Associate Head Coach Adam Pennington

northwestern state Adam Pennington (LSU-Alexandria, 2012)

Associate Head Coach • Sprints, Hurdles • 6th Season

Adam Pennington has developed Northwestern State into the premier sprints programs in the Southland Conference and one of the best non-Power Five groups in the nation. Pennington, a former Demon runner, was promoted to associate head coach for the NSU men’s and women’s programs in the summer of 2016 because of his contributions to one of the best seasons in school history, and in laying the foundation for even greater success by recruiting top-caliber student-athletes.

The numbers are clear-cut.

Pennington’s sprinters were key in a second-place finish for the women and a third-place effort for the men at the 2016 Southland Conference Outdoor Championships. Those places came on the strength of a combined 228 points scored, best in school history. The Lady Demons’ second-place showing equaled their best ever.

Under Pennington’s guidance, NSU captured seven of the 18 total sprint medals awarded in the 13-member conference, including five of the six gold medals.

Micah Larkins (100 meters) and Amir James (200 meters) won on the men’s side while the NSU women made a clean sweep of the 100 (Jermeka McBride), 200 (McBride) and 400 (De’Shalyn Jones) at the conference championships. Another runner, George Flaviano, captured the 400 meter hurdles gold.

With their remarkable performances, Southland Conference Outdoor individual honors went to McBride (Female Track Athlete of the Year) and Flaviano (Newcomer of the Year). McBride also participated in the Bahamian Olympic Trials and broke the school record in the 200 meters.

James won Southland Indoor Male Track Athlete of the Year accolades as he swept the 60 and 200 crowns at the conference indoor championships in February.

The 2016 4x100 men’s relay of James, Larkins, Flaviano and Ty Shilling earned NCAA All-America second-team recognition with a 15th-place finish at the national meet after winning a conference title.

The 2017 Outdoor Championship brought more NSU sprint dominance. The Lady Demons swept the sprints scoring 84 of their 133 team points, while Jones was NSU’s second straight Outdoor Female Track Athlete of the Year and Tamara Style was Newcomer of the Year. The Demon men scored 43 of their 89 points in the sprints, winning the 4x100 relay and going 2-3 in both the 100 and 200. The Demon sprint core was represented by 9 NCAA regional qualifiers.

The 2018 Southland Indoors was even more remarkable. The NSU women posted 69 of their 95 second-place points in the sprints, while the Demons put up 34 of 80 and had four scorers in the 60 meters despite injuries to Larkins and James and three scorers in the 200 meters. Sophomore Natashia Jackson was named the Southland Conference Indoor high point scorer after winning the 400, 4x400, runner up in the 200, and placing 5th in the 60m dash. Daeshon Gordon not only captured the SLC 60 hurdles title but holds the Southland Conference Record of 8.15 in the event.

Jackson, who is a three-time high point scorer at SLC Indoor Championships, has evolved into one of the most dominant sprinters in SLC history, racking up 16 gold medals in the indoor and outdoor championships with one more outdoor season remaining. She’s within reach of the 20 gold medal SLC record.

The 2019 Outdoor Championship is one of the most impressive in Demon sprint history. After the NSU Demon men went 7 of 8 weeks ranked No. 1 in the country in the 100 meters rankings and No. 9 in the 200 meters, they kept their momentum into the conference championships. The Demon sprints scored 45 of the 78 total team points, placing four in the 100m finals, three in the 200 finals, and for the third straight year capturing the 4x100m title.

Junior Micah Larkins not only captured the 100 meters title but in the process tied Justin Walker’s NSU record of 10.12 and broke the Southland Conference Championship record. Amir James also cracked the No. 1 spot on the record board with a time of 20.41.

For the second straight year the Lady Demons did not lose a race at the outdoor conference championships. The Lady Demon sprints scored 88 of the 111 total team points. De’Shalyn Jones captured her 19th Southland Conference medal, third Outdoor Female Track Athlete of the Year, second SLC Women’s Athlete of the Year, and second SLC Runner of the Year.

The Lady Demons also broke the SLC 4x400 all time record with a time of 3:36.31. Between both sprint cores they represented a total of 12 athletes at the first round of the NCAA Championships. A total of eight sprinters advanced to the NCAA Championships in Eugene, Ore., being the only non Power 5 program to advance both 4x100m relays, and the first time in school history a Lady Demon relay has made it to the NCAA Championships.

The men’s 4x100 broke a 33-year-old school record with a new time of 38.92 to place seventh overall and become firstteam All-Americans.

While having talented athletes is vital to that level of success, the difference-making factor is often coaching. Pennington’s influence is obvious on Mike Heimerman’s coaching staff.

His return to NSU, this time as a coach, followed coaching stints at McNeese State and his alma mater, Marksville High School.

Pennington quickly developed into a well-regarded coach and recruiter on the college level.

He’s a USATF Level 1 certified and USTFCCCA Strength and Conditioning certified coach and oversees the men’s and women’s sprints, relays, hurdles, and pole vault for the NSU program.

He coached five NCAA East Regional qualifiers in two seasons at McNeese, including the top-ranked Southland Conference 2014 women’s pole vaulter Nicole Casper and a school record of 13’8.75”.

Pennington competed for NSU in 2008, and later graduated from LSU Alexandria with a Kinesiology degree. Pennington has two kids Riley and Beckham Pennington.