Coaches
Nicholas McDonough
Nicholas McDonough was named head coach of the New York University women's track & field/cross country program midway through the 2008 indoor season. He is in his 10th season as the head coach of the NYU men's track & field/cross country program.
During his years with the men's team, McDonough has helped solidify NYU's position among the upper echelon of Division III programs.
In 2007, McDonough led the men to the NCAA Division III Cross Country National Championship after a runner-up finish in 2006. He also led the men's cross country team to back-to-back University Athletic Association (UAA) and NCAA Division III Atlantic Region crowns in 2006 and 2007.
For his efforts, McDonough has received UAA and NCAA Atlantic Region Cross Country Coach of the Year honors in each of the past two seasons, while he also earned National Coach of the Year accolades following the team's National Championship.
McDonough has produced numerous cross country and track & field All-Americans during his tenure as the men's coach, including current Violets Hany Abdallah, Bernier Lauredan, Jr., Jesse Schneider, and Ryan Williams.
On the track, McDonough’s athletes tied the program’s all-time best with a 10th-place finish at the 2007 NCAA Division III Indoor Track and Field Championships, while boasting six All-Americans in three events. :
During the 2007 spring season, McDonough led NYU to a 27th-place finish at the NCAA Division III Outdoor Track and Field Championships. Abdallah took home two All-America certificates, while Williams earned one. They became the first-ever Violets to earn All-America status in all three seasons (cross country, indoor and outdoor).
McDonough’s teams also produced outstanding results in their classrooms in '06-07, as the cross country, indoor and outdoor track & field teams featured 48 UAA All-Academic honorees.
McDonough came to NYU after six years as an assistant coach at Seton Hall University. While there, he coached numerous Big East Conference champions, six IC4A champions, an American record-setting distance medley relay team in 1994, and six NCAA Division I All-Americans, including two in cross country.
Additionally, McDonough has varied experience as a race manager and director, working on races such as the NYC Gotham Cup, as well as the Spring Lake Five and the George Sheehan 10k Classic, which are two of the top-50 road races in the U.S.
A 1992 graduate of Syracuse University with a bachelor's degree in political science, McDonough brought extensive professional and personal experience to the NYU program. As an athlete, he helped lead the Syracuse cross country program for four years and was named captain as a senior. On the track, he was a member of the Orangemen's 1992 Big East Championship team, anchoring the relay that clinched the meet.
As a high school runner at Christian Brothers Academy in Lincroft, New Jersey, McDonough was part of a winning DMR at the Penn Relays and competed at the prestigious Fifth Avenue Mile in New York City. He continues to train and can usually be found running with the team.
A native of Point Pleasant, NJ, McDonough resides in Interlaken, NJ.