NEW ORLEANS - Legendary Sycamore track and field and cross country head coach John McNichols will be inducted into the U.S Track & Field and Cross Country Coaches Association (USTFCCCA) Coaches Hall of Fame as part of the Class of 2018, the USTFCCCA announced Tuesday afternoon.
 
Started in 1995, the USTFCCCA Coaches Hall of Fame exists to recognize coaches who have brought great distinction to themselves, to their institutions and to the sports of cross country and track & field. Each of the honorees exemplifies the qualities of dedication to the sport, leadership and passion for their profession and serves as an inspiration to coaches everywhere.
 
McNichols was named the head men's track & field and cross country coach at Indiana State in 1983, and despite many opportunities over the years to leave for higher-level jobs, he remained for 34 years until his death in 2016. With the addition of close friend John Gartland as the women's head coach in 1988, McNichols took over the combined men's and women's program the following season in 1989-90 in a joint effort with Gartland to more efficiently run the program.
 
In 34 years as the men's head coach and 28 seasons as the director of the combined program, McNichols coached in 100 total Missouri Valley Conference Championships (33 indoor, 33 outdoor, 34 cross country), taking home 38 total team titles -- 11 cross country titles (nine men, two women), 10 indoor track titles (six women, four men) and 17 outdoor track titles (10 men, seven women).
 
McNichols was named MVC Coach of the Year 23 times for his 23 men's titles, which does little to show just how much success the McNichols-led Sycamores had in the Valley. During his career, he coached 456 MVC Track Champions (251 women, 205 men), eight MVC Cross Country Champions (four men, four women), 355 Track MVC Scholar-Athletes (201 women, 154 men) and 110 Cross Country MVC Scholar-Athletes (56 men, 54 women). In addition, McNichols is just one of 11 coaches in Valley history to be named to the MVC All-Centennial Team (unveiled in 2007). He was named alongside Gartland, the only coaching duo to make the list. McNichols coached 37 members of that MVC All-Centennial Team.
 
McNichols' success wasn't limited to the conference level, though, as he brought Indiana State national prestige in both track and cross country. During his career he coached 15 NCAA Track Champions, 113 All-Americans (across both track and cross), 173 NCAA Track National Qualifiers (98 women, 75 men) and 13 NCAA Cross Country National Qualifiers (10 men, three women). McNichols and Gartland-led track teams also finished in the top-25 nationally 16 times (11 women, five men), which included two incredible streaks: four-straight top-15 finishes for the Sycamore women during the 1993-94 seasons (three of which were top-10) and four top-25 finishes for the men from 1999-2001. The men had an all-time high finish of 11th indoors in 1990 in Indianapolis and the women finished tied for fifth at the 1993 indoor championships, also in Indianapolis.
 
However, McNichols' crowning achievement was his vision and then execution of designing and constructing what became the LaVern Gibson Championship Cross Country Course in Terre Haute. On the site of an abandoned coal mine turned landfill, McNichols and the local Gibson family of Terre Haute saw what could become a championship cross country course. After years of designing, LaVern Gibson was awarded the 2002 NCAA Division I Cross Country Championships (and, by extension, the Pre-National Invitational), the first of 12 national meets to be hosted.
 
With plenty of parking and a fan-friendly atmosphere, LaVern Gibson stands as one of, if not the, nicest cross country course in the United States. One of the finest perks of the course, which was McNichols' vision, is that fans and coaches alike can see up to 90 percent of the race with an uninhibited view from trees and other obstacles, thus fulfilling McNichols' hopes to help make cross country a more accessible sport to the public.
 
Entering the USTFCCCA Coaches Hall of Fame alongside McNichols will be Dr. Artis Davenport, Karen Dennis, Ron Mann, Damon Martin and Dan Pfaff. These six will be enshrined in the Coaches Hall of Fame, for not only their incredible and historic accomplishments as cross country and/or track & field coaches, but also the long-lasting impact their contributions have had and will continue to have on the sports they coached.
 
The 2018 Hall of Fame Class will be honored at the 2018 USTFCCCA Hall of Fame Induction Ceremony on Tuesday, December 18, at the USTFCCCA Convention in San Antonio, Texas at the JW Marriott San Antonio Hill Country Resort & Spa.
 
John McNichols - By the Numbers
Men's Head Coach, 1983-2016
Men's and Women's Program Coordinator, 1989-2016
- 34 seasons at Indiana State - longest tenured coach in school history
- 38 MVC team titles; 11 cross country (nine men, two women), 10 indoor track (six women, four men), 17 outdoor track (10 men, seven women)
- 23-time MVC Coach of the Year
- Six-time regional coach of the year (District V: 1988, 1993, 1997, 2001; Great Lakes: 2009, 2013)
- 37 members of MVC All-Centennial Team (13 men's track, 10 women's track, 10 men's XC, four women's XC)
- 15 NCAA Track Champions
- 10 NCAA Runners-Up
- 113 All-Americans - 46 men's track, 64 women's track, two men's XC, one women's XC
- 16 NCAA Top-25 team finishes (11 women, 5 men)
- 173 NCAA Track Qualifiers (98 women, 75 men)
- 13 NCAA XC National Qualifiers (10 men, three women)
- 456 MVC Track Champions (94 men indoor, 111 men outdoor, 108 women indoor, 143 women outdoor)
- Eight XC MVC Champions (four men, four women)
- 35 XC All-Region (23 men, 12 women)
- 54 XC All-MVC (37 men, 16 women)
- 355 Track MVC Scholar-Athletes (154 men, 201 women)
- 110 XC MVC Scholar-Athletes (56 men, 54 women)
- 38 Academic All-American XC Teams (21 women, 17 men)
- Nine XC Academic All-Americans (six women, three men)
- Two Olympians (Felisha Johnson, Team USA, Rio 2016; Greggmar Swift, Barbados, London 2012)
 
John McNichols - Career Highlights
- Meet Official, 1984 Summer Olympics, Los Angeles
- Meet Official, 1987 Pan-American Games, Indianapolis
- Meet Official, 1988 U.S. Olympic Trials, Indianapolis
- Head Marshal, 1996 Summer Olympics, Atlanta
- Five-time men's commissioner of U.S. Olympic Festival
- USA Track & Field Men's Development Committee Hurdles Broad Event Chair, 2000-09
- USATF 110-Meter Hurdles Chair, 1989-99
- Chair of NCAA Rules Committee, 2012-2016
- NCAA Division I Track & Field Subcommittee, 2010
- Architect of the LaVern Gibson Championship Cross Country Course, site of 12 NCAA Division I Cross Country Championships
- Helped in development of Gibson Track & Field Complex, the first project of the Terre Haute riverscape development
- Helped in the development and maintenance of the Wabashiki Trail and Heritage Trail
- 2007 Indiana Association of Track & Cross Country Coaches Hall of Fame
- 2008 Drake Relays Coaching Hall of Fame
 
For the latest information on the Sycamore Track & Field teams, make sure to check out GoSycamores.com. You can also find the team on social media including Facebook and Twitter.