Carleton Knights

Record at Carleton

• 6 NCAA Cross Country Championship team appearances (2007, 2013, 2014, 2017, 2018, 2019)
• 3 MIAC Cross Country Championships team titles (2017, 2018, 2019) with three additional runner-up finishes (2007, 2013, 2014)
• 2 MIAC Indoor Track & Field runner-up finishes (2018, 2019)
• 2 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 25 All-America performances (7 in cross country, 6 indoor track & field, 12 outdoor track & field)
• He has coached 58 All-Region performances since the beginning of the 2015-16 academic year (18 in cross country, 21 indoor track & field, 19 outdoor track & field)
• 5 MIAC Coach of the Year awards, including 2017, 2018 and 2019 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.