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Marcia Noad is in her eighth year as the Lady Tigers' track & field and cross country head coach in 2007-08. Noad is directly in charge of the sprints, hurdles, and horizontal jumps at Clemson.
In her first year, Noad recorded one of the most successful seasons of any rookie coach in school history in any sport. She followed that outstanding performance with two top-25 finishes in her second year at the helm of the Lady Tiger program. Overall, 73 Clemson all-time top-five best performances have been achieved in seven years under Noad.
Noad is no stranger to Clemson athletics, having competed for the Lady Tigers on the same track on which she now coaches. After a career as one of Clemson's most successful track & field student-athletes, she also holds the distinction of being Clemson's first African-American head coach in any sport.
She coached the Lady Tiger program to great improvement during the indoor and outdoor seasons of 2007. Noad led the team to a fifth-place finish at the ACC Indoor Championships, an improvement of six spots in the standings from the year before. Under her guidance, Della Clark earned All-America honors with a third-place finish at the national indoor meet in the weight throw. Clark earned All-ACC honors indoor and outdoor in 2007.
Noad coached Liane Weber to an ACC title in the pentathlon. Weber competed at both the indoor and outdoor national meet and also set the school record in both the pentathlon and heptathlon. Patricia Mamona earned All-ACC honors at both the indoor and outdoor meet and advanced to the NCAA Outdoor Championships in the triple jump. Linda Buchholz also made an impact in her first year with the program, earning All-ACC honors in the pentathlon and javelin throw. Caroline Kennedy was All-ACC in the indoor pole vault as a freshman. Noad coached a total of eight East Region qualifiers in 2007 as well. Noad's squad earned a 21st-place finish, the fourth time in five years Clemson ranked among the top 25 at regionals.
The 2006 season was a transition year for the program. Jenny Barton earned CoSIDA Academic All-America honors, as well as Academic All-ACC honors for both track & field and cross country. Clark earned All-ACC honors in both the weight throw and hammer throw. Noad led 11 student-athletes to competition at the NCAA East Region Championships, including the 4x400m relay team. She personally coached triple jumpers Renata Miyamoto and Michelle Rogers to regional-qualifying efforts, as well as Miyamoto and Polly Hardy in the high hurdles. She also coached Sierra Hill to a spot at regionals in the intermediate hurdles.
In 2005, Noad coached triple jumper Gisele Oliveira to the NCAA Indoor title and to the NCAA runner-up finish outdoors. Oliveira completed her career as the Clemson, ACC, and South American record holder in the triple jump outdoor. Indoor, the Lady Tigers' 4x400m relay team of Silja Ulfarsdottir, Jessica Cousins, Randi Hinton and Sierra Hill set the Clemson record in the event with a time of 3:34.76. That foursome went on to place ninth at the NCAA Indoor Championships. Oliveira was the ACC Champion in the triple jump indoor, Clemson's first two-time conference champion in that event. Outdoor, Ulfarsdottir became a Clemson individual event record holder, as she turned in an all-time best performance of 56.62 in the 400m hurdles and advanced to the semifinals at the national meet. She earned All-ACC honors in the intermediate hurdles while running lead-off on the ACC Championship 4x400m relay team. Oliveira, the long and triple jump ACC Champion, and Ulfarsdottir, were joined by Sara Young, Hinton, Hill and Tia Perry as All-ACC performers. Overall, the 2005 Lady Tigers posted 17 marks that ranked among Clemson's all-time top-five performances.
The Lady Tigers continued to set new standards for Clemson women's track & field in 2004. The indoor 4x400m relay team earned All-America honors, as did Oliveira. Indoor, the 4x400m relay team of Silja Ulfarsdottir, Shakirah Rutherford, Christina Smith and Randi Hinton captured the ACC title then placed eighth at the NCAA Indoor Championships. Outdoor, the 1600m relay team of Ulfarsdottir, Smith, Jessica Cousins and Hinton claimed the outdoor crown at the conference meet and advanced to the NCAA Championships. Oliveira earned her third consecutive All-America outdoor honor in the triple jump, finishing third with a mark of 44'10.75". In recognition of her academic and athletic accomplishments during the 2003-04 year, Oliveira was honored as Clemson's IPTAY Student-Athlete of the Year and earned CoSIDA Academic All-America honors.
