A longtime fixture among the Sycamore community, Angela Martin is in her ninth season as the Program Director and Head Coach of the Indiana State track and field and cross country programs and 23rd season overall with the Sycamores.
Indiana State made program history in the 2023-24 season, winning all four MVC Track and Field Championships in the same season for the first time ever. Martin was named the MVC Men's and Women's Indoor and Outdoor Coach of the Year and also earned USTFCCCA Great Lakes Region Men's Outdoor Coach of the Year honors, while Indiana State earned a No. 1 Great Lakes region ranking during the indoor season, the program's first ever No.1 indoor ranking.
Indiana State's hurdle crew maintained its standard of excellence during the 2023-24 season, as Rachel Mehringer set the school record in the 100m hurdles (13.26) on her way to a top-20 finish at the NCAA East First Round. Mehringer swept the MVC 60m and 100m hurdles titles on the women's side, with Shanisa Stinson also earning all-conference honors in the 60m hurdles. Collin Forrest also ran a career-best 14.05 to win the 110m hurdles conference title, while Luigi Rivas clocked a career-best 7.92 60m hurdles time during indoor season. Indiana State also got an all-conference performance from Quincy Armstrong in the 60m hurdles at the indoor championships, with Riley Tuerff (60m hurdles indoors, 400m hurdles outdoors) and Parker Doyle (400m hurdles outdoors) also earning points for the Trees at conference championships.
Martin's Sycamores added on to the rich history of Indiana State track and field in the 2022-23 season, sweeping the MVC Men's Indoor and Outdoor Championships for a second successive campaign while earning top-three finishes on the women's side at both conference championships. She was named the MVC Men's Indoor Coach of the Year and the MVC Men's Outdoor Coach of the Year, while Indiana State's accomplishments during the 2023 outdoor season also saw her named the USTFCCCA Great Lakes Region Men's Outdoor Coach of the Year. Indiana State earned its first-ever No. 1 Great Lakes regional ranking during the 2023 outdoor season.
The 2022-23 season saw Indiana State's hurdles group continue to be among the best in the conference, as Zoe Sullivan and Ryann Porter took the top two spots in the women's 60m hurdles at the MVC Indoor Championships. Porter also earned all-conference honors in the 100m hurdles at the MVC Outdoor Championships, while Riley Tuerff earned all-conference honors in the 400m hurdles for the second straight season at the MVC Outdoor Championships. Not to be outdone, Quincy Armstrong and Luigi Rivas picked up all-conference honors in the 400m hurdles and 110m hurdles, respectively, at the MVC Outdoor Championships as part of a wire-to-wire team title for Indiana State. Sullivan, Porter and Tuerff all climbed their way up the program top-10 charts for the women, while Rivas and Armstrong found their way on the top-10 charts for the men.
Indiana State's men's long sprints group also had a strong 2022-23 campaign under Martin, as Tahj Johnson (400m) and Wyatt Wyman (600m and 800m) climbed into the top-three in program history during the Sycamores' stalwart indoor campaign. Wyman earned all-conference honors in the 800m in his final MVC Indoor Championship for the Blue and White with a runner-up finish in the event. Indiana State's 4x400m relay team clinched the Sycamores' MVC Indoor Title despite missing multiple key pieces due to injury, while the outdoor 4x400m relay team earned all-conference honors as part of another MVC Championship for the Sycamore men.
The 2021-22 season saw the Sycamores rise to dominant heights, as Indiana State won three of the four MVC Track and Field Championships contested. Indiana State swept the indoor championships for the third time in program history and first since 2015, while the Sycamores also won the MVC Men’s Outdoor Track & Field Championship for the first time since 2014. Martin was named MVC Men’s Indoor Coach of the Year, MVC Women’s Indoor Coach of the Year and MVC Men’s Outdoor Coach of the Year after helping guide the Sycamores back to the top of the Missouri Valley Conference in 2022. Her achievements during indoor season also earned her USTFCCCA Great Lakes Region Women’s Indoor Coach of the Year honors after ending Illinois State’s four-year run atop the MVC on the women’s side.
