Nickolas Davis starts his ninth season as the UW-La Crosse head women's track & field coach in 2025-26. He was named the 2025 U.S. Track & Field and Cross Country Coaches Association (USTFCCCA) North Region Indoor and Outdoor Coach of the Year after UWL swept the Wisconsin Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (WIAC) titles.
UWL finished third at the 2025 National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) Division III Indoor and Outdoor Championships. The Eagles earned 16 All-America honors at the indoor championships, including
Lauren Jarrett sweeping the 60 and 200-meter dash titles. UWL picked up 17 All-America accolades at the outdoor national meet. Jarrett won the 100 and 200-meter dash and was a member of the Eagles' national champion 4x100-meter relay with
Anika Reiland,
Macy Reybrock and
Julie Yang.
At the 2025 WIAC Indoor Championships, UWL secured the league title as the team scored at least 10 points in 15 of 17 events. The Eagles earned at least 20 points in five events as they captured nine individual and two relay titles. UWL scored at least 10 points in 16 of 21 events in winning the 2025 WIAC outdoor championship. The Eagles scored points in all 21 events, winning nine individual and two relay titles.
UWL earned the 2025 WIAC Indoor and Outdoor Coaching Staff of the Year awards. It was the Eagles' fifth straight indoor league crown and 13th consecutive outdoor championship.
Davis was named the 2024 USTFCCCA North Region Indoor Coach of the Year after helping lead UWL to the WIAC title. The Eagles placed 12th at the 2024 NCAA Division III Indoor Championship. Jarrett captured the national title in the 60-meter dash while placing sixth in the 200-meter dash.
Macie Todd earned All-America accolades with a fifth-place finish in the high jump.
During the 2024 outdoor season, UWL captured the WIAC title and were second at the NCAA Division III Outdoor Championships. The Eagles garnered 11 All-America awards at the outdoor national championships, including Jarrett who won the 100 and 200-meter dash titles. Jarrett,
Taylor Molling, Reiland and
Makenna Zak won the 4x100-meter relay.
Davis led UWL to a sweep of the 2023 NCAA Division III Indoor and Outdoor Championships. The Eagles won the indoor championship with 59.5 team points, capturing their second (2015, 2023) indoor title in school history. UWL earned 18 NCAA III All-America honors in winning the title, including
Skye Digman who captured the weight throw. The Eagles earned their fourth (1983, 1984, 2015, 2023) NCAA Division III Outdoor Championship in 2023 with 67.5 points. UWL picked up 20 All-America accolades at the outdoor championships with Digman taking the shot put crown.
For his efforts, Davis was selected 2023 USTFCCCA National Indoor and Outdoor Coach of the Year and North Region Indoor and Outdoor Coach of the Year.
Davis guided UWL to the 2023 WIAC Indoor and Outdoor titles. UWL scored a conference record 324.0 points in securing the indoor conference title, breaking the previous record of 261.0 points by UW-Oshkosh in 1996. UWL scored at least 10 points in 16 of 17 events, including over 20 points in seven events. The team won 10 individual and one relay title.
At the 2023 WIAC Outdoor Championships, UWL finished with another league record with 363.5 points, breaking UW-Oshkosh's mark of 313.0 in 1996. UWL scored at least 10 points in 19 of 21 events. The Eagles secured 11 individual and two relay titles.
UWL was named the 2023 WIAC Indoor and Outdoor Coaching Staff of the Year.
He led UWL to a second-place finish at the 2022 NCAA Division III Indoor and Outdoor Championships. The Eagles earned 16 All-America honors at each of the championships. Davis was named the 2022 USTFCCCA North Region Indoor and Outdoor Coach of the Year. UWL won its second consecutive WIAC indoor crown and 28th in school history. UWL finished with 244.0 team points, the most at a league championship since 1996. The Eagles won five individual and one relay title at the indoor conference championships while also recording eight second-place and seven third-place individual finishes. UWL was selected the 2022 WIAC Indoor Coaching Staff of the Year.
UWL won its 10th straight outdoor WIAC title in 2022, finishing with 293.5 team points in securing its 36th league crown in school history. The 293.5 points were the most since 1996. UWL won six individual and two relays titles at the outdoor conference championships while also recording 10 second-place and eight third-place individual finishes. The Eagles earned the 2022 WIAC Outdoor Coaching Staff of the Year.
Davis led UWL to a second-place finish at the 2021 NCAA Division III Outdoor Championships as the Eagles earned 17 All-America honors. It was UWL's best finish at the outdoor national championships since placing second in 1997.
Davis was voted the 2021 USTFCCCA Midwest Region Outdoor Coach of the Year after leading UWL to its ninth straight WIAC outdoor title. The Eagles finished with 276.0 team points, the most in conference history since 1996. UWL won seven individual and one relay title at the 2021 outdoor league championships while also recording eight second-place and nine third-place individual finishes. UWL was selected the 2021 WIAC Outdoor Coaching Staff of the Year.
