Northwestern State University of Louisiana Women's Track

Mike Heimerman has continued Northwestern State’s track and field prominence of which he was a part under his predecessor Leon Johnson.   Heimerman is in his 13th season as NSU’s overall head coach after seven seasons as the women’s head coach and 27 total seasons on staff.   Under his guidance, the Northwestern State programs have soared to new heights.   He has led the Lady Demons to being on the verge of a dynasty, sweeping the indoor and outdoor titles in 2024 and 2025, as well as guiding the women to their first indoor title in 2023.   After needing a 4x400 relay to win their first outdoor title in 2024, Heimerman’s Lady Demons needed no such luck in 2025, cruising to a 63-point victory.   For his efforts, Heimerman was once again named SLC Women’s Coach of the Year and Co-Louisiana Coach of the Year, tying it with LSU's Dennis Shaver.   After not winning the indoor team title in their history until 2023, Heimerman guided the NSU women's team to its first two indoor team titles in program history in 2023 and 2024, the latter of which came in dominant fashion by 57 points over second place.   In June 2025, two NSU athletes earned All-American honors, as Roy Morris (long jump) and Maygan Shaw (400) each earned a spot on the second team.   Overall, he has coached two national champions and 37 All-Americans either as head coach or throws coach, a capacity in which he’s served in since 1997.   Jasmyn Steels won the NCAA Indoor National Champion in the long jump in 2019, following with a 2019 Outdoor silver and a 2021 Outdoor Championships appearance.   As a throws coach since 1997, Heimerman has supervised 13 All-American throwers, including discus national champion Trecey Rew.    Rew, also a shot put All-American, won NSU’s second-ever national title in an individual event in 2011.   Throwers have accounted for a total of 28 NCAA Championship entries, including two from Djimon Gumbs in 2022, the first male Demon to make two throws events in the same NCAA Championships.   The men and women have a combined 26 top-three finishes at the SLC Indoor and Outdoor Championships since 2013, including five women's titles the past two seasons.   Shaw has been a major part of the Lady Demons dominance, breaking multiple school records as a senior, including a 51.19 in the 400-meter dash, which not only broke the school record, but also the SLC mark.   She earned four gold medals in the outdoor conference meet, placing first in the 200, 400 and both relays, scoring 25 total points en route to an SLC Track Athlete of the Year award.   The Pineville native finished her career with 14 career SLC gold medals.   Sanaria Butler made a significant impact in her two seasons with NSU, earning a trip to the 2023 NCAA Outdoor Championships in the 400, and nearly made it again in 2024.   Heimerman was named the Louisiana Women's Coach of the Year following a pair of team titles in 2024.   As one of the most accomplished non-Power Five sprints programs in the nation, NSU has sent men’s relay teams to the NCAA Championships in 2016, 2018 and 2024 as well as the women's 4x400 team in 2024.   The 4x100 relay quartet of Micah Larkins, Amir James, Kie’Ave Harry and Tre’Darius Carr reached the NCAA finals, finishing seventh in 2018.   James and Larkins were part of a 15th-place 4x100 crew in 2016 that also included Ty Shilling and George Flaviano.   The women's 4x400 team of Shaw, Butler, Tranasia Jones and Vanessa Balde raced to a 16th place finish to garner second team honors in 2024.   Emmanuel Williams joined the 2016 All-Americans with a seventh-place standing in the long jump as NSU’s five All-Americans was its highest in any one season dating back to 1982.   Heimerman has personally coached 14 of NSU’s last 32 All-American athletes in the throws programs.   Some of the other highly-accomplished competitors Heimerman has helped develop at NSU include four-time All-American javelin thrower Cody Fillinich, 1999 USA Juniors javelin champion Latrell Frederick, a three-time All-American, and two other USA Juniors javelin champs, Dawn Comeaux and Randy Fauntleroy.   