 Born in Santa Tecla, Mariona moved with his parents to Izalco while still a boy and started a youth swimming career there, in the end winning a silver medal in a 4x100 m relief competition in Puerto Rico.He then began his footballing career at Mario Calvo in the third division and moved up to the Primera División de Fútbol de El Salvador when he joined Atlante.But he spent the major part of his career at Salvadoran giants Alianza and also played for Platense Zacatecoluca, after which he retired in 1977 and became a coach.