Indiana State’s women’s run to the 2022 MVC Indoor Championship under Martin was one of the more improbable runs in recent times in the MVC. The Sycamores didn’t receive a first-place vote and were picked third entering the championships, but rode the momentum from a huge opening day to take the trophy home. Martin coached Iyanla Hunter to all-conference honors in the 400-meter after she was seeded outside the top-10, while the 4x400-meter relay team also earned a top-three finish. Ryann Porter was a jack-of-all trades for the Trees, earning all-conference honors in three different events, including the 60-meter hurdles under Martin’s direction, on her way to being named MVC Most Valuable Athlete and MVC Freshman of the Year. Seeking redemption after narrowly missing out on the team title in 2021, Martin led the Sycamore men back to the top of the MVC in 2022. Tahj Johnson and Wyatt Wyman earned all-conference nods under Martin’s direction in the 400-meter and 800-meter, respectively, while the men’s 4x400-meter relay team earned a top-three finish after missing out on the podium the previous season.
ISU’s 2022 outdoor season saw the Sycamore men complete its first indoor-outdoor sweep on the men’s side since 2014, with the women placing second. The Sycamores overcame a 24.5-point deficit on the final day of competition for their 11th men’s outdoor title in program history. Martin coached hurdlers Luigi Rivas and Quincy Armstrong to all-conference honors in the 110-meter and 400-meter hurdles, respectively, with both using their times from the conference championships to qualify for regionals. The men’s 4x400-meter relay team put together a third-place showing as the final event of the day to clinch the championship. On the women’s side, Martin coached Zoe Sullivan and Riley Tuerff to all-conference nods in the 100-meter hurdles and 400-meter hurdles. The Sycamores’ success during the outdoor season didn’t go unnoticed, as 12 athletes qualified for the NCAA East Preliminary Round, the most since Martin took the reins of both programs.
The 2020-21 season saw Martin guide the Sycamore men to a second-place finish at the MVC Championships while the women took fourth. Martin coached Matthew Lewis Banks to his second consecutive 60-meter hurdles title, where he was also named the MVC Most Outstanding Male Track Athlete. Johnson and Will Smith earned all-conference honors on the men’s side in the 400-meter and 800-meter, respectively, while Porter earned all-conference honors for the Sycamore women in the 60-meter hurdles.
Indiana State placed third on the women’s side and fourth on the men’s side at the 2021 MVC Outdoor Championships. Lewis Banks maintained his spot atop the conference in the hurdles events, as he took the 110-meter hurdles crown under Martin’s watch. The Sycamores also continued to showcase their talents on the biggest stage, as Porter advanced to the NCAA Outdoor National Championships in the triple jump and qualified for the US Olympic Trials.
During the 2020 indoor season, Martin oversaw the return of the nickname 'Hurdle U' to the Sycamores. Martin coached Allana Ince to the women's 60-meter hurdle title, making it back-to-back titles in the event for the Sycamore women, as Ince ran the second-fastest time in school history of 8.40. Ince was named the MVC Most Outstanding Female Track Athlete. She also coached Lewis-Banks to the men's 60-meter hurdle title, making it the first victory in the event since Marcus Neely in 2017.
The 2019 indoor season saw the Sycamore women capture a runner-up finish and the men place third. Martin saw five MVC champions during the meet to go along with an additional 16 All-MVC honorees. Jack-of-all-trades Ayanna Morgan was named the Most Valuable Female Athlete and Most Outstanding Track Athlete while Erin Reese was named Most Outstanding Female Field Athlete. Reese went on to compete at the NCAA Indoor Championships where she placed fourth in the weight throw, giving the Sycamores a ranking of 41st nationally to end the year.
Indiana State placed third on both the men's and women's sides during the outdoor season, but claimed five individual titles to go along with 17 All-MVC honorees. Reese was once again named the Most Outstanding Female Field Athlete for winning the hammer and discus throws and Martin would send four athletes to the NCAA East Preliminary Round (Akis Medrano, Riley Smith, Erin Reese Cassaundra Roper). Reese and Roper qualified for the NCAA Outdoor Championships, representing ISU in all three circle throwing events. Reese finished as the NCAA runner-up in the hammer throw and earned Second Team All-American honors in the discus throw. Roper also captured Second Team All-American honors in the shot put.
Martin replaced another Sycamore legend in John Gartland as the women’s head coach for the track team in the fall of 2010, and during her tenure the Sycamores continued the culture of excellence Gartland and McNichols began. Over those six seasons, Martin’s Sycamores won two NCAA titles (both from Olympian Felisha Johnson in the weight throw), earned 26 All-American awards, sent 31 to the NCAA National Championships, won three MVC team titles (2013 Outdoor, 2014 Indoor, 2015 Indoor), won 67 MVC individual titles and earned 192 All-MVC honors.