Under his leadership, the Lady Demon program set new highs for academic achievement, highlighted by Rew, an Academic All-American and the USA Track & Field and Cross Country Coaches Association 2011 Field Events Women’s Scholar-Athlete of the Year.    Outstanding success in recruiting, steeped in relentless effort and a powerful product to pitch, has brought in a bumper crop of talented young competitors to the NSU program.   More recently, NSU put a whopping 10 on the academic teams in 2025, led by pole vaulter Madison Brown, who took home the SLC Indoor Female Student-Athlete of the Year.   It helps that Heimerman has been in their shoes and had great success as a student-athlete at NSU.   Heimerman capped his competitive career with an eighth-place finish at the 1998 USA Championships in the shot put. He won the shot at the 1996 Southland Conference Outdoors and owns the program’s third-best mark with a 62-4.5.   Seeing his athletes rise to the occasion in conference, regional and national meets has been a hallmark of his coaching career.   It happened again in 2013 when senior Janae Allen finished 10th in the discus at the NCAA Outdoors to earn All-America accolades.   The 2012 season saw yet another Heimerman-coached thrower rise near the top of the collegiate ranks as Ashley Aldredge lofted an NCAA 14th-best, and NSU second-best, mark of 166-0 and captured the Southland Conference Championship. Aldredge recovered from a serious injury to return to the NCAA Championships in 2015.   The 2011 season was spectacular for the Lady Demon track and field program, with Trecey Rew’s NCAA discus championship and the team’s best-ever finish, a runner-up showing, at the Southland Conference Outdoor Championships.   It was no surprise that Heimerman was voted women’s Coach of the Year on the All-Louisiana Team in 2011, sharing the honor with LSU’s Dennis Shaver.      Even before taking the helm of the program, he was a key factor in helping the Demons and Lady Demons make the most consistently high finishes at Southland Conference championships of any Louisiana team.       Since Heimerman wrapped up his own outstanding competitive career and joined the coaching staff, NSU has consistently produced nationally competitive throwers.      When Fillinich won his fourth All-America award at the 2009 NCAA meet, it was also the ninth time in 11 years that Northwestern had either a male or a female javelin thrower reach the NCAA Outdoors.   All of the athletes have been Louisiana prep products and four previously — Regina Roe, Latrell Frederick, Samantha Ford and Fillinich— won All-America honors by virtue of their performances at the national meet. Ford reached the 12-woman USA Olympic Trials Finals in 2008 and 2012.      The 2011 season provided the most unlikely member of the NSU javelin All-America contingent. Jessica Talley walked on in November, having never thrown farther than 130 feet in high school. She added almost 30 feet to her throw under Heimerman’s guidance, recording a mark of 158-6, and finishing 11th at the NCAA Championships to earn All-America honors.      Aldredge’s 2015 and 2016 NCAA Outdoors appearances and honorable mention All-America honors were a testament to her grit, talent and persistence and Heimerman’s faith in her and his guidance. Her comeback from surgery, along with marriage and becoming a mother, required a special level of commitment from athlete and coach, whose partnership was  rewarded with a pair of Southland crowns and the NCAA appearance.      Heimerman helped Rew develop into a legendary competitor in school and Southland Conference history. She first achieved national prominence in 2007 as a freshman when she qualified for the USA Junior Nationals in two events and made the USATFCCA (coaches’ association) All-Academic Team. She capped her career in 2011 with All-America honors in the shot and discus, eight Southland titles, being named Academic All-America, USATFCCA National Field Events Scholar-Athlete of the Year and claiming the NCAA discus crown.

