Johnathon Nowacki was named the third head cross country and track & field coach in Heartland Community College history on July 23, 2025. He enters his second season leading the Hawks in 2026-27.
In his first season as head coach during the 2025 cross country campaign, Nowacki guided the Hawks to a successful season filled with historic achievements and promising performances. He earned his first meet victory on September 25, 2025, at the Heartland Invitational, where Kaleb Kilgore claimed the individual title and four additional Hawks finished among the top 10.
Later that season, Nowacki led the men's team to his first Region 24 Championship. The Hawks were paced by Aidan Lee's runner-up finish and placed six runners inside the top 10. At the NJCAA Division II National Championship, the men's team continued its strong postseason performance, finishing seventh nationally. Lee earned All-American honors with a 14th-place finish, becoming the first All-American coached by Nowacki at Heartland.
During the 2025-26 indoor track & field season, Nowacki coached sophomore Kaleb Kilgore to a school-record performance in the 800 meters with a time of 1:51.98, ranking among the top 15 NJCAA times during the season. Kilgore continued his success during the outdoor season, lowering his own school record to 1:51.67 and qualifying for the NJCAA National Championship meet in Hobbs, New Mexico.
Prior to joining Heartland, Nowacki competed for five years at the University of Wisconsin-Parkside, where he established himself as one of the most accomplished distance runners in program history. Before accepting his first collegiate head coaching position, he gained coaching experience as an assistant cross country coach at Kenosha Bradford High School and an assistant track & field coach at Racine Case High School.
In addition to his coaching duties, Nowacki continues to pursue elite-level competition as a member of the Driftless Distance Project, training with the goal of qualifying for the U.S. Olympic Marathon Trials.
During his collegiate career at Wisconsin-Parkside, Nowacki earned several places among the program's all-time top performers, including:
• School record holder in the indoor 3,000 meters
• Fourth all-time in the indoor 5,000 meters
• Fourth all-time in the outdoor 5,000 meters
• Eighth all-time in the 10,000 meters
• Seventh all-time in the indoor mile
• Eighth all-time in the outdoor 1,500 meters