Martin originally joined the Indiana State staff in the fall of 2002 under McNichols and Gartland. During her time as an assistant coach from the 2003 season until her final year in 2010 before being named the women’s head coach, Martin coached two First-Team All-Americans, eight NCAA national qualifiers, 31 MVC Champions and 99 All-MVC honorees.
She began her coaching career at Lawrence North High School in Indianapolis in 2002, where she coached multiple state qualifiers in the 4x400 meter relay and the high jump while also coaching state runners-up in the 400-meters and the 4x800-meter relay.
Martin graduated from Indiana State with a bachelor’s in art education and a minor in physical education in 2002 following an impressive career with the Sycamores on and off the track from 1997-2001. Then known as Angela Bruecker, Martin was an All-American 800-meter runner indoors, finishing eighth at the 2000 NCAA Indoor Championships running what was then a school and MVC all-time indoor record of 2:06.19 (eventually broken by two of her own pupils, Erica Moore (2009, 2:04.94) and Alethia Marrero (2015, 2:04.73). During her senior season she was awarded the prestigious Hillman Award for being the best senior student-athlete at Indiana State that year. Martin then went on to earn her master’s from Indiana State in physical education in 2006 while working as an assistant coach.
She was also named as a member of the MVC All-Centennial team in 2007 following four MVC titles in her career – three times in the 400-meter hurdles outdoors and once in the 800 indoors – and three appearances on the MVC Scholar-Athlete Team. Martin was the first in MVC history to win three 400-meter hurdles titles, and only two have done so since – one being her pupil Erica Moore. Martin’s exploits helped the Sycamores to three MVC team titles (1998-99 outdoors, 2001 indoors) during her time on the squad. In the all-time record book, Martin still ranks in the top-10 indoors in the 800-meter (third, 2:06.19), 600-meter (third, 1:32.01) and 4x400-meter relay (ninth, 3:47.49), and outdoors in the 800-meter (third, 2:06.05), 400-meter hurdles (fourth, 59.99), shuttle hurdle relay (third, 58.31; fourth, 58.50; sixth, 59.34; eighth, 59.55), sprint medley relay (fifth, 3:57.13; sixth, 3:58.41) and the 4x400-meter relay (ninth, 3:42.80). During her career she set school-records in both the indoor and outdoor 800 as well as the outdoor 400-meter hurdles.
In addition to her coaching responsibilities, Martin also serves as the secretary for the USTFCCCA NCAA Division I Track and Field Executive Committee.
Martin hails from Seymour, Wisconsin, where she was a state champion in the 100-meter hurdles and two-time state champion in the 300-meter hurdles for Seymour High School, and held the state record in the 300-meter hurdles for 15 years from 1997-2013.
Martin and her husband, fellow Indiana State coach and former Sycamore great Jeff Martin, live in Terre Haute with their three children, Emma, Blake and Saige.
WHAT THEY’VE SAID…
“Our program has been in good hands for decades, and I am pleased to announce that our program will stay in the good hands of Angie Martin. She embraces the rich tradition of the program, but is also determined to start a new tradition of her own that will take the program to new heights.”
- Indiana State Director of Athletics Sherard Clinkscales
“Coach Martin was a fierce competitor as a student-athlete, and I’ve watched her become a well-respected head coach in our conference, as well as at the national level. I am excited to see her take the reins and continue our strong tradition of success in the sports of cross country and track and field while placing her own unique stamp on our program.”
- Indiana State Senior Associate Athletic Director and Senior Woman Administrator Angie Lansing
“I was delighted to hear that Sherard has made the decision to elevate Angie to the position of director of track and field and cross country. John [McNichols] and I wanted this to happen eventually once we saw her coaching abilities in 2002 when she joined our staff. We saw greatness in her right from the beginning. I’m sorry the tragic passing of John sped up this process. I recruited Angie to come to ISU twenty years ago, and she has never really left. She has gone from All-American athlete to assistant coach to head women’s coach taking my place and now to director of track and field and cross country. During her time here, she has been excellent in every role she has taken on. Perhaps her finest work has occurred during the past five months since John’s passing. As interim director, she has held the team and the staff together well during a very difficult time. Her tough, yet caring, leadership has allowed us to continue at a high competitive level – exactly what John would have wanted. I hope to continue to help her in any way that I can.”
