Heins led both cross country teams and the men’s indoor track and field team to Big Sky Conference titles in 2009-10.
Heins Named Director of Track and Field at NAU
NAU Athletics
FLAGSTAFF, Ariz. – Eric Heins has been named the director of track and field/cross country at Northern Arizona University, Athletics Director Jim Fallis announced. Heins had served in the role on an interim basis since August of 2009. He will be charged with leading the men’s and women’s cross country and track and field programs.
“We are happy to name Eric the permanent director of the track and field and cross country programs,” said Athletics Director Jim Fallis. “He has done a phenomenal job with the programs this year.”
Over the past year, the six programs have produced successful results under Heins’ direction. He replaced J.W. Hardy, who left for the same position at Boise State last fall. Heins is just the fourth person to lead the NAU track and field programs since 1968, following Hardy and NAU Hall of Famers Leo “Red” Haberlack and Ron Mann.
“It is a great honor to have been named to this position and I want to thank the administration and the entire NAU community for the support I have been shown throughout my year as the Interim Director of Track and Field/Cross Country,” said Heins. “I appreciate all the hard work put in by the track and field coaching staff and student-athletes this past year.”
This year, the NAU men’s program finished third in the final standings for the NCAA Division I John McDonnell Program of the Year Award awarded by the U.S. Track & Field and Cross Country Coaches Association.
Northern Arizona totaled 42½ points (4 XC, =8 ITF, =27 OTF). Led by David McNeill’s second-place individual finish, the Lumberjacks placed fourth as a team at the NCAA Cross Country Championships for the second time in three years. McNeill would go on to win the 5000-meter title at the indoor championships, adding a second-place showing in the 3000m, to land NAU in a tie for eighth in the team standings.
McNeill went on to duplicate his indoor performance in the 5000m at the outdoor championship, as he claimed the national crown once again, becoming the first NCAA Champion in the event from Australia since 1960. As a result of the 10 points gained in McNeill’s victory, Northern Arizona finished in a five-way tie for 27th in the team standings at the outdoor championships.
Heins led both cross country teams and the men’s indoor track and field team to Big Sky Conference titles in 2009-10. The women finished second overall indoors and outdoors and the men also placed second overall at the Big Sky outdoor meet. Overall, the Lumberjack cross country teams have captured six team titles since he took over direction of the programs in 2007. He has served as the distance coach for the track and field program during that span, coaching McNeill to two NCAA Championships and six student-athletes to All-America honors.
Heins, who has been named the Big Sky Cross Country Coach of the Year five times, returned to NAU from Texas Christian University, where he served as an assistant during the 2006-07 season. In his only season with TCU, he took both the men's and women's teams to top 10 finishes at the NCAA South Central Regional. In addition, he saw five of his runners honored as Mountain West Conference Scholar-Athletes.
From 2001-03, Heins served as an assistant for the Lumberjacks under then-Head Coach Ron Mann. During his first tenure, the men's team finished as high as fourth place at the NCAA Championships, while the women took home a 10th place finish. From there Heins went to Southeast Missouri State, where he spent three years coaching the Redhawks to six different Ohio Valley Conference Championships.
Heins, who began his coaching career as an assistant in 2000 at Indiana, ran for Cincinnati from 1995-99, while earning his bachelor's degree in health promotion and education. At the 1997 Indoor Conference USA Championships, he achieved his highest individual accomplishment by placing third in the 3000 meters. He also notched top 10 finishes in both the indoor and outdoor 5,000 meters, as well as the outdoor 10,000 meters.
In 2001, Heins earned a master's in kinesiology from Indiana. In November 2007 he competed in the U.S. Olympic Trials in the marathon in New York, N.Y. Other accolades include winning the St. Louis Marathon in 2004 and placing first in his age group, and fifth overall, in the 2000 Marine Corps Marathon.
A native of Zanesville, Ohio, Heins now resides in Flagstaff with his wife Kaci. They have one son, Chase, who was born in July of 2008.