Track & Field/Cross Country
- Title:
- Head Cross Country/Assistant Track Coach
- Email:
- nick.gibson@usm.edu
Since August 2021, Nick Gibson has served as both the Head Cross Country Coach and an Assistant Coach for the Southern Miss Track & Field program. In his first year, he played a pivotal role in guiding the program to its consecutive women's conference indoor title in Conference USA. In the new conference he has provided guidance to numerous athletes, resulting in several athletes to top program marks. Recognizing his achievements, Gibson was awarded the Women's Cross Country Coach of the Year for 2022. This accolade followed the historic victory of the women's cross country team to secure their first conference title in the program's history at the 2022 SBC Cross Country Championships.
Gibson joins the staff after serving as an assistant at Northwest Missouri State since 2018. The 2020 USTFCCCA Central Region Indoor Track and Field Assistant Coach of the Year guided 16 athletes to All-American honors during his time with the Bearcats.
Gibson’s female group took third place at the 2020 DII XC National Invitational and placed three individuals in the top ten at the meet.
Under his leadership, the men's cross country team finished fifth at the 2019 NCAA DII Cross Country Championships, the best finish in program history.
Also in 2019, Gibson coached Karim Achengli to All-America honors in cross country and became the first Bearcat All-American in cross country since 1997, while having three student-athletes named to the USTFCCCA Division II All-Academic team. As a squad, the women’s cross country team posted a 3.72 team GPA - the second-highest women’s team GPA at Northwest in 2018-19.
Gibson arrived at Northwest having served as the head men’s/women’s cross country coach at Limestone College in Gaffney, S.C.
Prior to Limestone, Gibson served at Salem International University, in Salem, West Virginia, where he was the head men’s cross country and track and field coach. He was responsible for the day-to-day operations of the program as well as implementing a strength and conditioning plan for his athletes.
Gibson was an assistant coach with the Queens University Royals in Charlotte. During that time, he had a short stint as interim associate head coach. While at Queens, Gibson also represented the South Atlantic Conference on the United States Track and Field and Cross County Coaches Association Executive Cross Country Committee at the national coaching convention.
Gibson helped lead the Royals to the pinnacle of SAC cross country, as the men’s and women’s teams took their respective first titles in school history during his time there. He also assisted the women’s squad that captured a 15th-place finish at the NCAA championships and also coached two All-Americans.
A successful student-athlete himself, Gibson was a five-time national qualifier and four-time Pennsylvania State Athletics Conference champion during his time at Shippensburg University. He earned All-American status during his senior year in the distance medley relay.
Gibson graduated from Shippensburg in May of 2015 with a Bachelor of Science in Business Administration.