- Former Indiana State Head Women’s Track and Field and Cross Country Coach and current Volunteer Assistant Coach John Gartland
Angela Martin – By the Numbers:
Program Director and Head Coach, Men’s and Women’s Track/Cross Country, 2017-Present
Head Women’s Coach, 2011-16
Assistant Coach, 2003-2010
- 1 Olympian – Felisha Johnson, Team USA, shot put, Rio 2016
- 2 NCAA Champions – Felisha Johnson, indoor weight throw, 2011 and 2013
- 35 All-Americans – 16 First-Team honorees (12 indoor, 20 outdoor)
- 52 NCAA National Qualifiers – 16 indoor, 36 outdoor
- 8 MVC Team Titles – 2013 Outdoor (W), 2014 Indoor (W), 2015 Indoor (W), 2022 Indoor (M), 2022 Indoor (W), 2022 Outdoor (M), 2023 Indoor (M), 2023 Outdoor (M)
- 159 MVC Champions
- 520 All-MVC
- 9 XC All-MVC
Martin as Women’s Head Coach (2011-16):
- 2 NCAA Champions – Felisha Johnson, indoor weight throw, 2011 and 2013
- 26 All-Americans – 12 First-Team Honorees (10 indoor, 14 outdoor)
- 31 NCAA National Qualifiers – 9 indoor, 22 outdoor
- 3 MVC Team Titles - 2013 Outdoor, 2014 Indoor, 2015 Indoor
- 67 MVC Champions
- 192 All-MVC
Martin in the MVC Championships:
Womens's Indoor Track and Field
2023 - Third Place
2022 - MVC Champions
2021 - Fourth Place
2020 - Fourth Place
2019 - MVC Runner-Up
2018 - MVC Runner-Up
2017 - Third Place
2016 - Fourth Place
2015 - MVC Champions
2014 - MVC Champions
2013 - MVC Runner-Up
2012 - Fifth Place
2011 - Fourth Place
Men's Indoor Track and Field
2023 - MVC Champions
2022 - MVC Champions
2021 - MVC Runner-Up
2020 - Fourth Place
2019 - Third Place
2018 - MVC Runner-Up
2017 - Fifth Place
Women's Outdoor Track and Field
2023 - Third Place
2022 - MVC Runner-Up
2021 - Third Place
2020 - Season Canceled
2019 - Third Place
2018 - Second Place
2017 - Fourth Place
2016 - Sixth Place
2015 - MVC Runner-Up
2014 - MVC Runner-Up
2013 - MVC Champions
2012 - Fourth Place
2011 - Fourth Place
Men's Outdoor Track and Field
2023 - MVC Champions
2022 - MVC Champions
2021 - Fourth Place
2020 - Season Canceled
2019 - Third Place
2018 - Third Place
2017 - Fourth Place
Martin as an Assistant Coach (2003-2010):
- 2 All-Americans – Erica Moore in 2010, indoor 800m (9th) outdoor 400mH (6th)
- 8 NCAA National Qualifiers (5 indoor, 3 outdoor)
- 31 MVC Champions
- 99 All-MVC
Martin as a Student-Athlete (1997-2001):
- 2007 MVC All-Centennial Team
- First-Team All-American – 2000 NCAA Indoor (800m, 8th Place)
- Two-time NCAA qualifier
- 2001 USATF Indoor qualifier (finished 4th in the 800m)
- Five-time MVC Champion (three 400mH outdoors, one indoor 4x400m relay, one 800m indoors)
- Three-time MVC Scholar-Athlete
- First three-time MVC 400-meter hurdles champion in Valley history
- Was part of three MVC title teams (1998-99 outdoors, 2001 indoors)
- 2002 Hillman Award recipient
- Set school-records in indoor 800m (2:06.19), outdoor 800m (2:06.05) and 400m hurdles (59.99)
- Set all-time MVC Indoor record in 800m at 2:06.19
- Still ranks in school top-10 indoors in the 800-meter (third, 2:06.19), 600-meter (third, 1:32.01), 4x400-meter relay (ninth, 3:47.49)
- Still ranks in school top-10 outdoors in the 800-meter (third, 2:06.05), 400-meter hurdles (fourth, 59.99), shuttle hurdle relay (third, 58.31; fourth, 58.50; sixth, 59.34; eighth, 59.55), sprint medley relay (fifth, 3:57.13; sixth, 3:58.41) and the 4x400-meter relay (ninth, 3:42.80)
