University of Northern Colorado Athletics
Sickler Joins XC and Track & Field as Assistant Coach
9/3/2019 6:06:00 PM | Men's Cross Country, Men's Track & Field, Women's Cross Country, Women's Track & Field, Track & Field, Cross Country
Sickler hired onto Bears Cross Country and Track and Field StaffÂ
University of Northern Colorado Director of Track and Field and Cross-Country Wayne Angel has announced the hiring Stormie Sickler as Assistant Cross Country and Track and Field Coach.Â
"Stormie comes to UNC highly recommended and I am excited to see what she will bring to our programs ", Angel said. "She is a hard worker who is dedicated and committed to excellence. Coach Sickler is someone that I feel comfortable with, we share a lot of the same philosophies. She will assist me in taking the UNC Cross Country and Track and Field programs to another level in the Big Sky".Â
Sickler joins the Bears after receiving her Master of Education in Sports Performance and Leadership at Northern State University in South Dakota. During her coursework, Sickler worked alongside the NSU Wolves on both the cross country and track and field teams. Working with the Wolves developing a family culture was the task Sickler intended on completing in her two years at NSU. Within the first six months, the NSU Wolves were nothing but a family. In her time there, Sickler also helped the Women's Cross-Country team move up in the Central Region Championships from 15th to 9th. This was the first time the Wolves had broken the top-10 regionally in over 10 years. On this top-10 regional team were two ladies who finished in the top 5 and went on to claim All American titles at the 2017 NCAA DII National Cross-Country Championships running times of 21:08 and 21:39.Â
Sickler, a native of Dickinson, North Dakota, ran collegiately while completing her Bachelor of Science in Exercise Science and Coaching as well as an Associates of Science of Agricultural Business Management. Running competitively for her NAIA hometown college. Sickler aided as a scorer to be a part of the first Dickinson State University Women's Cross-Country team to get an automatic bid into NAIA XC Nationals in 2015. Sickler also was an avid scorer on the track her senior season to lead DSU Women's Track and Field team to their first conference championship in 37 years.Â
Upon using her athletic eligibility at Dickinson State Sickler aiding in the training of the track and field athletes while completing her two degrees in the Spring of 2016. Sickler trained a 600-meter male to compete at nationals, as well as help a female 100m hurdler move up nationally to finish with All-American honors. Sickler has an array of experience working with high school strength training throughout the Midwest, which will aid in the developing of a pipeline of athletes to recruit to compete at the Division I level at UNC.Â
On top of the three degrees, Sickler has her USTFCCCA Track and Field Technical certification, and has completed the courses, Sports Psychology for the Track and Field Athlete, and Sport Science for the Endurance Events. Sickler is also USATF Level 1 certified.Â
Sickler says, "I am super grateful for the opportunity to join the UNC Bears family. From the moment I stepped onto campus there was an energy that felt like home. Creating a positive and exciting experience for the student athletes while also helping move the program up in the Big Sky Conference is a main goal of mine. Working with Coach Angel is an amazing privilege, based on the image we both have for the program and the passion for the sports, I know we are going to do big things at UNC."
