Wayne Northover joined ACU Track & Field prior to the 2026 indoor and outdoor seasons. As a Graduate Assistant, Wayne worked directly with the jumpers under the oversight of Associate Head Coach Anthony Acklin. Northover experienced tremendous
success with the jumpers in his first season at ACU. Ja’Dasia Sims won the WAC Indoor Championship and finished 2nd in that event outdoors. Luize Velmere finished 2nd in the outdoor in triple jump and 3rd indoors in that event; Donovan Ramirez finished 4th in the indoor conference championship in the TJ, as well as finishing 5th outdoors; and Horatio Brooks successfully segued from the sprints to jumping, finishing 8 th in the long jump at the conference indoor meet. All four ACU jumpers attained personal bests in their events. Ja’Dasia Sims and Luize Velmere were the only ACU athletes to qualify for the West First Round meet.
Before ACU, Wayne Northover was a volunteer assistant coach across town for McMurry University T&F for the 2022-2024 seasons. His areas of coaching included sprints and jumps. At McMurry, Northover helped develop Dontre Sinegal, a D-III All -American multiple times in the hurdles and jumps.
Prior to McMurry, Northover worked at the NCAA Division I level for the University of Virginia track & field program as a volunteer assistant coach from 2016 to 2021, as well as coaching high school athletes in the region. While in Virginia, Northover worked with
high-level talent including the 2017 ACC Champion in the triple jump, the 2018 Jamaican National Champion in the triple jump, the 2019 NCAA Indoor triple jump champion, the 2019 Southeast Region Indoor Field Athlete of the Year and the 2019 ACC Outdoor Field Performer of the Year. He also guided three state indoor champions in 2020 and five medals in Virginia HS League Class Three for indoor track and field.
Northover competed collegiately at Wayland Baptist (Texas), where hee won NAIA championships in the long jump and triple jump at the 2014 national meet, propelling him to be named Most Outstanding Male Performer. Prior to Wayland, he competed for Cloud County CC, in Concordia, KS, where he was the runner-up in the NJCAA outdoor championship in the triple jump. He competed in high school for Calabar HS in Kingston, Jamaica, one of the great powerhouses in T&F in Jamaica. He finished in the
top-4 at the Jamaican National Championships 4 times in the triple jump, including a 3rd place finish in 2014 that qualified him to compete in the Commonwealth Games representing Jamaica. .
Northover completed his bachelor's degree in sports management from Wayland Baptist in 2016, while earning his associate's degree in general studies at Cloud County CC in 2014. He lives in Abilene with wife, Kendra, and children, Janiyah (8), Wayne, Jr (6), and Russ (2).