Miller helped mold the Demon and Lady Demon jumpers into a formidable force in the Southland Conference. Hes guided two NCAA All-Americans, 11 Southland Conference champions, seven SLC runner-ups, 10 third-place finishers and 28 All-SLC performers. The Southland Conference titles ended a 6-year drought in jumping event titles. During the past three seasons, no program has had more combined male and female jumps titles or total points in the league. He produced NSUs first Indoor All-American (in jumps or overall) in a decade with a fourth-place finish in the mens long jump (Emmanuel Williams) at the 2014 National Championships, before adding another Indoor All-American in 2015 in the triple jump (Aaron Williams). He has also coached 12 NCAA East Regional qualifiers, including eight in the triple jump and four in the long jump. Triple jumpers under Millers guidance have improved an average of 3 feet, 5.5 inches during their time with his program and an average of 1 foot, 6.5 inches in the long jump. These improvements helped NSU lead the country in 2013 in the mens triple jump as the only Division 1 program in the country with three male triple jumpers over the 50-foot barrier. This development also resulted in 59 individual top-10 finishes in SLC Championships, including 31 in the triple jump, in his three seasons.   Miller is a Certified Strength & Conditioning Specialist through the NSCA, and has obtained USATF Level 1 Certification. He also holds his USTFCCCA Jumps Specialist and Combined Events Specialist Certifications. Miller was invited among coaches nationwide to attend the USATF Emerging Elite Coaches Camp at the Olympic Training Center in Chula Vista, CA, led by USATF jumps coach Jeremy Fischer. The 2015 season proved to be dominant for NSUs jumpers, both in national and conference standings. Indoors, Aaron Williams captured the SLC long & triple titles posting season bests of 24 7.5 and 52 4.5 respectively, while teammate ZhaQuan Porter finished third in the triple jump (49 1). Williams earned the honor of 2015 SLC Mens Indoor Field Events Athlete of the Year along with a trip to Indoor Nationals in the triple jump, where he finished 14th in the country as an All-American. Lawrence Wallace also performed big producing a third-place finish in the mens high jump. The Lady Demons also jumped well indoors, finishing first (Porsha Thomas) & third (Breann Denson) in the triple jump at the SLC Indoor Championships. In the 2015 outdoor season, with Aaron Williams and Porter redshirting, teammate Emmanuel Williams (who redshirted 14 Outdoor & 15 Indoor) picked up where his brother left off, winning the 2015 Southland Conference Mens Outdoor Outstanding Field Events Performer of the Year. Emmanuel won the long and triple jumps, posting season bests of 25 6.75 and 50 11. Thomas also won her fourth-straight triple jump title, posting a season best mark of 426.25 (ranked second all-time at NSU), while Denson finished second with a mark of 40 11.5 (ranked fifth all-time at NSU). Miller also successfully brought back the multi events to NSU, including guiding Tanner Owens to a sixth-place finish in the decathlon as a freshman, the first points scored for NSU in a decathlon in over 15 years. He also guided Aaron Williams to a 16-meter triple jump performance (52 6) while competing unattached. The 2014 season saw a resurgence in the Demon jump tradition with Emmanuel Williams securing First-Team All-American honors with a fourth-place finish at the Indoor National Championships. He was also the first Demon since USA Olympian Kenta Bell in 1998 and 2000 to pull off the long and triple jump double at the Southland Indoors, posting marks of 25 7.25 (best mark in the SLC indoors since 1991) and 50 4.75 respectively. NSU also had its first mens and womens double triple jump conference champions since 2000, repeating again in the 2015 indoor and outdoor seasons. High jumper Quinton Helaire also contributed, finishing third with a 6 8 clearance. Lady Demon Porsha Thomas won the SLC indoor title in the triple jump with teammate Taylor Walker finishing second. The 2014 outdoor season saw a season-best mark in the womens long jump by Kenyah McDaniels with a jump of 20 5.25 (ranked second all-time at NSU). Miller also guided the Demons and Lady Demons to three podium finishes at the conference championships, including the mens long (third) and triple jumps (second), and the womens triple jump title (first).   