One of the most respected marathoners and distance runners in New Hampshire and New England, Nick Aguila joined the Southern New Hampshire University cross country and women's track and field programs prior to the 2015-16 season. Since taking the reins of the men’s and women’s cross country programs, Aguila, who is also an assistant coach with the women’s track and field team, has elevated the Penmen to unparalleled levels of success.
On the men’s side, Aguila has mentored fourteen All-Northeast-10 Conference performers and eleven United States Track and Field Cross Country Coaches’ Association (USTFCCCA) All-Region honorees during his time in Manchester. He guided Nacho Hernando-Angulo to the first NCAA National Championship berth in program history during the 2015 season, and under Aguila’s tutelage, Hernando-Angulo duplicated the effort in 2016. In 2017, Aguila led Tyler McLaren to the National Championships and junior Micah Hewitson qualified for the National Championships in 2019, marking the fourth time in five seasons with Aguila at the helm that Southern New Hampshire produced a national finalist.
In addition to the individual successes, Aguila has shifted the Penmen men’s cross country program to one of the premier teams in both the Northeast-10 Conference and the NCAA East Region. For the first time in 2018, SNHU qualified for the NCAA Division II National Championship as a team, one of 34 schools participating in the meet held in Pittsburgh, Pa. The 2018 squad finished in fourth-place at both the NE10 Championships and the NCAA Division II East Regional, continuing a trend of top level finishes. In 2017, Aguila produced a third-place finish at the NE10 Championships, which marked the highest in the history of Southern New Hampshire University. The 2018 squad finished in fourth-place and the 2019 team ran fifth at Jamesville Beach, N.Y.
The Southern New Hampshire University women’s team has also seen tremendous success under Aguila’s watch, with eleven All-NE10 selections as well as six USTFCCCA All-East Region performances. The 2019 team finished in second-place, its best-ever finish, at the Northeast-10 Championships. The squad featured NE10 first-teamer Ashley Corcoran and second-team runner Lydia Mathson, a freshman. Two other runners, Grace Henson and Alexarae Clark were named to the NE10 third-team.
And for the first time in school history, the SNHU Women’s Cross Country team participated in the NCAA Division II Cross Country Championships in Sacramento, Calif. in November 2019. The Penmen received an automatic bid when they finished third at the NCAA Division II East Regional in Philadelphia, the best-ever finish for the SNHU Women. Corcoran became the first Penmen to be named a Cross Country All-American with a school-record 20:52 (26th place) at the NCAA Division II Championship.
Among the program’s other honor recipients are Laura O’ Hanlon in 2015 and 2016 and Jill Couto in 2017 and 2018.
Aguila is an accomplished marathon and distance runner, and actively competes in local, regional and national events. Currently, Aguila is training for the United States Olympic Trials in the Marathon, and he turned in a personal best performance during the first weekend of December, 2017 with a time of 2:22:08, which was a mere 3:09 from qualifying. Additionally, Aguila captured the prestigious Manchester City Marathon in 2017, as he navigated the course in 2:29:07 to breeze across the finish line nearly 10 minutes ahead of the second-place finisher. At the 2017 Boston Marathon, Aguila finished No. 55 overall and was the top New Hampshire finisher with an official time of 2:29:42. He improved to 2:27:51 at the 2019 Boston Marathon, finishing 74th overall and second best among New Hampshire runners.
Aguila spent the 2014-15 season as an assistant coach at Central Connecticut State University, a Division I member of the Northeast Conference. He helped guide the Blue Devil men's cross country team to an NEC championship and worked with the conference individual champions in both men's and women's cross country, while also assisting the men to an NEC title in track.
The prior year, Aguila was an assistant coach at Adams State University in Alamosa, Colorado, where in 2013-14 the program had five men's and four women's cross country All-Americans. The program produced NCAA Division II national championships in men's cross country and women's indoor track, while the women's cross country and men's indoor and outdoor track teams were all national runners-up. Aguila ran one season as a graduate student at ASU, where he earned his Master's in Exercise Science.
A 2012 graduate of the University of Connecticut, Aguila was a two-year captain, and graduated with a bachelor's in Exercise Sciences while minoring in Sports Nutrition.
