Van Norman resigns as Nicholls track, cross country coach

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Matt Roan’s will be busy in the next couple weeks fielding applications, then making his first head coaching hire as the Athletic Director at Nicholls State University.

Nicholls coach Heather Van Norman announced last week that she had resigned from her position as the school’s head coach in track and field and cross country – news which the school released to the public on Thursday afternoon.

Van Norman spend multiple seasons at Nicholls, owning the job since January 2012.


Under her watch, the Colonels made strides, competing favorably with some of the top programs in the Southland Conference in several events.

Roan said Van Norman did a solid job, which will make finding an adequate replacement difficult – a challenge the school will take on in the next several weeks as they collect applications, conduct interviews and then pick the next person to lead the program.

“I want to thank Coach Van Norman for her efforts in leading both our men’s and women’s cross country and track and field programs at Nicholls,” Roan said. “I sincerely appreciate her passion for our student-athletes’ comprehensive success and I wish Coach Van Norman nothing but the absolute best.”


Under Van Norman, Nicholls had several top-tier athletes compete at the highest level.

Since taking the job in 2012, Van Norman helped coach four student-athletes who made it to the NCAA Regionals.

The top performer under Van Norman was former Colonels javelin thrower Jaimee Springer, who competed in the NCAA Championships in Eugene, Oregon.


But as a team, the Colonels struggled to compete for meet titles under Van Norman.

This past year, Nicholls’ track and field team was non-competitive against similar-sized competition – buried in the bottom of the Southland Conference.

In the indoor track and field season, the Colonels placed last among 13 teams at the conference meet, generating just five total points in 17 events – more than 10 points behind the team in 12th place.


In the outdoor season, it didn’t get much better.

The Colonels finished 12th out of 13 teams at the Southland Conference Meet last month, getting 4.5 points.

Only the Colonels and UNO had single-digit performances at the meet. Every other team had at least 20 points and the champion scored 166 points.


In cross country, things haven’t been much better and the Colonels have either been last or near the bottom of the Southland for the past several seasons.

At the time of Van Norman’s hire, she was considered a big fish for Nicholls to land – especially given the lack of success the Colonels program has had in the past several seasons.

She made her name in the sport at LSU – one of the best sprinters in the storied history of the Lady Tigers’ track and field program.


With the team from 1989-1995, Van Norman was a six-time All-American for LSU, winning three-straight NCAA outdoor titles from 1991-93 and two indoor titles from 1991-1993, as well as several SEC Championships.

Van Norman is also well-known in LSU lore because she is the mother to one of the best Tiger football players in recent age – New York Giants receive Odell Beckham.

Van Norman started in coaching as an assistant coach at Rice, where she spent two years before coaching in the same role at Georgia Tech for four years.


Van Norman was hired to lead Tulane’s women’s track program in 2002 and for the seven seasons with the Wave, she guided 16 student-athletes who made NCAA Championship meet appearances and 44 NCAA Midwest Regional appearances.

Roan said the school will begin a search for a new coach immediately and the program hopes to have its next coach hired well before the start of the fall semester.

The new Colonels athletic director said he believes the Colonels job is a good one because of the depth of talent in Louisiana.


He said he believes qualified candidates will apply and it’s up to him to pick the biggest winner out of the bunch.

“I am eager to immediately launch a search for a new coach of these programs,” Roan said. “These programs possess great potential and I am confident we will attract a head coach who will help us build and sustain championship-level success.” •

Heather Van Norman


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