2012 Cross Country Yearbook - Indiana State University Athletics

Indiana State Cross Country / Track & Field Coaching StaffJohn McNichols is set to begin his fourth decade ofcoaching cross country and track & field at Indiana Statewith the 2012-2013 academic year. The St. Charles, Iowa,native enters his 30th season as the Indiana State men’strack & field and cross country coach during the 2012-2013 campaign, and his 25th year as the coordinator of theSycamores’ combined men’s and women’s track & field andcross country programs.Since his arrival, the ISU men have won eight crosscountry titles, including three-straight Championships from2004-06 and again from 2009-2011, one Missouri ValleyConference indoor track & field title, and eight Missouri ValleyConference outdoor track and field titles including back-tobackchampionships in 2011 and 2012. In addition, McNicholshas led the Sycamores to the Indiana Intercollegiate crosscountry championship four times. Under his leadership,the combined men’s and women’s programs have won 28Missouri Valley Conference championships.The success of the Sycamore combined program has ledto numerous honors for the veteran coach. McNichols hasbeen named the MVC Cross Country Coach of the Year eighttimes (1996, 1998, 2004, 2005, 2006, 2009, 2010, 2011),MVC Indoor Track & Field Coach of the Year once (2011),and the MVC Outdoor Track and Field Coach of the Year ninetimes (1986, 1988, 1990, 1993, 1997, 2001, 2006, 2011,2012), the NCAA District V Outdoor Track and Field Coachof the Year four times (1988, 1993, 1997, 2001), and wasthe Great Lakes Region Cross Country Coach of the Year in2009.McNichols is just one of 11 coaches in the history of theMissouri Valley Conference to be named to the league’s trackand field All-Centennial Team. The veteran men’s coachjoins ISU women’s cross country head coach John Gartlandon the list to form the only coaching tandem in the leaguecurrently on the all-time list.The veteran coach was inducted into the Indiana Trackand Cross Country Coaches Hall of Fame in 2007 and theDrake Relays Coaching Hall of Fame in 2008.In addition to his team and personal accolades, the ISUprogram has had success on the national level. The men’strack & field team has been consistently ranked as one ofthe top programs in the nation during his tenure, finishing inthe top 20 three years in a row (1999 to 2001). At the NCAAIndoor Championships, the Sycamores placed 11th in 1990.With team success has also came individual successfor members of the team. On 25 occasions, McNichols hashad an All-American and six times a Sycamore has stoodon the second step of the awards stand at the nationalchampionships. He has coached a pair of national champions- Chris Lancaster in the 110-meter hurdles (1990) andAubrey Herring in the 60-meter hurdles (2001). ISU hurdlershave competed at the NCAA Championships 19 times duringMcNichols tenure. Also, men from Indiana State have mademany national teams and competed at the Olympic SummerGames, the Olympic Festival, Pan-American Games, WorldUniversity Games, and the World Championships.Page B2John McNichols - Men’s Cross Country / Track & Field Head CoachJOHN McNICHOLSCROSS COUNTRYand TRACK & FIELDCOORDINATOR –25th SeasonHEAD COACH MEN’SCROSS COUNTRY –30th SeasonHEAD COACH MEN’STRACK & FIELD –30th SeasonCurrent Sycamore hurdle Greggmar Swift competed inthe 2012 Summer Olympic Games in London as a member ofthe Barbados National Team. He is the first Sycamore track& field athlete to compete in the Summer Olympics and oneof just five Sycamore athletes to compete in the Olympics.Another of his prized pupils was Holli Hyche who wonseven-straight NCAA sprint championships and was a 10-timeAll-American. Hyche won two Indoor 55 meter titles, twoindoor 200 meter titles, two outdoor 100 meter titles, andone outdoor 200 meter title from 1993 through 1994. Twomembers of the Sycamore men’s team have been nationalchampions during McNichols tenure including seven-timeAll-American Aubrey Herring who won the 60 meter highhurdles indoor title in 2001 and three-time All-AmericanChris Lancaster who won the 110 meter high hurdles outdoortitle in 1990. Herring also finished second three times at thenationals during his career at Indiana State.His success has not gone unnoticed, primarily in thehurdles area. He served as the Hurdles Broad Event Chair(2000-2009) for the USATF Men’s Development Committeeand was 110 meter hurdles chair from 1989 to 1999. Withthis responsibility, he assisted and interacted with the nation’sbest hurdlers and their coaches who rank as the world’s best.A former hurdler himself, he handles that responsibility withthe Indiana State track and field staff.In addition to his success of coaching hurdlers andsprinters, McNichols has developed a national identity forthe Indiana State cross country program over the last 20-plus years. In that time, he has mentored 47 all-conferencerunners, 17 all-region selection and five runners whoadvanced to the NCAA Cross Country Championships: KyleHobbs (1991), Jason Gunn (1999 and 2000), Justin Kunz(2006), Scott Keeney (2008), and Eric Schulz (2009).Besides his team’s successes, one of his greatestaccomplishments to date has been the design anddevelopment of the finest cross country course in the nationat the Wabash Valley Family Sports Center in eastern VigoCounty. The course served as the site of the 2002 NCAADivision I Cross Country Championships and, after a year’sSycamore Cross Country 2011 Yearbook