LAWRENCEVILLE, Ga. -- For the second 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 head coaches in the conference.

The Tigers swept both the men's and women's conference titles at last month's championship meet, with the men winning their fourth consecutive SCAC championship and the women claiming their second straight conference crown and third in four years.

On the men's side, paced by junior James Settles, who earned Runner-of-the-Year honors with the 13th fastest time in championships history (25:23.60), Colorado College nipped Trinity 31-35, the tightest finish at the men's event since Trinity defeated Colorado College by one point in 2013. Settles, who had placed third at conference as a freshman and runner-up as a sophomore, continued the program's dominance at posting the event's top medalist with 14 of the last 17 individual winners coming from Colorado College. At the NCAA Division III Championships (Nov. 19), Settles secured a 60th-place in a field of nearly 300 runners, the best finish by any SCAC athlete at the national meet since former CC Tiger Nick Hall placed 60th in 2013. 

The team conference title represented the 10th overall for the Colorado College men's cross country program (2007, 2009, 2010, 2011, 2014, 2016, 2019, 2020/21, 2021 and 2022).
 
With a record 12 runners earning all-conference honors, including a second consecutive individual title for sophomore Elliot Singer, the Colorado College women posted just the third perfect score in SCAC women’s cross-country history, earning the program's sixth overall title and third in the last four years Saturday morning on the campus of Southwestern University.

Singer, who finished the hilly 6K campus course in a time of 22:55.20, is the first runner to win back to back individual titles since CC's Leah Wessler won three straight individual titles from 2014 to 2016. Eleven more CC runners earned All-SCAC honors, including senior Clare Quinn, who finished as runner-up (23:17.60) after placing fifth last year and eight both her freshman and sophomore seasons. First-year Ella Fullerton, who took third (23:18.30), earned Newcomer-of-the-Year accolades for being the highest finishing first-year runner.  

With its sixth program conference title in women's cross country history, Colorado moves past Trinity University into third place alone on the league's all-time list, just behind Rhodes College's seven championships and DePauw University's record nine titles. 

Two weeks later, the CC women placed fifth at the NCAA West Regional and earned an at-large berth into the NCAA Division III Championship meet, which was held November 19 at Forest Acres Golf Course in Lansing, Mich. At the national meet, the Tigers, participating as a team for the second consecutive year, finished 20th with 525 points, their best result at the national meet since finishing 12th in 2016. Sophomore Sydney Rankin led CC by placing 43rd individually with a personal-best 6K time of 22:46.8.

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 second recognition on the women's side and third 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.