Clemson finished third as a team at the 2004 ACC Indoor Championships behind five event titles. Ulfarsdottir won the 200m, the 4x400m relay team claimed that event, Oliveira captured the long jump and triple jump crowns and Lauren Nicholson won the inaugural pentathlon. At the ACC Outdoor Championships, Clemson finished sixth as a team, as the 4x400m relay and Oliveira continued their winning ways, claiming the 1600m relay and triple jump conference crowns. Ten Clemson student-athletes advanced to the East Region Championships in nine events, and five of the 10 qualified for the NCAA Outdoor Championships. The Lady Tigers recorded 17 marks that rank among the top-five all-time best marks in 10 indoor events, and posted an additional 11 top-five marks in nine outdoor events.
Noad led the 2003 team to a fourth-place finish at the ACC Outdoor Championships and coached the Lady Tigers to an eighth-place finish at the East Region Championships. Under her tutelage, Gisele Oliveira earned double All-America honors outdoor. Oliveira became the first Lady Tiger to earn the national accolade in the triple jump and long jump in the same year, placing third and eighth, respectively. Oliveira also set the ACC outdoor meet record in the triple jump, then set the all-time conference best mark in the event at the NCAA Championships. The Lady Tigers also made Clemson history outdoor, as Joana Costa became the first pole vaulter to represent the Lady Tigers at the NCAA Outdoor Championships. Heptathlete Lauren Nicholson also competed at the national meet, only the second Lady Tiger to compete in that event at the NCAA Championships. Individually, seven Lady Tigers moved into the Clemson all-time career lists in five events during the indoor and outdoor seasons.
In 2002, Clemson finished 21st at the NCAA Indoor Championships, and two Lady Tigers earned All-America honors. The team also finished fourth at the ACC Indoor Championships, and Jamine Moton earned Performer-of-the-Year honors. Outdoor, the Lady Tigers were fifth at the ACC Championships, and 20th at the NCAA Outdoor Championships. Clemson won its second individual and first field event national title as Jamine Moton claimed the hammer throw championship with an NCAA meet, collegiate and ACC record. Sheri Smith and Gisele Oliveira earned All-ACC accolades in the triple jump, and the Lady Tigers set three school records indoor and two additional Clemson records outdoor.
The Lady Tiger track & field team finished third in the nation indoors in 2001, and posted a seventh-place finish at the outdoor championships. The indoor and outdoor finishes were the best in the program's history. Clemson won two national titles, one in the 200m indoors and one in the 4x400m relay outdoors. The Lady Tigers set 13 records in 2001 - five indoor and eight outdoor - while six student-athletes earned All-America honors and seven were ACC Champions.
As a Clemson student-athlete, "Marcia Fletcher" was successful, achieving both academic and athletic honors. She was one of the first non-distance athletes to be recruited to Clemson's women's track & field program, specializing in the horizontal jumps and hurdles. She was recruited to Clemson for her accomplishments as a Virginia State Champion in the 55 meter hurdles and 100 meter hurdles. She also won the National Scholastic Indoor triple jump championship in 1987 and the Junior Olympic triple jump championship in 1985.
In 1989, Noad was an NCAA indoor qualifier in the 55m hurdles, one of Clemson's first non-distance athletes to qualify for the NCAA Championships. Noad graduated from Clemson in December of 1990 with a B.S. in Computer Information Systems - just three and half years after her arrival at Clemson in the Fall of 1987. In January of 1991, Noad began graduate school and finished her last season of eligibility in track & field. She qualified for the long jump and triple jump at the NCAA Indoor Championships, and was named an All-American in the long jump for her efforts. During the 1991 outdoor season, Noad was a member of the first Lady Tiger Track & Field ACC Championship team.
