SUWANEE, Ga. -- For the fifth consecutive year, Colorado College's Alex Nichols has been selected 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 five 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 seventh consecutive SCAC championship and the women claiming their fifth straight conference crown and sixth in seven years.
On the women's side, led by senior Alison Mueller-Hickler, the SCAC Women’s Runner of the Year, the Colorado College cross-country team captured its fifth consecutive and sixth conference title in seven years. Colorado College runners finished first through fifth as the Tigers posted their second-straight perfect score and just the fifth in SCAC history. CC also secured the largest margin of victory in SCAC women’s cross-country championship meet history as they finished 84 points clear of second-place Texas Lutheran, 15-99. This year’s title marks the ninth in program history, tying the all-time SCAC record with former member DePauw University who claimed nine titles from 1998-2009. The 10 all-SCAC honors for the Tigers are the second-most in a single championship meet in conference history.
Two weeks later, the CC women placed second at the NCAA West Regional, behind the strength of Mueller-Hickler’s individual regional title and earned an at-large berth into the NCAA Division III Championship meet, the team's fifth consecutive national meet invite.
At nationals, the CC women’s cross country squad produced two All-Americans for the second consecutive year, as Mueller-Hickler and junior Charlie Flint finished in the Top 40 to lead the Tigers to a 23rd-place team finish. Mueller-Hickler placed 26th overall with a 6K time of 21:40.7, while Flint finished 30th in 21:47.1, giving the Tigers two All-Americans for the fifth time in program history.
On the men's side, Colorado College posted the third-lowest score in conference meet history and defended their men's cross country crown with a commanding 47-point victory – led by junior Will Shuflit who earned Runner of the Year honors for the second straight year. Shuflit posted the third-fastest time in championships history (24:50.38), 23 seconds ahead of the runner-up. The victory continued the program's dominance at posting the event's top medalist, with Shuflit becoming the 17th individual winner over the last 20 championships to win wearing CC black and gold.
The team conference title represented the 13th overall for the Colorado College men's cross country program (2007, 2009, 2010, 2011, 2014, 2016, 2019, 2020/21, 2021, 2022, 2023, 2024 and 2025).
At the NCAA West Regional, Shuflit led the Tigers to a runner-up team finish, the program’s best finish since tying for the regional title in 2011, as the junior became the fourth Tiger in program history to win an individual Regional Crown. At the national championship meet, Shuflit became the program's third two-time All-American in leading the Tigers to a 25th-place team finish after securing 16th individually.
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 fifth recognition on the women's side and sixth on the men's.
