Robert Nooney is in his ninth year as head coach of the Chico State women’s track & field team, and the former Wildcat All-American has successfully continued the school’s impressive run as one of the top programs in the country. While managing all facets of the program, Nooney also coaches the horizontal jumps and oversees strength and conditioning for the ’Cats’ sprinters and jumpers.
Taking over the reins from Oliver Hanf, who now focuses his head coaching efforts solely on the men’s program, Nooney has led the Chico State women’s track & field team to four California Collegiate Athletic Association (CCAA) championships and five Top 35 rankings in the national team polls. During his tenure, Nooney has mentored 20 All-America athletes, with his program racking up 91 All-CCAA and 54 All-West Region honors. For his efforts, Nooney has been named CCAA women’s track & field Coach of the Year in 2014, 2015 and 2016.
Nooney’s athletes have been no less successful in the classroom, combining to earn seven U.S. Track & Field and Cross Country Coaches Association (USTFCCCA) team All-Academic awards from 2014–2020.
Nooney’s 2020 squad was off to an impressive start before the coronavirus pandemic put a halt to competition two meets into the season. Heptathlete Kaylee Shoemaker posted a strong second place finish in the February 27–28 Chico Multi Classic, while the Wildcats finished a close second in the team point standings a week later at the Stanislaus Kim Duyst Invitational.
Chico State finished the 2019 track & field season ranked No. 11 in the NCAA West Region rankings, and produced a solid third place finish at the CCAA Championships. Two of Nooney’s charges, Alexandria Tucker (10k) and Nicole Anthony (steeple), earned All-West Region honors and competed in the NCAA Championships in Kingsville, Texas. Taylor Nevitt finished the season by setting a new school record in the hammer throw with a distance of 163-feet-01 at the CCAA Championships.
The Wildcats earned a top five West Region ranking in 2018 and garnered the No. 24 ranking at the NCAA Track & Field Championships in Charlotte, North Carolina. Three Chico State athletes—Alex Burkhart, Hannah Dorman, and Michelle Holt—earned All-America honors in addition to posting new school records: Burkhart recorded a time of 10:09.79 in the 3,000-meter steeple; Dorman stopped the clock at 33:55.96 in the 10,000-meter run, and Holt shattered a program record that had stood for 25 years in the 200-meter dash, crossing the finish line in 23.96 seconds. Holt also notched the third-best time in program history in the 100-meter dash (11.75 seconds), while Sheena Blackwell established herself as No. 3 all-time in the 400-meter hurdles (1:01.90).
Under Nooney’s tutelage, the Chico State women posted the program’s first-ever national top 10 finish in 2017, finishing seventh among all NCAA Division II schools. The Wildcats captured their eighth straight CCAA championship and boasted the top spot in the West Region rankings, capping off the year at the NCAA Track & Field Championships with All-America efforts from Burkhart, (steeple and 5,000-meter run), Dorman, (5k and 10k), Brooke Whitburn (heptathlon and long jump), Sadie Gastelum (5k and 10k), McCall Habermehl (steeple and 5k), and Taylor Sack (pole vault). Whitburn, who took top CCAA Championship honors in the long jump, delivered a leap of 6.22 meters (20-feet-05) at the NCAA Championships—the third best mark in the event in program history. Sack finished her Chico State career with three straight CCAA pole vault championships one conference crown in the javelin, and three trips to the NCAA Championships, while ranking No. 3 in school history in the pole vault (12-feet-11.5) and No. 5 in the javelin (141-feet-03). Jenavieve Turner posted the No. 2 time in Chico State women’s track & field history in the 400-meter hurdles (1:01.05), and Aja Erskine reached the program’s all-time top 10 in the 400-meter dash (third, 55.33 seconds) and 200-meter dash (seventh, 24.51 seconds). Erskine was also part of the Wildcats’ 400- and 1,600-meter relay teams that each reached the awards podium at the CCAA Championships.
The 2016 season saw Nooney and the Wildcats streak to the CCAA women’s track & field championship for the seventh year in a row, and on the strength of five All-America performances at the NCAA Championships, finished the season ranked No. 19 in the nation. Whitburn was named the 2016 CCAA Female Track & Field Athlete of the Year after winning the conference championship’s heptathlon competition, placing second in the 100-meter hurdles, and earning the most points of any athlete at the meet. At the NCAA Championships, she came within 36 points of capturing the national title on the way to a second place All-America finish and a school record (5,393 points) in the heptathlon. Olivia Watt earned two All-America honors for the second straight year in the 800- and 1,500-meter runs, with Habermehl (steeple) and Karlie Garcia (10k) also picking up All-America accolades. At her final regular season meet, Meghan Delamater posted the second-best mark in program history in the javelin with a heave of 146-feet-07.5, and also competed at the NCAA Championships.
