The longest tenured coach on staff, Scott Etherton has been an assistant coach at Nebraska Wesleyan since 1987, working primarily with the hurdlers.
Known has one of the best hurdle coaches in the country, Etherton’s athletes in the hurdles and horizontal jumps have claimed six NCAA national titles and 104 All-American honors. In 2003, he was recognized as a winner of the AFLAC National Assistant Coach of the Year Award.
The year of 2026 did not disappoint for the NWU hurdle group. The hurdle crew added two more NCAA All-American honors. Scott's son, Eli Etherton earned two All-American awards in the 60H and 110H. His time of 13.90 in the 110H broke the school record. Including Etherton, both Jacob Young and Noah Smith qualified for the NCAA National Championship in the 110H while Rachel Smith notched her first qualifying performance of her career getting to the national meet in the 60H.
Etherton was able to have 12 athletes land on the NWU all-time top 10 hurdle charts in 2026 including the school record in the male shuttle hurdle relay. At the conference level, he coached five all-conference performances.
A 1987 graduate of Nebraska Wesleyan, Etherton is one of the most decorated track athletes in school history, winning 10 All-America awards during his career at NWU. He won national titles in the 60-yard high hurdles at the 1986 NAIA Indoor Championships and in the 110-meter high hurdles at the 1987 NCAA Division III Outdoor Championships.
In addition to coaching, Etherton is the Director of the Mental Health Crisis Center. He is married to Kassie and has three children, Olivia, Eli (an alum of the NWU track program) and Alec.
