JOINT BASE MCGUIRE-DIX-LAKEHURST, N.J. –
Her co-workers in the Army Reserve know her as the Soldier doing her best amidst a myriad of military systems, regulations and processes that all move very slowly at times.
But most are not aware of the life Sgt. 1st Class Nichole Hill led outside the military, when she often moved very, very fast.
In fact, when Hill put on her running shoes, sports history was often made; and, in some events, she could move faster than any female in the state of New Jersey.
That’s why Hill has been inducted into the South Jersey Track and Field Hall of Fame, honoring the athletes, coaches, officials and supporters of South Jersey’s track and field and cross-country community.
“I still hold most of my high school records,” said Hill, who serves as security manager for the U.S. Army Reserve’s 99th Readiness Division, as well as a schoolteacher in her full-time civilian job. “I'm very proud of this. A lot of my records for the state of New jersey stood for over 10 or 15 years.”
On the night of the induction banquet, surrounded by family, friends and former coaches, the portion of the evening for her to be highlighted arrived. That’s when she began to appreciate her accomplishments even more.
“I didn't realize how big of a deal it was until the presenter for the South Jersey Track Coaches Association introduced me,” Hill recalled. “He's talking about all the things I did, commenting, ‘Oh, that's really impressive for a freshman,’ and, ‘That's unheard of for a sophomore.’ As I listened to the reactions of the audience in the room, I think that's when I realized, ‘I was a big deal? Oh!’”
Thinking of the many years since her track and field achievements at Oakcrest High School in the 1990s and how she was sitting together there with everyone, Hill smiled as she described how special the night became.
“It was awesome. One of my good friends from high school was there with her husband and she was cheering me on from the table, so that really did my heart good. It was a wonderful night,” she said.
Extended family including her uncle – an Army veteran – attended the event.
“Growing up, I never saw him – he was always gone, stationed in Japan…I out rank him now,” she laughed.
The biography for the induction banquet program stated, “During her time at Oakcrest, she established herself as one of the best track and field athletes in South Jersey history, and the nation!” It followed with a long list of achievements during her early high school years.
The bio also stated, “She really made her mark on the record books during her senior year.” It also explained that her Meeting of Champions’ 100-meter High Hurdle time of 13.77 broke Olympian Carol Lewis’ South Jersey record, which stood for 17 years prior.
Hill, a New Jersey native born in Newark, explained how her educational background has been the most influential in her life as meeting her academic challenges as a student, as a young athlete and as a teacher boosted her in later endeavors, including her Army career.
“Let me clarify – for me, the academics were always the priority [in life]. I remember being in the 6th grade and saying, ‘I want to go to an Ivy League school,’” she said, “So throughout high school, that's what I was working toward – that was my goal.”
At the same time, Hill began participating in athletics and running.
“Both of my parents were definitely like, ‘Yeah, let's get her involved in sports,’ so I had something to do,” she explained. “Obviously, they didn't want me bugging them...it was good for me to get socialized and go hang out with the other kids.”
Her father, a dentist, was also a runner who ran marathons.
“I think before I even started school, he was like, ‘Come on, Nich, let's go,’” she recalled. “He and my mom would tell me stories of when I was little. I would be at the door crying because daddy went running. Then, sometimes he'd take me with him.”
Hill said that, most of all, she appreciates how devoted her mom and dad have always been to her athletic success, as well as her education.
Although Hill’s mother didn't play sports, she emphasized the importance of success in school.
“She did a lot of validating,” said Hill. “She did a phenomenal job; I think she did more for the academic side and valued the academics.”
Although her dad double-majored in chemistry and physics, “[education] was my momma's thing,” Hill said. “She was the one who was home when I came home from school and had cookies and snacks on the table, and would sit and read with me.”
Organized sports began on a boys’ baseball team for Hill, but only after her dad found a coach who had daughters and was open to taking a girl on the team.
“He said, ‘I'll take her, she can play on my team,’ so I played for the Galloway Township Royals,” Hill explained. “I was the first girl in the Township to play on a boys’ team. The first year, the boys hated it; but in my second year, they found out I was better than some of them – not so much fielding the ball, but I could run. I could always run.”
The sports and games were meant for her to have fun, but each time she played or challenged herself, it became educational.
“Just going out there, you're learning not just about the sport, but definitely socialization – you are being exposed to different kids who come from different backgrounds, different homes,” she said.
“I sort of gravitated toward cheerleading and then got into running in middle school,” said Hill as she explained how the individuality of track and running was very satisfying to her. “I got to use my own skills. I was responsible for how well I did, so the adrenaline of it felt good – there is nothing like it.”
Hill attended Brown University, and is still on all-time lists in multiple events at the Ivy League institution.
“I went to school on an academic scholarship,” she said. “Brown University was a welcoming, inclusive environment in Providence, Rhode Island. I loved it there.”
She excelled as a student and graduated 17th in her class.
As joining the Army became a possibility, Hill immediately saw three main reasons to sign up.
“Pay off student loans, go to a foreign country, and learn a foreign language – that was what got me,” said Hill of her decision to join.
She worked as a linguist manager, then used her education background by helping interpreter/translators study to improve their ASVAB scores and prepare for citizenship tests.
“I started off as a linguist, then I reclassed to intel analyst,” said Hill, who explained that as she found herself put into more senior positions, she began teaching Soldiers.
“It just came naturally because I enjoyed doing it. You're developing those NCO (non-commissioned officer) skills. I got to do the squad leader thing and monthly counselings,” Hill remembered.
“Fortunately, I had some good mentors,” she continued. “I feel like I got more development on active duty in terms of coming into my own as an NCO, and then I was able to use those skills when I was deployed.
“I'm all about sharing information and getting the information out there. There's a lot of good programs with a lot of good incentives, but they're not good if people don't know about them,” Hill added.
Hill said that when she notices a Soldier who understands or begins to grasp her training, it’s gratifying to her.
“Absolutely [satisfying], because I might be their leader now, but when I'm gone at some point they're gonna have to lead somebody else…let me raise up these folks, and let me guide them to be better than some of the stuff that I've experienced so they can do better. If you know better, you do better,” Hill said.
“The funny thing is, I'm third generation [military] on both sides of my family,” she explained. “I really didn't come to appreciate that until after I had already been serving for a while. My father's father retired from the Navy, and my father's brother retired from the Air Force.
“My dad always talks about how his dad wasn't home when he was young; he was off on a ship somewhere,” she recalled. “That's really the same perception I had of it as a child as well – they're gone all the time, they're doing military stuff.”
When Hill finished her five years of active duty, she had saved $20,000 to go back to school and transferred from active duty to the Army Reserve.
In recent days, Hill has had a change of heart about her Army career.
“For so long, I was like, ‘It’s just a job;’ I might have been good at it, but the Army was just something I did,” she explained. “Now, I'm looking back at the clock ‘cause I've got more behind me then I do in front of me, and I'm like, ‘Oh shucks - yeah, I guess this is a career.’”
Hill somehow manages the Army Reserve life well enough to combine it with her life as a teacher and an athlete.
“I’d like to say it makes me more well-rounded, which I'm always going to think is a plus,” Hill said. “It's funny – I have other friends from high school and they're like, ‘What happened? You just disappeared, you were just gone for all these years – where were you?’ and I said, ‘Well, if I wasn't up in college, I probably was in the Army overseas somewhere.’”
When Hill shows her numerous awards from years past and looks through the stack of newspaper clippings documenting her track and field feats, she comes to appreciate it more at this point in her life.
“I’m always glad to share this stuff that I enjoyed so much,” she said. “I did something of value. I've created some legacies, which is kind of nice.”