Head Coach Dave Ricks
Phone: (507) 222-7808
Email: daricks@carleton.edu
Record at Carleton
- 6 NCAA Cross Country Championship team appearances (2007, 2013, 2014, 2017, 2018, 2019)
- 4 MIAC Cross Country Championships team titles (2017, 2018, 2019, 2021) with three additional runner-up finishes (2007, 2013, 2014)
- 3 top-three team finishes at the MIAC Indoor Track & Field Championships, including runner-up results in 2018 and 2019
- 3 top-three team finishes at the MIAC Outdoor Track & Field Championships, including a runner-up result in 2018
- During his time at Carleton, the Knights have totaled 31 All-America performances (7 in cross country, 8 indoor track & field, 16 outdoor track & field)… including Matt Wilkinson, who won the NCAA D-III outdoor titles in the 2021 steeplechase and 2021 5000-meter run.
- He has coached 71 All-Region performances since the beginning of the 2015-16 academic year (23 in cross country, 24 indoor track & field, 24 outdoor track & field)
- 6 MIAC Coach of the Year awards, including 2017, 2018, 2019, and 2021 in cross country, 2018 indoor track & field, and 2018 outdoor track & field
In 2004, Dave Ricks took over the reins of the men's track & field program at Carleton. In 2007, he added duties as head coach of the men's cross country program. He is also a professor in the physical education, athletics and recreation department.
Ricks pulled off a rare trifecta during 2017-18, as the was recognized as the MIAC's Coach of the Year for cross country, indoor track & field, as well as outdoor track & field. This was only the third time in recorded MIAC history that an individual won all three coaching awards during the same academic year.
Ricks previously served as an assistant coach for the Carleton women's track and field and cross country programs from 1993-2005 and was the assistant men's cross country coach for the 2005 and 2006 seasons.
A 1976 graduate of Union College (N.Y.), Ricks was a two-sport All-American, specializing in the decathlon in track and field. He earned All-America honors in the decathlon in 1975 and was also an Academic All-American for Union in 1973. He has completed USA Track and Field's Level I Certification program for coaches.
Ricks earned a M.S. in computer science and an MBA from Minnesota State University-Mankato. He also studied exercise physiology at the graduate level while at MSU-Mankato.
He and his wife Donna, Carleton (head coach for women's cross country and women's track & field), reside in Northfield with their daughter Karissa.
Assistant Coach Josh Schoen
Josh Schoen joined the Knights in 2008 as an assistant coach for both the men's cross country and track and field programs. He was selected as the U.S. Track and Field/Cross Country Coaches Association (USTFCCCA) Central Region Men's Outdoor Track & Field Assistant Coach-of-the-Year in 2016 and again in 2018. He was a distance runner at UW-La Crosse and graduated in 2004 with a degree in Geology/Earth Science.
Assistant Coach Karissa Ricks
E-mail: kricks@carleton.edu
Phone: 507-222-4981
Karissa Ricks joined the Knights during the summer of 2024 and began working with the pole vaulters on the men’s and women’s teams. A 2023 graduate of Whittier College, she earned Academic All-District recognition that spring, shortly after competing in the pole vault at the NCAA Division III Outdoor Championships. Ricks is currently pursuing her masters' degree at Concordia University Irvine.
Assistant Coach Jesse Schoen
Jesse Schoen joined the Knights' coaching staff during the summer of 2019 and will serve as an assistant coach with both the men's cross country and men's and women's track & field teams.
