Coaches
Jim Hiserman
Head Coach
Now in his 12 th year since re-starting the SSU Track & Field and Cross Country programs, Jim Hiserman finds himself trying to fit many roles: Coach, Educator and Mentor. Trying to live up to these roles has been the key to building two competitive programs from scratch. Since starting both programs in 1995-96, Hiserman has made a point of developing the complete student-athlete both on the track and in the classroom.
Athletically, Hiserman has developed Division I and II All-Americans in a variety of events ranging from the javelin to 400 hurdles to cross country and the 10,000 meters. In all, Hiserman has coached 13 athletes to All-America status during his 15 years of collegiate coaching while at Washington State, Cal Poly, UC Irvine and Sonoma State. During his 31 years of coaching and teaching, Hiserman has also developed 14 Age Group All-Americans and has coached student-athletes to the California State meets at both the high school and junior college levels.
Hiserman's proven ability to coach all the events has been the key to improvements in all phases of the track and field and cross country programs at SSU. Since starting both programs eleven years ago, Hiserman has developed seven All-Americans, five conference champions and fourteen All-Conference team honorees in track & field. In cross country, he has gone on to produce two All-Americans, five All-West Region and five All-Conference award winners. Under his guidance, the SSU cross country team has climbed progressively from 7th in the California Collegiate Athletic Association in 1999 to 9th at the NCAA Division II National Championships in 2001.
Throughout the years, Hiserman has believed that success is twofold. He stresses to his student-athletes that academics is their number one priority when it comes to life at Sonoma State University. A teacher with 15 years experience in high school and junior high classrooms, Hiserman's goal of educating champions refers to demanding hard work and success in the classroom as well as in the athletic arena.
Hiserman's student-athletes have certainly demonstrated this philosophy. Over 11 years, his student-athletes have earned 105 Academic All-Conference awards in both Track & Field/Cross Country while his SSU student-athletes have earned NINETEEN Academic All-America awards in both disciplines. In addition, one student-athlete was named to the 2001 Verizon Academic All-America team while three students were named an Arthur Ashe Award winners (twice for one of them). In addition, BOTH teams have earned Academic Team All-America awards. Seven times for Track and Field (2000-2006) and Seven times for Cross Country(1999-2005).
Hiserman has authored 13 articles that have been published in Track and Field magazines and is a Certified Strength and Conditioning Specialist through the National Strength and Conditioning Association. Prior collegiate coaching jobs include: UC Irvine (sprints/hurdles/jumps), Cal PolySLO(throws), and Washington State University (cross country/middle distance).
