The success and tradition of the Indiana State University track & field and cross country programs has centered upon John McNichols for over a quarter of a century. The St. Charles, Iowa, native enters his 27th season as the Indiana State men’s track & field and cross country coach during the 2009-2010 campaign, and his 22nd year as the coordinator of the Sycamores’ combined men’s and women’s track & field and cross country programs.

Since his arrival, the ISU men have won six Missouri Valley Conference outdoor track and field titles and six cross country titles, including three-straight Cross Country Championships from 2004-06. In addition, McNichols has also led the Sycamores to the Indiana Intercollegiate cross country championship four times. Under his leadership, the combined men’s and women’s programs have won 24 Missouri Valley Conference championships.

The success of the Sycamores has led to numerous honors for the veteran coach. McNichols has been named the MVC Outdoor Track and Field Coach of the Year seven times (1986-1988-1990-1993-1997-2001-2006), the NCAA District V Outdoor Track and Field Coach of the Year four times (1988-1993-1997-2001), and has been named the MVC Cross Country Coach of the Year six times (1996, 1998, 2004-06, 2009). He was also named the Great Lakes Region Cross Country Coach of the Year in 2009.

McNichols is just one of 11 coaches in the history of the Missouri Valley Conference to be named to the league’s track and field All-Centennial Team.  The veteran men’s coach joins ISU women’s head coach John Gartland on the list to form the only coaching tandem in the league currently on the all-time list.

The veteran coach was inducted into the Indiana Track and Cross Country Coaches Hall of Fame in 2007 and was inducted into the Drake Relays Coaching Hall of Fame in 2008.

In addition to his team and personal accolades, the ISU program has had success on the national level. The men’s track & field team has been consistently ranked as one of the top programs in the nation during his tenure, finishing in the top 20 three years in a row (1999 to 2001). At the NCAA Indoor Championships, the Sycamores placed 11th in 1990.

With team success has also came individual success for members of the team. On 25 occasions, McNichols has had an All-American and six times a Sycamore has stood on the second step of the awards stand at the national championships. He has coached a pair of national champions - Chris Lancaster in 1990 in the 110-meter hurdles and Aubrey Herring in 2001 in the 60-meter hurdles. ISU hurdlers have competed at the NCAA Championships 18 times during McNichols tenure. Also, men from Indiana State have made many national teams and competed at the Olympic Festival, Pan-American Games, World University Games, and the World Championships.

One of his prized pupils was Holli Hyche who won seven-straight NCAA sprint championships and was a 10-time All-American. Hyche won two Indoor 55 meter titles, two indoor 200 meter titles, two outdoor 100 meter titles, and one outdoor 200 meter title from 1993 through 1994. Two members of the Sycamore men’s team have been national champions during McNichols tenure including seven-time All-American Aubrey Herring who won the 60 meter high hurdles indoor title in 2001 and three-time All-American Chris Lancaster who won the 110 meter high hurdles outdoor title in 1990. Herring also finished second three times at the nationals during his career at Indiana State.

His success has not gone unnoticed, primarily in the hurdles area. He served as the Hurdles Broad Event Chair (2000-2009) for the USATF Men’s Development Committee and was 10 meter hurdles chair from 1989 to 1999. With this responsibility, he assisted and interacted with the nation’s best hurdlers and their coaches who rank as the world’s best. A former hurdler himself, he handles that responsibility with the Indiana State track and field staff.

In addition to his success of coaching hurdlers and sprinters, McNichols has developed a national identity for the Indiana State cross country program over the last 20-plus years.  In that time, he has mentored 39 all-conference runners, 15 all-region selection and five runners who advanced to the NCAA Cross Country Championships: Kyle Hobbs (1991), Jason Gunn (1999 and 2000), Justin Kunz (2006), Scott Keeney (2008), and Eric Schulz (2009).

Besides his team’s successes on the course, one of his greatest accomplishments to date has been the design and development of the nations finest cross country course at the Wabash Valley Family Sports Center. The course served as the site of the 2002 NCAA Division I Cross Country Championships. After a year’s absence, the course has served as the host for the NCAA Championships from 2003 through 2010. During the years that Indiana State has hosted the National Championships, the course as also hosted the largest cross country meet of the season, the Pre-Nationals, which brought together the top teams and top individuals from throughout the United States to run on the same day and on the same course.

Additionally, the course has served as the host of four NCAA Great Lakes Regional meets, the Missouri Valley Conference Championships on two occasions, and the Indiana Intercollegiates on five occasions.

The St. Charles, Iowa, native graduated from Indiana University with his bachelor’s in 1972 and his master’s in 1977. Prior to coming to ISU in 1983, he enjoyed a successful stint as the head boy’s track and field coach at Bloomington North High School in Bloomington, Ind.

Throughout his years at Indiana State, McNichols has been active in many of the nations and the world’s top meets. He served as a meet official in the 1984 Olympic Games (Los Angeles, Calif.), the 1987 Pan-American Games (Indianapolis, Ind.) and the 1988 U.S. Olympic Trials (Indianapolis, Ind.). In 1996, he served as 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.), Oklahoma City (Okla.), Minneapolis (Minn.), Los Angeles (Calif.) and San Antonio (Texas).

He has also served on the national staffs on four occasions. In 1995, he served as an assistant coach for the North Team at the U.S. Olympic Festival in Colorado Springs, Colorado.  He also served as the head coach for the U.S. men’s team at the 1999 Junior Pan-Am Track and Field Championships and served as the distance coach for the 2005 U.S. team at the Junior Pan-American Track and Field Championships in Windsor, Ontario.  Most recently, McNichols served as an assistant coach for sprints and hurdles for the U.S. Track and Field team at the 2007 Pan American Games held in Rio, Brazil.