<strong>Indiana</strong> <strong>State</strong> <strong>Cross</strong> <strong>Country</strong> / Track & Field Coaching StaffJohn McNichols is set to begin his fourth decade ofcoaching cross country and track & field at <strong>Indiana</strong> <strong>State</strong>with the <strong>2012</strong>-2013 academic year. The St. Charles, Iowa,native enters his 30th season as the <strong>Indiana</strong> <strong>State</strong> men’strack & field and cross country coach during the <strong>2012</strong>-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 <strong>2012</strong>. In addition, McNicholshas led the Sycamores to the <strong>Indiana</strong> 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 <strong>Cross</strong> <strong>Country</strong> 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,<strong>2012</strong>), the NCAA District V Outdoor Track and Field Coachof the Year four times (1988, 1993, 1997, 2001), and wasthe Great Lakes Region <strong>Cross</strong> <strong>Country</strong> 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 <strong>Indiana</strong> Trackand <strong>Cross</strong> <strong>Country</strong> 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 <strong>Indiana</strong> <strong>State</strong> have mademany national teams and competed at the Olympic SummerGames, the Olympic Festival, Pan-American Games, World<strong>University</strong> Games, and the World Championships.Page B2John McNichols - Men’s <strong>Cross</strong> <strong>Country</strong> / 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 <strong>2012</strong> 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 <strong>Indiana</strong> <strong>State</strong>.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 <strong>Indiana</strong> <strong>State</strong> track and field staff.In addition to his success of coaching hurdlers andsprinters, McNichols has developed a national identity forthe <strong>Indiana</strong> <strong>State</strong> 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 <strong>Cross</strong> <strong>Country</strong> 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 <strong>Cross</strong> <strong>Country</strong> Championships and, after a year’sSycamore <strong>Cross</strong> <strong>Country</strong> 2011 <strong>Yearbook</strong>
<strong>Indiana</strong> <strong>State</strong> <strong>Cross</strong> <strong>Country</strong> / Track & Field Coaching StaffJohn McNichols - Men’s <strong>Cross</strong> <strong>Country</strong> / Track & Field Head Coachabsence, served as the host for the NCAA Championshipsfrom 2003 through 2011. The NCAA Championship returnsto <strong>Indiana</strong> <strong>State</strong> in 2013. During the years that <strong>Indiana</strong> <strong>State</strong>has hosted the National Championships, the course was alsohosted the largest cross country meet of the season, thePre-Nationals, which brought together the top teams andtop individuals from throughout the United <strong>State</strong>s to run onthe same day and on the same course.Additionally, the course has served as the host of fourNCAA Great Lakes Regional meets,the Missouri Valley ConferenceChampionships on three occasions,and the <strong>Indiana</strong> Intercollegiates onfive occasions.The St. Charles, Iowa, nativegraduated from <strong>Indiana</strong> <strong>University</strong> withhis bachelor’s in 1972 and his master’sin 1977. Prior to coming to ISU in1983, he enjoyed a successful stint asthe head boy’s track and field coachat Bloomington North High School inBloomington, Ind.Throughout his years at <strong>Indiana</strong><strong>State</strong>, McNichols has been active inmany of the nations and the world’stop meets. He served as a meet officialMVC <strong>Cross</strong> <strong>Country</strong>Year Place Points2011 1st 342010 1st 252009 1st 322008 2nd 402007 3rd 732006 1st 502005 1st 352004 T-1st 482003 7th 1632002 5th 1102001 3rd 902000 3rd 641999 3rd 801998 1st 681997 4th 971996 1st 591995 3rd 1041994 3rd 641993 4th 821992 5th 1261991 5th 1371990 5th 1181989 3rd 871988 2nd 561987 4th 971986 3rd 821985 3rd 911984 4th 961983 6th 150MVC Indoor Track & FieldYear Place Points<strong>2012</strong> 2nd 137.002011 1st 139.502010 4th 1092009 2nd 128.502008 4th 1082007 2nd 1452006 2nd 1242005 2nd 91.502004 5th 512003 4th 802002 3rd 832001 2nd 942000 2nd 971999 3rd 831998 3rd 75.671997 2nd 1031996 3rd 731995 2nd 97.501994 4th 781993 3rd 931992 3rd 95.501991 3rd 961990 2nd 1521989 2nd 1371988 3rd 1201987 2nd 1251986 3rd 81.671985 5th 551984 3rd 66.50in the 1984 Olympic Games (Los Angeles, Calif.), the 1987Pan-American Games (<strong>Indiana</strong>polis, Ind.) and the 1988U.S. Olympic Trials (<strong>Indiana</strong>polis, Ind.). In 1996, he servedas a head marshal at the Olympic Games in Atlanta, Ga.Additionally, he served as the men’s commissioner of the U.S.Olympic Festivals held in Raleigh/Durham (N.C.), OklahomaCity (Okla.), Minneapolis (Minn.), Los Angeles (Calif.) andSan Antonio (Texas).He has also served on the national staffs on fouroccasions. In 1995, he served as anassistant coach for the North Team atthe U.S. Olympic Festival in ColoradoSprings, Colo. He also served as thehead coach for the U.S. men’s team atthe 2011 and 1999 Junior Pan-Am Trackand Field Championships and served asthe distance coach for the 2005 U.S.team at the Junior Pan-American Trackand Field Championships in Windsor,Ontario. Most recently, McNicholsserved as an assistant coach for sprintsand hurdles for the U.S. Track and Fieldteam at the 2007 Pan American Gamesheld in Rio, Brazil. He was selected toserve on the NCAA Division I Track &Field Subcommittee in 2010.MVC Outdoor Track & FieldYear Place Points<strong>2012</strong> 1st 187.502011 1st 1682010 4th 1102009 3rd 173.002008 4th 145.52007 2nd 193.502006 1st 1672005 3rd 962004 3rd 1202003 4th 852002 4th 85.332001 1st 1752000 2nd 1331999 3rd 1291998 4th 1041997 1st 1271996 3rd 1011995 4th 961994 4th 931993 1st 1391992 3rd 1121991 3rd 1201990 1st 1651989 2nd 1511988 1st 1711987 3rd 106.501986 2nd 155.671985 5th 721984 4th 72Sycamore <strong>Cross</strong> <strong>Country</strong> 2011 <strong>Yearbook</strong>Page B3