Nooney and the Wildcats took top honors at the 2015 CCAA Championships for the sixth year in a row, and finished 23rd in the final USTFCCCA rankings. At the conference meet, Ashley Jones won the 100-meter dash (11.96 seconds, No. 7 in Chico State history) and 200- meter dash (24.50 seconds, No. 5 all-time) and teamed with Erskine, Marina Berrios, and Ruby Davis to place first in the meet’s 4x100-meter relay. Watt won the 1,500-meter, was named the conference’s co-Athlete of the Year, and earned All-West Region honors. Burkhart (5k and steeple), Sack (pole vault), Bailey Henshaw (800-meter run) and Lauren Schnelli (high jump) each finished first in their respective events, claiming All-West Region accolades in the process. Marina Berrios earned CCAA Newcomer of the Year honors, while Burkhart was selected as the CCAA Freshman of the Year. Watt (800- and 1,500-meter run), Burkhart (steeple), Sack (pole vault), and Schnelli (high jump) went on to deliver All-America efforts at the NCAA Championships. Schnelli finished the season with the No. 2 high jump mark Chico State history (5-feet-08), and the quartet of Watt, Berrios, Erskine, and Henshaw set a new program record in the 4x4 relay with a time of 3:47.05.
Nooney began his Chico State coaching career in impressive fashion, leading the Wildcats to the 2014 CCAA women’s track & field title while ranking 33rd nationwide. Early in the season, Kasey Barnett set a new school record in the pole vault (13-feet-01), and combined with Jones, Erskine, and Amilia Santos to break a 21-year-old program record in the 4x100 relay (46.50 seconds). Barnett would go on to win the conference meet’s pole vault, long jump, and (with Jones, Erskine, and Santos) 4x1 competitions to earn CCAA Field Athlete of the Year and Chico State Female Athlete of the Year honors. Ayla Granados finished first in the CCAA Championships’ 5k event while also setting a new program record in the 1,500-meter run with a time of 4:21.62. Jones took top honors in the 200 and was named the CCAA Newcomer of the Year. Whitburn got her Chico State career off to successful start, qualifying for nationals in the long jump and ranking ninth among all long jumpers under 20 years of age (and the only non-Division I athlete) across all NCAA Divisions. The Wildcats sent seven athletes to the NCAA Track & Field Championships, producing two All-Americans (Barnett in the long jump and Granados in the 5k).
Nooney was officially named head coach of the Chico State women’s track & field team on September 18, 2013, returning to the campus that saw him earn a CCAA decathlon championship and All-America honors in 2008. He also won a conference title and All-State honors as a decathlete competing at Santa Barbara City College from 2004–06.
Before heading back to Chico, Nooney spent the 2012–13 season as the interim head men’s and women’s track & field coach at Colorado School of Mines. Nooney led the Orediggers to one of the best indoor and outdoor campaigns in school history—his indoor men’s squad was ranked as high as 10th nationally and the women 27th, with five of his athletes earning All-America honors.
During the 2013 outdoor season, nine of Nooney’s athletes qualified for the NCAA Championships, and 20 were academic all-conference selections.
Nooney served as an assistant coach at Colorado School of Mines in 2011–12, and began his coaching career with a three-year stint as an assistant at Division II track & field power Central Missouri.
A native of Lompoc, California, Nooney possesses a USATF Level 1 Coaching Certificate. He earned a Bachelor’s degree in exercise science from Chico State in 2008 and completed his master’s degree in biomechanics at Central Missouri in 2010.
Nooney and his wife Kelli, along with daughters Reese and Lizzie, reside in Chico.
BY THE NUMBERS: THE ROBERT NOONEY ERA (2014–20)
CCAA Championships: 4 (2014–17)
Year-ending NCAA national Top 35 rankings: 5
2018: No. 24
2017: No. 7
2016: No. 19
2015: No. 23
2014: No. 33
Year-ending West Region Top 10 rankings: 5
2018: No. 5
2017: No. 7
2016: No. 1
2015: No. 2
2014: No. 1
CCAA Pole Vault Champion: 6 years in a row
2019: Megan Farrell
2018: Megan Farrell
2017: Taylor Sack
2016: Taylor Sack
2015: Taylor Sack
2014: Kasey Barnett
Chico State 4x100 relay team: reached Wildcat all-time Top 10 every year since 2014
2019: No. 8 (Claire Chappell-Isabella Moyer-Lyndsey Settle-Jordyn Dorsey)
No. 10 (Jordyn Dorsey-Isabella Moyer-Sydney Proiette-Lyndsey Settle)
2018: No. 7 (Sydney Proiette-Isabella Moyer-Michelle Holt-Jordyn Dorsey)
2017: No. 4 (Marina Berrios-Michelle Holt-Aja Erskine-Hailey Jackson)
2016: No. 2 (Marina Berrios-Kayla Lawson-Lyndsey Settle-Ruby Davis) CCAA Champions
2015: No. 3 (Marina Berrios-Ashley Jones-Aja Erskine-Ruby Davis) CCAA Champions
2014: No. 1 (Amilia Santos-Ashley Jones-Aja Erskine-Kasey Barnett) CCAA Champions
USTFCCCA D-II Women’s Track & Field All-Academic Team
Six years in a row from 2014–19
All-CCAA awards: 91
CCAA Champions: 38
All-West Region awards: 54
All-America awards: 20
School Records broken: 10
School Top Ten List additions: 77
CCAA All-Academic awards: 234
Robert Nooney CCAA Coach of the Year honors: 3 (2014 – 2016)