The 2013 campaign was NSUs first full season with Miller at the helm. Indoors saw multiple All-SLC performances, including the first jumping event title in over six years. He guided Jerrica Tillery to the gold in the triple jump with a mark of 40 2.25, along with a podium finish in the high jump (third). Emmanuel Williams finished third in the mens long jump (24 1) with teammate Reginald Douglas placing second in the mens triple jump (50 11). In the outdoor campaign, the jumps group enjoyed continued success, tallying five medals and dominating the horizontal jumps. The Lady Demons finished second (Sarah Jones) and third (Porsha Thomas) in the long jump. In the triple jump, the women finished in the second (Tillery), third (Jones), and fifth (Thomas). The men also experienced success with third-place (Aaron Williams), fifth-place (Emmanuel Williams), and seventh-place (Porter) showings. Additionally, Miller has coached eight Athletes to the All-Louisiana Collegiate Track & Field Team, voted on by the Louisiana Sports Writers Association, along with 10 Southland Conference Athlete of the Week honors. Miller relentlessly recruits local Louisiana talent, athletes from Texas, other regional states, and junior colleges across the country. His focus is improving the depth and quality of the jumps program, while also recruiting and developing the combined events. Prior to joining the Northwestern State staff, Miller was the head track and field and cross country coach at San Antonio Christian Middle School from 2008-2010. During his time with the Lions, Miller coached his teams to three Independent Schools Athletic League Track and Field Championships in girls and boys 6th-8th grade divisions and one boys ISAL Cross-Country Championship in 2010. His student-athletes registered 73 podium finishes, including 24 event titles, at ISAL Championships and set 21 new records in three seasons.   A 2011 graduate of Texas-San Antonio, Miller received his Bachelor of Science degree in Kinesiology. Miller is married to Kyle Zambrana of San Antonio. She is a physical education teacher at Lakeview High School. They are expecting their first child this December.  Wesley Miller

Pennington was promoted to associate head coach in August of 2016.     The former decathlete has had a major impact on NSU sprints in his first season, including guiding the 4X100 to NCAA All-American status, the womens Southland Conference Track athlete of the year (Jermeka McBride) and the mens SLC Newcomer of the year (George Flaviano).     The sprints success continued at the SLC championship meet, leading nine conference champions and 12 all-conference performers in 2016.     NSU swept gold in the SLC mens and womens 100 and 200 meters, including capturing seven of the 18 total medals awarded at the championship meet.     The sprints played their part in a runner-up finish for the women and a third-place finish for the men. McBride (ran in the Bahamian Olympic Trials) and Amir James broke NSU records in the 200 and 60 meters, respectively, under Penningtons watch.     Other accomplishments under Pennington include five All-Louisiana performers, four SLC weekly honors and 10 top-five performances in NSU history.        Pennington is a former Northwestern State competitor who has quickly developed into a well-regarded coach and recruiter on the college level.      Hes a USATF Level 1 certified and USTFCCCA Strength and Conditioning certified coach and will lead the mens and womens sprints, relays, hurdles, and pole vault for the NSU program.   Adam is a very hard worker, loves to recruit and thrives on the long hours. He is very knowledgeable, said NSU head coach Mike Heimerman. He is constantly trying to educate himself in our sport and be at the forefront of teaching and coaching technique. He brings all the characteristics I was looking for when searching for a coach.      Pennington, a Marksville High School graduate, coached at his high school alma mater from 2009-13 and had significant impact as an assistant coach at McNeese State as an assistant coach in 2014-15. He was selected after the 2015 season to attend an Emerging Elite Coaches Camp in Chula Vista, Calif., at the USA Olympic training center.      He also had success as a personal coach for high school athletes in Louisiana and Texas. In that capacity, athletes he coached included 61 state qualifiers, 13 state champions, 35 medalists, one state class record holder, and a USA Track and Field Junior national champion.      Coaching at Marksville, Pennington helped shape five district championship teams and two nationally ranked high jumpers, along with a nationally-ranked hurdler.      He coached five NCAA East Regional qualifiers in two seasons at McNeese, including the top-ranked Southland Conference 2014 womens pole vaulter Nicole Casper.          In 2015, Pennington took over coaching all of McNeeses jumps events and the vault, and developed eight Southland medalists, including Southland Indoor womens long jump champion Simone Johnson, among 25 athletes who posted top 10-ranked conference performances. Eleven of his competitors earned conference academic honors while four of his athletes made the All-Louisiana track and field team by posting one of the best three performances in the state in their specialties.      Penningtons male athletes scored almost half of the McNeese total at the 2015 Southland indoors, and 22 of 54 points at the conference outdoors. The points scored at the Southland Outdoors by his competitors were the most by McNeese jumpers in the last decade.      As an athlete himself, Pennington was a decathlete at Cowley Community College in Arkansas City, Kan., from 2005-07, where his team was twice third at NJCAA National Championships.  Pennington was a national qualifier in the decathlon in 2007 and helped his teams win conference and regional championships.      Pennington competed for NSU in 2008, and later graduated from LSU Alexandria with a general studies-kinesiology degree.