Indiana University Athletics
Track and Field Community Mourns Passing of John McNichols
12/21/2016 1:41:00 PM | Cross Country, Track and Field
BLOOMINGTON, Ind. - John McNichols passed away this morning, Indiana State Athletics announced through its Twitter account Wednesday morning. McNichols suffered a stroke earlier in the week. Coach McNichols was just 66 years of age.
"The passing of John McNichols will have an impact not only on his family and friends outside of the sport of track and field but will have a far reaching impact on many, many of us in the track and field world, said head coach Ron Helmer. It was obvious he was committed to the sport, to its future health and to the athletes he coached and mentored over the years. He was a modestly successful hurdler on the IU track teams in the late 60's and early 70's but that experience apparently spawned a love for the hurdle events that he parlayed into unprecedented success, coaching numerous high level hurdlers during his career. While he has been a Sycamore for the last 35 years we at IU, where he earned both his undergraduate and graduate degrees, will consider him a Hoosier forever. He was an outstanding competitor and the friendly face I always looked forward to seeing whenever we had a chance to compete against one another. I feel deeply for his family during this time as well as the many, many individuals who feel the void with his passing. He was one of the "good guys" in the sport and will be missed by us all."
As coach mentioned, McNichols ran hurdles for the Hoosiers during his undergraduate years in the late 60's and early 70's. McNichols graduated from Indiana University with his bachelor's degree in 1972 and with a master's in 1977. Prior to his long tenure at Indiana State, McNichols was a highly successful high school coach at Bloomington North.
McNichols went on to coach at Indiana State for 34 years. The Sycamores had tremendous success in his tenure, including 46 combined Missouri Valley conference championships between track and field and cross country. Personally, he was named the MVC Coach of the Year 23 times and was inducted into the Indiana Track and Cross Country Coaches Hall of Fame in 2007.
"The passing of John McNichols will have an impact not only on his family and friends outside of the sport of track and field but will have a far reaching impact on many, many of us in the track and field world, said head coach Ron Helmer. It was obvious he was committed to the sport, to its future health and to the athletes he coached and mentored over the years. He was a modestly successful hurdler on the IU track teams in the late 60's and early 70's but that experience apparently spawned a love for the hurdle events that he parlayed into unprecedented success, coaching numerous high level hurdlers during his career. While he has been a Sycamore for the last 35 years we at IU, where he earned both his undergraduate and graduate degrees, will consider him a Hoosier forever. He was an outstanding competitor and the friendly face I always looked forward to seeing whenever we had a chance to compete against one another. I feel deeply for his family during this time as well as the many, many individuals who feel the void with his passing. He was one of the "good guys" in the sport and will be missed by us all."
As coach mentioned, McNichols ran hurdles for the Hoosiers during his undergraduate years in the late 60's and early 70's. McNichols graduated from Indiana University with his bachelor's degree in 1972 and with a master's in 1977. Prior to his long tenure at Indiana State, McNichols was a highly successful high school coach at Bloomington North.
McNichols went on to coach at Indiana State for 34 years. The Sycamores had tremendous success in his tenure, including 46 combined Missouri Valley conference championships between track and field and cross country. Personally, he was named the MVC Coach of the Year 23 times and was inducted into the Indiana Track and Cross Country Coaches Hall of Fame in 2007.
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