Julia Fonk
Julia Fonk (Franklin, 2010) had this idea she was going to be a sprinter. It turned out not to be the best idea she ever had, she now admits, but it would have been hard to blame her at the time for having it.
She deserves credit for deciding to try out for track in the first place considering up until her sophomore year at Franklin, her sports included pretty much everything except track.
“I was surrounded by sports at an early age,” Fonk says. “My dad (Mike) was a big Packers fan and Mom (Mary) was an Oregon State fan, so I grew up watching a lot of their games and Blazers games and other sports. My younger brother, Harrison, and I were always playing in the back yard, kicking a ball, throwing a football around, shooting baskets.”
All those sports, of course, involved running. And when she started playing team sports, Fonk says, the running part of them was a strong suit, especially in soccer.
“My footwork wasn’t that great and my other skills weren’t amazing,” she says. “But I could usually beat people running.”
That’s how Fonk decided she was a sprinter when she went out for track in the spring of her sophomore year. And that’s when she found out she was not. But it’s also how Fonk wound up becoming a PIL and state champion middle-distance runner, earning a scholarship to run collegiately and, in 2024, being inducted into the PIL Hall of Fame.
“To that point I was pretty dedicated to soccer and basketball and only decided to try track as a way to stay in shape for soccer,” she recalls. “In fact, I almost missed the deadline to register for track.”
Once she did join the team and got a look at its group of sprinters, Fonk says with a laugh, “I pretty quickly realized maybe I should try the 800 meters.”
It wasn't the last "maybe I should try" thought Fonk would entertain. The next fall, as a junior, she tried cross country and enjoyed immediate success running the longer 5,000-meter courses leading up to a second-place finish in the PIL championships, a feat she repeat her senior year.
Despite her success, Fonk says, “Cross country was a little long for me and, with the hills and mud, wasn’t as much my thing as track. But I enjoyed the team aspect of it. Working to get the lowest points possible for my team was really motivating. Some of the friends I made in cross country and track are among my closest friends to this day.”
Fonk’s cross-country achievements were even more impressive considering she played four years of soccer at Franklin, meaning she spent her last two fall seasons juggling both sports. (She also played basketball as a freshman and sophomore but made the “tough decision” to give up the sport over concerns an injury could derail her running career.)
Back on the track, Fonk quickly made her mark as one of the best middle-distance runners in the state. She was PIL champion in the 800m and 1500m in both her junior and senior years and capped her high school track career with a state championship in the 1500m and a third-place finish in the 800m.
“Running was never easy for me, but I guess I was fairly good at it,” Fonk understates. “It was painful, but it was pretty exciting when I did well. I remember the first 800 that I ran, I think at Lincoln, as a sophomore. Everyone was cheering for me and I ended up winning. I was dead by the end of it but after I caught my breath, I was like, This is kind of fun.”
Fighting Nerves
Despite the fun and her success, Fonk says she spent most of her running career battling more than just her competitors.
“I’d get really nervous before races,” she says. “As I got to bigger races, like at state, I’d be nervous and nauseous the whole day before I ran. It was something I had to work through, but when you get to finish line first, that’s what made it worth it.”
Fonk says her nerves where at a peak leading up to what she considers her biggest track accomplishment, winning the 1500m state title as a senior.
“Before the race, deep down I knew I could win it, but there was a Jesuit runner who was a pretty big favorite. I was so nervous going into the race, but I pulled away on the final lap and upset her. I remember running down the home stretch at Hayward Field thinking, I’m going to do this, and then I was thinking, What am I going to do then? I hadn’t thought about how to celebrate if I won,” she says, laughing.
Fonk turned her success at Franklin, which included being named a MAC Club Scholar Athlete as a sophomore, into a scholarship to the University of Portland, where she earned four letters in both cross country and track. Her college highlights include “chipping away” at her personal records in the 1500m, getting to travel out of state for races, qualifying for regional championships and enjoying the camaraderie of team sports.
She also met her future husband, David, at UP on the way to earning her bachelor’s degree in psychology in 2014 and a master’s in education the following year.
Fonk is currently (June 2026) on hiatus from her job as a school psychologist for Vancouver Public Schools while she spends time with her 11-month-old son, Teo. She’s also taking a short break from running, but plans to get back to it soon. When she does, she will be introducing Teo to the sport she excelled in. “I’ll be getting a running stroller,” she says.
Fonk’s current hobbies include playing on a women’s futsal (indoor soccer) team, yoga, attending Portland Thorns (and sometimes Timbers) games and satisfying her and David’s cravings for good food as often as possible.
“I’m not sure being foodies counts as hobby, but I count it,”she cracks.
As for being inducted into the PIL Hall of Fame, Fonk says she was both “surprised and honored. It was cool to go to the banquet and see all the people and what a production it is. It brought back some great memories that I hadn’t thought about for a while.”
Do you know Julia Fonk? If you’d like to reconnect, she can be reached at [email protected]
Member Spotlight
Julia Fonk (Franklin, 2010) had this idea she was going to be a sprinter. It turned out not to be the best idea she ever had, she now admits, but it would have been hard to blame her at the time for having it.
