Norman Ayen joined the Blue Jay track squad as an Assistant Coach in 2004. His wealth of knowledge has him involved in many events and he has made his greatest contributions in the highly technical pole vault event, as well as the sprints and relays. He also works with the hurdlers and jumpers.
Coach Ayen has developed Johns Hopkins[apos] top-10 all-time women Pole Vaulters and 9 of the top-10 men in the event. In 2014, freshman Andrew Bartnett improved over a foot from his best high school vault, topping 5.05 meters, garnering third place and All-America honors at the NCAA Championships. Bartnett led the men to a 1-2-3-7 finish at the Centennial Indoor Championships and to a 1-3-6-7-8 finish outdoors.
Coach Ayen[apos]s sprinters, both men and women, have notched the top-three all-time fastest performances in the 4x200 and 4x400 Meter Relays indoors and the 4x100 and 4x400 Meter Relays outdoors. The Hopkins women sprinters were major contributors to the team[apos]s dominating Centennial Conference Championships the past five years. In 2014, sophomore Brynn Parsons was second indoors in the 60 and 200-meter dashes, before winning the 100 and 200-meters in the outdoor season. Megan McDonald won the 400-meters indoors and outdoors and also captured the 400-meter hurdles event. Both the men and women captured the 4x400 relay championships indoors and outdoors as well as the 4x100-meter relay event outdoors as Hopkins won the overall Centennial Conference Championships.
Prior to his arrival at Hopkins, Ayen was the head coach of the track and field and cross-country teams at Cambridge-Isanti High School in Cambridge, Minnesota from 1973 to 2003. Ayen was responsible for all coaching and administrative aspects of the team. He also served as the head track and field coach and head basketball coach at Eagle Bend High School from 1971-73. Ayen was an English teacher at both Cambridge-Isanti and Eagle Bend.
As an athlete, Coach Ayen was an NCAA Division II qualifier in the 400-meter hurdles and also competed in several relays. He earned a Bachelor[apos]s degree at the University of Minnesota-Mankato and holds a USA Track and Field Level 1 Coaching Certificate. He was elected to the University of Minnesota-Mankato Athletic Hall of Fame in 2008
