Dusty Jonas

Former Nebraska high jump Olympian and national champion Dusty Jonas has been an assistant coach on Nebraska's track and field staff since 2018 and serves as the Huskers' high jump and combined events coach.

Jonas coached the high jump and men's sprints, hurdles and relays from 2018-22 and took over as NU's combined events coach beginning with the 2023 season. Prior to his promotion to a full-time role in 2018, Jonas was a volunteer assistant for the Husker high jumpers for eight years.

After dominating at the collegiate level as an athlete, Jonas has turned the high jump into a dominant event for the Huskers at the Big Ten Conference and NCAA Championship meets. Since rejoining the Husker program as a volunteer coach in 2010, Jonas has coached 23 Big Ten high jump champions and 39 All-America high jump honors.

Jonas' combined events athletes have earned five All-America honors and four Big Ten titles since 2023. Under Jonas, Till Steinforth has put together one of the most decorated careers in NU history with four All-America honors, three Big Ten gold medals and Nebraska school records in the heptathlon and decathlon. Steinforth placed 15th in the decathlon at the 2024 Paris Olympics and took home the heptathlon bronze medal at the 2025 World Indoor Championships. 

A total of 22 Huskers have set all-time top-10 high jump marks since 2010, including indoor and outdoor school records by Jenna Rogers. Jonas' high jumpers have won 17 of the possible 30 Big Ten gold medals since he moved into a full-time role in 2018. Additionally, Till Steinforth set school records in the heptathlon (6,196) and decathlon (8,287). 

Jonas was named the 2025 Midwest Region Indoor Men's Assistant Coach of the Year after Tyus Wilson won the Big Ten and NCAA high jump titles, while Adria Navajon won the Big Ten heptathlon and Mason Kooi was a second-team All-American in the high jump. Wilson finished his Husker career as a five-time All-American and was the 2025 NCAA Indoor champion and 2024 NCAA Outdoor runner-up. He also won four Big Ten gold medals and was twice named Big Ten Field Athlete of the Year. Wilson went on to win the gold medal at the USATF Outdoor Championships in August of 2025. 

On the women's side in 2025, Rogers won both Big Ten high jump gold medals and earned All-America honors at both NCAA meets, highlighted by a third-place finish at the NCAA Outdoor Championships. Rogers also broke the Big Ten Indoor Championships meet record, clearing 6-3 1/2 (1.92m). She finished her Husker career with five gold medals and eight All-America honors. 

In 2024, Jonas coached Wilson and Rogers to first-team All-America honors during the indoor and outdoor seasons. Wilson finished as the NCAA Outdoor runner-up and Rogers tied for fifth. At the NCAA Indoor Championships, Wilson claimed fourth and Rogers tied for sixth. Wilson won the Big Ten high jump title both indoors and outdoors, highlighted by a clearance of 7-6 (2.29m) at the Big Ten Outdoor Championships. That height tied him for third on NU's all-time list. Rogers jumped to second at both conference meets. Jonas also coached freshman Mason Kooi to bronze at the Big Ten Outdoor Championships.

Steinforth headlined the multis, earning two first-team All-America honors at the NCAA Indoor Championships. He placed third in the heptathlon with 6,140 points and seventh in the long jump with a 25-10 (7.87m) at nationals. At the Big Ten Championships, Steinforth won the Big Ten title in the long jump on his final attempt. Rogers broke the outdoor high jump school record at the Olympic Trials, while Wilson moved to third on the all-time list in the outdoor high jump.

In 2023, four Husker high jumpers earned All-America status and three won Big Ten titles. Mayson Conner and Rogers combined for three Big Ten high jump titles and three All-America honors. Additionally, Jonas coached Steinforth to success in the multis, as he broke the heptathlon and decathlon school records during the 2023 season. Steinforth won the decathlon title at Big Tens and placed fourth in the heptathlon and decathlon at NCAAs.

In 2022, Jonas coached both Conner and Rogers to sweeps of the Big Ten indoor and outdoor high jump titles. Rogers went on to earn two first-team All-America accolades after finishing seventh and sixth at the NCAA Indoor and Outdoor Championships, respectively. Conner went on to earn two second-team All-America honors. Nebraska became the first Big Ten school since 2013 to sweep all four men's and women's Big Ten high jump gold medals.

In 2021, Jonas had three Husker men qualify for the NCAA Outdoor Championships in the 110-meter hurdles. Joey Daniels, Darius Luff and Luke Siedhoff all posted top-10 times in school history in the same race. Additionally, Michael Hoffer qualified for the NCAA Outdoor Championships in the long jump as a true freshman with the No. 9 jump in school history.

During the 2019 season, Jonas coached Conner to Big Ten Indoor and Outdoor Freshman of the Year honors after he won both Big Ten Championships in the high jump. Conner’s clearance of 7-3 3/4 (2.23m) indoors is currently tied for the No. 9 mark all-time at Nebraska. Candice Dominguez also captured the women’s high jump title at the Big Ten Outdoor Championships.

In 2018, Landon Bartel won his second Big Ten indoor title, adding to his 2016 title. Reka Czuth won the women’s Big Ten outdoor high jump title in 2016 as well, one year after winning the Big Ten long jump gold medal as a true freshman. They followed up on James White’s indoor and outdoor titles in 2015. The Husker men won three straight Big Ten indoor titles from 2014-16.

Jonas coached former Husker All-America high jumper Marusa Cernjul as she qualified for the 2016 Olympics in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. Cernjul placed 21st representing Slovenia, clearing 6-3 1/2 (1.92m) in her first appearance at the Olympics. She qualified for the Olympics with a personal-best leap of 6-4 (1.93m) at the Slovenian Championships in 2016. She was a first-team All-American and Big Ten champion in the high jump for the Huskers, and with Jonas as her coach following her career, she improved on her collegiate PR (6-1 1/4), by nearly three inches in one year to reach the Olympics.

In 2018, Jonas made a strong first impression as the Huskers’ new men’s sprints, hurdles and relays coach. Antoine Lloyd had a breakout senior season, winning the Big Ten indoor 60m hurdles, the outdoor 110m hurdles, and finishing second and fifth, respectively, at the NCAA Championships. Lloyd broke the 60m hurdles school record (7.60) and was named the Big Ten Men’s Indoor Track Athlete of the Year. Additionally, sophomore Luke Siedhoff was a first-team All-American in the 110m hurdles, placing seventh.

An eight-time All-America high jumper for the Huskers from 2005 to 2008, Jonas won the 2008 indoor national title and outdoor conference title in the high jump. He finished his career as the indoor and outdoor school-record holder, as well as the all-time Big 12 record holder with the second-highest jump ever by a collegian (7-8 3/4, 2.36m).

Following the collegiate season, Jonas signed a professional contract with Nike and competed for Team USA at the 2008 Olympic Games in Beijing, China. Jonas won the bronze medal in the high jump at the World Indoor Championships and also competed in the World Outdoor Championships in 2011. Jonas was the 2013 USA Indoor high jump champion and earned runner-up honors at the 2013 Outdoor and 2010 Indoor Championships. He also won gold at the 2005 USA Junior Championships.

Jonas competed for Team USA a total of eight times in his career, including six times for the senior team and twice for the junior team.

Jonas returned to Nebraska in 2009 to complete his degree in horticulture. He is married to Marusa (Cernjul) Jonas. They have one son, Max.