For the fourth consecutive season, Colorado College's Alex Nichols has been selected the Southern Collegiate Athletic Conference (SCAC) Coach of the Year for both men's and women's cross country in exclusive voting by the league's head coaches and sports information directors.

Nichols is the first coach in SCAC history to sweep the SCAC Coach-of-the-Year honors for both men's and women's cross country outright in four consecutive years. The Tigers swept both the men's and women's conference titles at last month's championship meet, with the men winning their sixth consecutive SCAC championship and the women claiming their fourth straight conference crown.
 
On the men's side, paced by sophomore Will Shuflit, who earned Runner-of-the-Year honors by winning the individual title, Colorado College placed five runners in the top nine finishers, including freshman Vincent Mangat, who was named the league's Newcomer of the Year. The Tigers posted 24 points, 27 better than runner-up Trinity University.
 
After finishing fifth at the Division III West Region Meet, Shuflit placed 30^th to earn All-America honors at the NCAA Division III Championships in Terre Haute, Ind.  
 
The team conference title represented the 12th overall for the Colorado College men's cross country program (2007, 2009, 2010, 2011, 2014, 2016, 2019, 2020/21, 2021, 2022, 2023 and 2024).
 
By capturing the top six spots and nine runners earning all-conference honors, including an individual title for Sydney Rankin, the No. 4-ranked Colorado College women earned the program's eighth overall SCAC title and fifth in the last six years.
 
Rankin, a senior from Portland, Ore., won the race in a time of 22:11.90, three seconds ahead of runner-up and fellow senior teammate Isabel Olson, who covered the 6K race in 22:14.60. Junior Alison Mueller-Hickler finished third for the second consecutive year in 22:23.00 and senior Britt Helgaas in fourth (22:24.60). Sophomore Charlie Flint placed fifth in 22:25.20 to close out the scoring for the Tigers.
 
With its eighth conference title in women's cross country history, CC moved into second place for the most on the league's all-time list, just behind DePauw University's record nine titles.
 
Two weeks later, the CC women placed second at the NCAA West Regional and earned an at-large berth into the NCAA Division III Championship meet. At the national meet last Saturday, the Tigers, participating as a team for the fourth consecutive year, posted the program's best finish ever in sixth place, led by Olsen (10^th), the best individual finish in program history, and Rankin (24^th) .
 
Nichols has served as head coach of both the men's and women's cross country teams at CC since 2020, serving as an interim head coach following the retirement of legendary head coach Ted Castaneda before taking over the role permanently prior to the 2021 season. The COTY honors represent his fourth recognition on the women's side and fifth on the men's. He earned 2020-21 SCAC Men's Cross Country Coach-of-the-Year following the spring meet, which was run at the University of Dallas.