Colorado College Athletics

Alex Nichols has led the Colorado College cross country programs to new heights since taking over as head coach in July of 2021.

Nichols, who also serves as an assistant coach for the school's track and field teams, took over as interim cross country coach following Ted Castaneda's retirement on Dec. 15, 2020 after serving as Castaneda's assistant coach since 2012.

A 2008 graduate of CC, Nichols has guided both teams to the Southern Collegiate Athletic Conference Championship each of his four seasons and was named the league's Coach of the Year each season for each gender.

The women's team has advanced to the NCAA Division III Cross Country Championships each of his four seasons. Nichols led the Tigers to a program-best sixth-place finish in 2024 and has coached three All-Americans, Isabel Olson (10th) and Sydney Rankin (24th) in 2024 and Elliot Singer (29th) in 2021.

On the men's side, the Tigers have dominated the SCAC Championship Meet, with CC claiming each individual title during Nichols' tenure. Will Shuflit won the title last season and earned All-America honors with a 30th-place finish at the NCAA Championships. James Settles captured the previous two titles and was named an All-American with a fourth-place finish at the NCAA Division III Championships in 2023. Josh Fry won his second consecutive SCAC individual title and Runner of the Year honor in Nichols' first year as permanent head coach in the fall of 2021.

As the interim coach in the spring of 2021, Nichols led the men's cross country team to its second consecutive Southern Collegiate Athletic Conference Championship and was named the league's Coach of the Year. The women's team finished second at the league meet, just a few points behind team champion Trinity University. 

As the distance event coach in track and field, Nichols has coached several all-conference performances and individual conference champions, including two-time All-American Kendall Accetta in the 3K steeplechase. Nichols also guided Katie Sandfort to a third-place finish in the 10K, the second-best finish in school history, at the 2017 Division III Championships.
 
Nichols earned All-America honors in cross country as a senior at Colorado College by finishing 14th at the 2007 NCAA cross country championships to cap his collegiate career with the Tigers. He earlier won the SCAC individual crown in '07, leading a 1-2-3 finish for CC with Kiran Moorty and Julian Boggs at the league meet. He was a three-time All-Region award winner in cross country, and set the still-standing Colorado College school record in the 3000-meter steeplechase at 9:14.35.
 
In addition to coaching, Nichols has been running trail and ultramarathon races professionally since 2010. He was ranked among the top ten ultra-marathoner runners in 2015, 2016, and 2017. In 2015, he was the USATF Ultra Marathon Runner of the Year and has twice represented Team USA in the World Championships (2013 & 2015). Other highlights include two wins at the Pikes Peak Marathon, a course record at the Mont Blanc 80k, and a 2017 Western States 100 Mile runner-up finish.
 
Nichols earned a master's degree in Sport Coaching from the University of Denver’s graduate school of professional psychology in 2020. He also holds a USATF Level 2 coaching certification.