Northeastern Track & Field, Cross Country Head Coach Sherman Hart Retires
BOSTON, Mass. (May 30, 2012) - Northeastern University Director of Athletics and Recreation Peter Roby
announced Wednesday that track and field and cross country head coach Sherman Hart
has retired after 24 years with the university. A national search for a new head coach will begin immediately.
"We appreciate Sherman's many years of service to the department and the
university," said Roby. "His teams and his student-athletes provided us
with many memorable moments. They achieved in the classroom and they
returned Northeastern to a place of prominence in the track and field
and cross country communities, and for that we are grateful."
Under Hart's leadership, the university's track and field programs have
been perennial conference and New England powers. The women's program
won a combined 20 indoor and outdoor America East titles during his
tenure, while the men's program claimed seven America East crowns. Hart,
who graduated from Northeastern in 1974, helped capture the
university's first-ever CAA title in any sport when his women's track
and field team won the championship in 2007, just two years after
joining the conference. In seven years of CAA competition, Northeastern
student-athletes combined to win 22 individual titles. Over the last
decade, Northeastern regained footing at the national level as well,
with 16 Huskies making a combined 32 NCAA Championship appearances.
Many Northeastern greats honed their trade under Hart's watch, including
legends Nate Hunter and Zara Northover, and current Husky Eric Jenkins
.
Hunter earned multiple All-America honors after numerous top-10
finishes at the NCAA Championship. He also was named CAA Track and Field
Athlete of the Year and twice earned the conference's Most Outstanding
Field Performer honor. Northover, who represented Jamaica at the 2008
Olympic Games in Beijing, was named CAA Field Athlete of the Year in
2007 after winning the discus, hammer and shot put, and placing seventh
in the javelin. She was a five- time NCAA Championship qualifier and
earned a 10th-place finish at the 2007 national championship event.
Jenkins earned CAA Rookie of the Year honors in track and also was named
CAA Cross Country Athlete of the Year in 2011. He earned a spot in the
NCAA Championship in the 1500-meter run as just a rookie, and was the
only freshman in the field of 24 qualifiers.