Long-time South Jersey resident Norm Tate, a former Olympian who currently works with the jumpers and hurdlers for the powerhouse Rowan University track team, has been named head coach of the U.S. team that will compete in the World Junior Pan Am Games in Peru.

“I am honored to be selected as the head coach,” Tate said in a statement on Rowan’s web site. “It’s another step towards, hopefully, being chosen to coach at the Olympic Games. I have received positive evaluations every time I have coached for Team USA and I am hoping that continues.”

Tate has lived in South Jersey since 1986, when he left coaching and took a job at a casino in Atlantic City.

Tate, a three-time All-America at North Carolina Central University in the mid-1960s and Penn Relays MVP in 1964, went on to make the 1968 Olympic team in the triple jump. He was U.S. triple jump champ three times in a row — 1969, 1970 and 1971.

After 20 years working as an equal employment opportunity manager at Resorts International, Tate returned to college coaching in 2006 at Stockton University in nearby Galloway, where he was reunited with athletic director and 1968 Olympic teammate Larry James, and in 2009 he joined the staff at Rowan.

During his years at Resorts, Tate did coach numerous individuals, including Olympian Jack Pierce.

The Pan Am Juniors is the latest in a long list of national teams Tate has coached, including the U.S. teams that competed at the 2012 World Juniors, 2014 World Juniors and 2015 Pan Am Games. The meet runs Friday through Sunday in Lima, Peru.