Marissa Pariseau is in her second year as assistant head coach of the Willlamette cross country and track and field teams starting, after serving as an assistant coach with the Bearcats for four years. She joined Willamette after receiving a master's degree in Sport and Exercise Psychology from Springfield College (Mass.) in 2017. She earned a bachelor's degree in Zoology at the State University of New York at Oswego in 2015.

While completing her master's degree at Springfield College, Pariseau coached Courtney Luscier to a fourth place finish in the 60-meter dash at the 2017 NCAA Division III Indoor Track and Field Championships. Pariseau also helped Luscier earn a ranking of 19th on the NCAA Division III performance list in the 100-meter dash during the outdoor season.

As a track and field athlete at SUNY Oswego, Parisaeu competed in the 400-meter dash. She set individual school records in the indoor 400-meter and 500-meter races as well as the outdoor 400-meter dash. She competed on record-breaking relay teams in the indoor 4 x 400-meter relay, the indoor distance medley relay and the outdoor 4 x 400-meter relay. She was a team captain for three years.

Her master's degree at Springfield College included research on the effect of imagery on performance in distance runners.