He has led UWL to seven (2018, 2019, 2021, 2022, 2023, 2024, 2025) WIAC Outdoor Championships and six (2018, 2020, 2022, 2023, 2024, 2025) indoor titles. Davis was named the 2018 WIAC Indoor and Outdoor Coach of the Year. UWL earned the 2019 and 2021 WIAC Outdoor Coaching Staff of the Year as well as the 2020 and 2021 WIAC Indoor Coaching Staff of the Year. The 2020 outdoor conference and 2021 indoor conference championships were canceled due to the COVID-19 public health threat.
UWL won the 2020 WIAC Indoor Championship, winning 10 individual league titles while recording four second-place finishes and six third-place finishes.
Named the 2020 USTFCCCA Midwest Region Indoor Coach of the Year, Davis was one of three finalists for the 2020 USTFCCCA Indoor Coach of the Year.
Nickolas Davis has led UWL to 13 WIAC titles.
The Eagles captured the 2019 WIAC Outdoor Championship under Davis, their eighth straight title and league-record 34th in school history. UWL won three individual and one relay title at the 2019 outdoor championships as well as earning five second-place and seven third-place finishes as UWL was selected the WIAC Coaching Staff of the Year Award. UWL placed second at the 2019 WIAC Indoor Championships, winning four individual and two relay titles. The team also recorded four second-place and three third-place finishes.
UWL tied for 11th at the 2019 NCAA Division III Indoor Championships. The 2020 and 2021 indoor and 2020 outdoor national championships were canceled due to the COVID-19 public health threat. The Eagles have earned 168 All-America honors under Davis, including 79 indoor and 89 outdoor.
Davis led UWL to a sweep of the 2018 WIAC Indoor and Outdoor Championships in his first season as head coach. It marked UWL's sixth straight indoor conference title and league-record 26th in school history. The Eagles recorded top-three finishes in 12 of the 17 championship events, including four titles. UWL had seven second-place finishes and five third-place finishes.
UWL recorded top-three finishes in 10 of the 21 championship events, including five first-place finishes, at the conference outdoor meet in 2018. The Eagles had five second-place and five third-place finishes.
He served four seasons as assistant men's and women's track & field coach (vertical and horizontal jumps) at Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Davis was also an instructor in the physical education department at MIT from 2013-14.
MIT earned the 2015 USTFCCCA Division III Women's Program of the Year Award. The women's squad placed fourth at the 2015 NCAA Division III Indoor Championships and fifth in 2016 and 2017. MIT was fifth at the 2015 outdoor national championships. The Engineers captured three (2015, 2016, 2017) New England Division III Women's Indoor Championships and four (2014, 2015, 2016, 2017) outdoor crowns.
The MIT men's track & field squad has won three (2014, 2015, 2016) New England Division III Indoor Championships and four (2014, 2015, 2016, 2017) outdoor titles.
Named the 2015 USTFCCCA New England Region Men's Assistant Coach of the Year in 2015 and 2016, Davis has coached five USTFCCCA All-Americas at MIT, four College Sports Information Directors of America (CoSIDA) Academic All-Americans®, seven NCAA Division III Indoor qualifiers and 11 NCAA Division III Outdoor qualifiers. Two of his student-athletes have earned USTFCCCA Regional Field Athletes of the Year and two New England Women's and Men's Athletic Conference (NEWMAC) Field Athlete and Rookie of the Year honors. MIT has had eight New England Division III individual champions and nine NEWMAC champions under Davis.
He served as a physical education instructor at MIT, teaching activity courses for the general student body while developing curriculum for the Fitness and Stress Management course. Davis was a Mentor in the MIT Department of Athletics, Physical Education & Recreation (DAPER) Staff Mentoring Program.
Prior to arriving at MIT, Davis was the assistant men's and women's track & field and cross country coach at Marquette University (Wis.) from 2009-13. He coached a 2010 NCAA Division I Indoor Championship Provisional Qualifier while at Marquette (Wis.) as well as five preliminary round qualifiers for the NCAA I Outdoor Championships. The Golden Eagles set 10 school records under Davis while recording 40 top-10 indoor and 34 top-10 outdoor performances on the school's all-time list. He was an associate lecturer in the College of Health Sciences at Marquette (Wis.).
A native of Racine, Wisconsin, Davis earned his bachelor's (2004) and master's (2007) degrees in Kinesiology from UW-Milwaukee. A 10-time Horizon League individual champion in the high jump and javelin at UW-Milwaukee, Davis was named the 2004 Horizon League Athlete of the Year. He was a four-time NCAA Division I Midwest Regional Qualifier in the high jump and javelin for the Panthers while setting the school record in the high jump (indoor and outdoor) and javelin.
Davis was inducted into the UW-Milwaukee Athletics Hall of Fame in 2015. He was an associate lecturer in the UW-Milwaukee Department of Human Movement Sciences from 2008-11.
A member of the USTFCCCA, Davis has published five original research papers.
