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University of North Carolina Ashville Athletics
Track and Field
- Title:
- Head Coach
- Email:
- jnorman@unca.edu
- Phone:
- 828-251-6921
“By the Numbers”
Coach of the Year – 1
All-Americans – 4
NCAA East Preliminary Qualifiers – 8
Big South Conference Champions – 17
Big South All-Conference Performances – 48
Scholar Athlete of the Year – 1
Freshman of the Year – 2
Big South Conference Athlete of the Year – 1
USTFCCCA All-Academic Team – 5
USTFCCCA All-Academic Individual - 1
Jesse Norman is entering his 10th year as head coach of the UNC Asheville Cross Country and Track and Field programs. The Bulldogs' cross country and track and field teams have shown tremendous improvements across the board during his tenure.
During his time, Norman has seen numerous student-athletes earn individual Big South Conference championships, All-Conference performances, qualify for the NCAA East Preliminary Championships and the NCAA National Championships. There have also been numerous school records and performances added to the all-time lists in all six sports.
Team success has followed with the women’s team earning third place at the 2011 Big South Conference Championships, the highest team finish in school history. During the 2013 Big South Conference Cross Country Championships he led the women’s team to a third-place finish, two points out of second place, and the highest team finish in 10 years.
Academic success has been just as important to the program as athletic success throughout his tenure as he has had numerous All-Academic teams and individuals.
Norman worked for two years at Western Carolina with the Catamounts' men's and women's distance teams before coming to UNC Asheville. While there he guided athletes to All-Conference finishes in cross country, indoors and outdoors and was a part of two Southern Conference Outdoor Track & Field team championships.
Norman enjoyed a great career at Western Carolina from 1999-2003 where he won the Southern Conference individual championship in cross country in 2001, the only Catamount ever to accomplish such a feat, and earned all-conference honors in the 10,000 meters during the 2000 outdoor season.
Norman earned a degree in physical education from Western Carolina in 2003 and then picked up his Master's in Physical Education in May of 2007.
Norman holds USATF Level I & II certifications in endurance and was invited to attend the United States Olympic Committee's Emerging Elite coaching clinic held at the Olympic Training Center in Chula Vista, Calif. for both the endurance (2009) and the jumping (2010) event groups.
Jesse and his wife Melanie have a daughter, Eliza and a son, Oliver.
