Marlene Harmon Wilcox holds a record that has stood the test of time. On July 16, 1980, in Philadelphia, at the Alternate Olympic games, “Liberty Bell Classic” held at Franklin Field, Marlene scored 4,333 points to set the Girls’ High School National Pentathlon record. It has never been broken.
From her first national track and field title at the age of 9 to her last at 29. Marlene compiled another enviable standard of excellence that moved her to the international stage and ended with an improbable comeback story.
As a member of the West Valley Eagles track club, Wilcox won the 1973 age group 50-meter hurdles National Title. She would bring home four more championships before entering Thousand Oaks High School. For the Thousand Oaks Lancers, she won four individual CIF section titles. Marlene closed out her high school career with style. At the 1980 CIF State Championships, she won the long jump with a meet record of 20 feet 8 inches; placed second in the 100m hurdles with a time of 13.58 seconds and anchored the 4x400relay to a fifth-place.
The state meet would only be a portion of the 1980 track season for Marlene. She went on to make appearances on the National and international stage placing third in the Senior AAU National Indoor and Outdoor Pentathlons, Junior Olympic National Champion in the 400 hurdles and long jump, setting the meet record, and earned a spot on the 1980 Olympic Team. Sadly the 1980 Olympic Games were boycotted. In lieu of the Boycotted Olympic Games Harmon represented the USA in the Alternate Olympic competition earning the silver medal. Years later, she and her Olympic teammates were awarded the Congressional Medal of Honor by President Jimmy Carter.
In 1983, Marlene won the NCAA Division II heptathlon and was runner-up in the Division I meet. She won the US Olympic Festival Heptathlon in Colorado Springs and represented the USA by earning spots on the World Championship team and Pan American Games team.
Injuries would keep Marlene from the 1984 Olympics and plague her future career, eventually causing her to retire from the sport. However, a chance jog on the track stirred Marlene to return. Finding out she still had collegiate eligibility left, Marlene changed events. For Cal State LA, she won the 1991 NCAA Division II 800-meter title and was a member of the winning 4×400 relay. She would also help her team win relay NCAA titles at the 1992 indoor and outdoor meets equaling 5 NCAA career titles. She would later be inducted into the Cal State LA Hall of Fame.
In 2008 She would return to the world of track and field once again, but this time through the eyes of a Coach. She has facilitated over 2 million dollars in college scholarship opportunities, while mentoring and coaching high school athletes. She has coached in the LAUSD for El Camino Real Charter HS, and in the LVUSD for Calabasas HS. She has now returned home to Conjeo Valley’s Thousand Oaks HS as the head track and field coach, leading the Lancers boys’ team to a CIF Division 2 Section Title and 3 consecutive Marmonte League Titles.
Marlene also serves on the USA Track and Field Coaches Commission, USATF Alumni Board, and holds a USATF Level II Coaching Certification. She served as a USATF National Coach for the 2022 NACAC Championships and was recently named to the 2023 USATF Pan American Games coaching staff.
Marlene’s family is complete with Larry Wilcox, a husband of 37 years, and their 5 children, Ryan, Chad, Wendy, Heidi, and Derek Wilcox.