Florida coaching staff as an assistant coach in the fall of 2021.
The Kingston, Ontario, Canada native ran for Wagner's cross country and track teams through his undergraduate years from 2016-2019. He transferred to Butler in 2020 to run with their outdoor track team for his graduate season.
During the 2021-22 cross country and track & field season, Besselink assisted in producing four event winners, as well as 11 All-ASUN placements, highlighted by helping the men's cross country team win the ASUN Championship in the fall. He also aided athletes from both teams to multiple records and accomplishments, personal-best times, and conference award recognitions.
Besselink brings many accolades with him to UNF, as he was selected Northeast Conference Student-Athlete of the Year at Wagner in 2020. He also holds eight school records at Wagner was a 10x selection for the All-Northeast Conference team.
In 2021, Besselink has qualified for the Canadian Olympic Trials in the 3000m steeplechase and placed fifth in the steeplechase in Canada. He also was a qualifier for the Outdoor NCAA East Regional Qualifier in the 3000m steeplechase, where he was also a qualifier in 2019, and was selected All-Big East for the 3000m steeplechase and the 4x800m relay.
During his time at Butler, he recorded a personal-best time in the 3000m steeplechase with a time of 8:51.40 and finished seventh at the Virginia Grand Prix. He placed 19th in his qualifying run in the 3000m steeplechase at the East Preliminary round as well.
As a cross country runner, Besselink finished in the top three in three meets during his career, as he won first in the Hofstra Quad his sophomore year in 2017. The other two finishes in the top three resulted in best times for him in the 5k and 8k. He also placed 49th in the NCAA Northeast XC Regional with a 10k time of 29:53.
He had 13 first-place finishes while running track at Wagner in seven different events. The most first-place finishes came in the 4x800m with four and he set a personal-best time of 2:28.04 for his first-place finish in the 1000m at the 2020 Spartan Invite his senior year.
Besselink has also been recognized multiple times for his performance off the track, as he was a three-time selection for Northeast Conference Scholar Athlete of the Year. His decorated collegiate career will help in many ways when begins coaching for the Ospreys this season.