She deserves credit for deciding to try out for track in the first place considering up until her sophomore year at Franklin, her sports included pretty much everything except track.
“I was surrounded by sports at an early age,” Fonk says. “My dad (Mike) was a big Packers fan and Mom (Mary) was an Oregon State fan, so I grew up watching a lot of their games and Blazers games and other sports. My younger brother, Harrison, and I were always playing in the back yard, kicking a ball, throwing a football around, shooting baskets.”
All those sports, of course, involved running. And when she started playing team sports, Fonk says, the running part of them was a strong suit, especially in soccer.
“My footwork wasn’t that great and my other skills weren’t amazing,” she says. “But I could usually beat people running.”
That’s how Fonk decided she was a sprinter when she went out for track in the spring of her sophomore year. And that’s when she found out she was not. But it’s also how Fonk wound up becoming a PIL and state champion middle-distance runner, earning a scholarship to run collegiately and, in 2024, being inducted into the PIL Hall of Fame.
“To that point I was pretty dedicated to soccer and basketball and only decided to try track as a way to stay in shape for soccer,” she recalls. “In fact, I almost missed the deadline to register for track.”
Once she did join the team and got a look at its group of sprinters, Fonk says with a laugh, “I pretty quickly realized maybe I should try the 800 meters.”
It wasn't the last "maybe I should try" thought Fonk would entertain. The next fall, as a junior, she tried cross country and enjoyed immediate success running the longer 5,000-meter courses leading up to a second-place finish in the PIL championships, a feat she repeat her senior year.
Despite her success, Fonk says, “Cross country was a little long for me and, with the hills and mud, wasn’t as much my thing as track. But I enjoyed the team aspect of it. Working to get the lowest points possible for my team was really motivating. Some of the friends I made in cross country and track are among my closest friends to this day.”
Fonk’s cross-country achievements were even more impressive considering she played four years of soccer at Franklin, meaning she spent her last two fall seasons juggling both sports. (She also played basketball as a freshman and sophomore but made the “tough decision” to give up the sport over concerns an injury could derail her running career.)
Back on the track, Fonk quickly made her mark as one of the best middle-distance runners in the state. She was PIL champion in the 800m and 1500m in both her junior and senior years and capped her high school track career with a state championship in the 1500m and a third-place finish in the 800m.
“Running was never easy for me, but I guess I was fairly good at it,” Fonk understates. “It was painful, but it was pretty exciting when I did well. I remember the first 800 that I ran, I think at Lincoln, as a sophomore. Everyone was cheering for me and I ended up winning. I was dead by the end of it but after I caught my breath, I was like, This is kind of fun.”
Fighting Nerves
Despite the fun and her success, Fonk says she spent most of her running career battling more than just her competitors.
“I’d get really nervous before races,” she says. “As I got to bigger races, like at state, I’d be nervous and nauseous the whole day before I ran. It was something I had to work through, but when you get to finish line first, that’s what made it worth it.”
Fonk says her nerves where at a peak leading up to what she considers her biggest track accomplishment, winning the 1500m state title as a senior.
“Before the race, deep down I knew I could win it, but there was a Jesuit runner who was a pretty big favorite. I was so nervous going into the race, but I pulled away on the final lap and upset her. I remember running down the home stretch at Hayward Field thinking, I’m going to do this, and then I was thinking, What am I going to do then? I hadn’t thought about how to celebrate if I won,” she says, laughing.
Fonk turned her success at Franklin, which included being named a MAC Club Scholar Athlete as a sophomore, into a scholarship to the University of Portland, where she earned four letters in both cross country and track. Her college highlights include “chipping away” at her personal records in the 1500m, getting to travel out of state for races, qualifying for regional championships and enjoying the camaraderie of team sports.
She also met her future husband, David, at UP on the way to earning her bachelor’s degree in psychology in 2014 and a master’s in education the following year.
Fonk is currently (June 2026) on hiatus from her job as a school psychologist for Vancouver Public Schools while she spends time with her 11-month-old son, Teo. She’s also taking a short break from running, but plans to get back to it soon. When she does, she will be introducing Teo to the sport she excelled in. “I’ll be getting a running stroller,” she says.
Fonk’s current hobbies include playing on a women’s futsal (indoor soccer) team, yoga, attending Portland Thorns (and sometimes Timbers) games and satisfying her and David’s cravings for good food as often as possible.
“I’m not sure being foodies counts as hobby, but I count it,”she cracks.
As for being inducted into the PIL Hall of Fame, Fonk says she was both “surprised and honored. It was cool to go to the banquet and see all the people and what a production it is. It brought back some great memories that I hadn’t thought about for a while.”
Do you know Julia Fonk? If you’d like to reconnect, she can be reached at [email protected]
More On This Hall of Famer
Read about their career and accomplishments on their HoF profile page.
Other Featured Members
We have a catalog of dozens of featured members of the month.