During her tenure as a student-athlete at Clemson University, Noad was a member of the student-athlete advisory board (now SAAC) from 1988-1991. She was honored as the Jefferson Pilot ACC Student-Athlete of the week several times and, was selected as Clemson University's NAACP Student-Athlete of the Year in 1991.
Following the completion of her eligibility, Noad remained at Clemson to serve as the graduate assistant coach from August 1991 through June 1992. During that year, Noad assisted in coaching the 1992 NCAA 200m runner-up, as well as three All-Americans, eight ACC champions, and the 1992 ACC indoor and outdoor Co-MVP. In August of 1992, Noad received her Master of Science degree in Industrial Management with a concentration in Management Information Systems from Clemson.
After receiving her master's degree, Noad left Clemson to pursue her computer information systems career. Noad worked as an implementation specialist, systems engineer and technical support representative for a software development company prior to being promoted to technical support manager. While working in the technical support field, Noad served as the assistant track & field coach at West Potomac High School in Alexandria, VA from October of 1993 through June of 1994. She coached the 1994 indoor state triple jump champion, 55m hurdles finalist, and outdoor finalists in the 100m hurdles, long jump, and triple jump. Noad moved on to accept another assistant coaching position at her high school alma mater, Osbourn Park in Manassas, VA, where she coached several 1995 regional qualifiers and the 1995 Handley Invitational 300m intermediate hurdles champion.
In September of 1995, Noad left the business world and returned to coaching full-time as the assistant track & field coach at Yale University, where she was responsible for coaching the men's and women's long and triple jumpers and the women's sprinters and relays. While at Yale, Noad coached many Heptagonal conference champions, All-Ivy League performers and school record holders.
After staying at Yale for four and a half years, Noad accepted the position of head women's track & field coach at Stephen F. Austin State University in Nacogdoches, TX, in January of 2000. During the 2000 indoor track & field season, she coached the Indoor Southland Conference 60m hurdles champion, and an indoor All-Southland Conference 800m runner. During the 2000 outdoor season, she coached an NCAA qualifier in the heptathlon, the Southland Conference Heptathlon Champion, an All-Southland Conference triple jumper, All-Southland Conference long jumper, and an All-Southland Conference 10,000m runner.
Noad is also a USATF Level II certified coach in the sprints, hurdles, relays and jumps. Additionally, in July of 2005, she earned USATF certification as an instructor of the sprints, hurdles, relays and jumps. She has been a featured USATF Level II instructor for the sprints, hurdles and relays as well as a featured USATF Level I Instructor in those same events.
She has been a featured clinician at the Nike-SC Sprint/Hurdle Coaches Clinic (November 2007), Clemson University's Run, Jump and Throw Camp (June 2007), Clemson University's Tiger Track & field Clinics (February 2006, February 2007), North Carolina High School Coaches Association Clinics (January 2007), Virginia High School Coaches Association Clinics (July 2006), Bill Falk's National Coaches Clinic (December 2003), Minnesota High School Coaches Association Clinics (January 2003) and the National High School Coaches Association Clinics (June 2002).
Noad was also an invited participant in the second annual USOC/NCAA Women's Coaching Conference held at the Olympic Training Center in Colorado Springs, CO in October of 2003.
Having completed two degrees in five years while also obtaining All-America and All-ACC status in her track & field events, Noad knows the commitment necessary to succeed both on the track and in the classroom. She wants to share this knowledge with the student-athletes that she coaches, and one of her primary goals is to prepare her student-athletes for life after college. Noad wants her student-athletes to experience success on all fronts.
Noad is also very thankful for the support of her husband of seven years, Randy. Marcia and Randy recently celebrated the third birthday of their daughter, Jordan Alexis.
Noad is very pleased about her accomplishments, but strives to maintain balance in her life - spiritually, professionally and personally. She is an active member of USA Track & field and the US Track & field/Cross Country Coaches Association. She is also the Kabad Team Leader and member of the Pulse Ministries Choir of Redemption World Outreach Center in Greenville, SC. Noad will begin teaching "The Complete Athlete" seminars that will be held at Redemption World Outreach Center in January of 2008. Noad is also the owner of Marcia Noad Track & field Camps, Inc.
