Donna Ricks starting coaching at Carleton in 1993 and serves as professor of physical education, athletics and recreation, as well as head coach for the women's cross country and track & field programs. She was inducted into the U.S. Track & Field/Cross Country Coaches Association Hall of Fame on Dec. 12, 2023, becoming only the 20th female coach to be enshrined by the USTFCCCA.
Over the years, she transformed the Knights' cross country program into a perennial contender at the conference, regional, and national levels. Under her guidance, Carleton has won 12 MIAC crowns, seven regional titles, and made 20 appearances at the NCAA DIII Cross Country Championships. The team's breakthrough came in 2022, with a historic fourth-place finish and their first-ever podium appearance at the national championships. Ricks and the Knights improved on that placement in 2023 as they won the closest 1-4 finish in NCAA D-III Women's Cross Country Championships history.
It was the first NCAA women's team title in school history, and Ricks was selected as the 2023 USTFCCCA Division III Women's Cross Country Coach of the Year.
In track & field, the Knights have excelled at the individual level under Ricks' tutelage, winning seven individual NCAA titles across six events: 100-meter dash, 400-meter hurdles, discus, javelin, pentathlon, and heptathlon.
During Ricks' time at Carleton, the Knights have earned more than 70 All-America honors in cross country, indoor track & field and outdoor track & field, with a majority of those coming from outdoor competitions.
Ricks has been named USTFCCCA Regional Coach of the Year nine times since 2009. She became only the second female coach in NCAA D-III award history to win three consecutive cross country honors, doing so from 2017 to 2019.
Additionally, Carleton has received the All-Academic Team Award every year since the program began in 1993.
Ricks came to Northfield after six years as head cross country and track & field coach at Minnesota State University-Mankato, where she earned a B.S. degree and an M.A. degree in athletic administration. As a student there, Ricks was a cross country and track & field standout and All-American performer. In honor of her accomplishments, Ricks' alma mater inducted her into its Hall of Fame in 1998 and named her the fifth-greatest female athlete to attend the school in the past century. She previously served as the U.S. National Women's Heptathlon Coach in 1996.
Ricks resides in Northfield with her husband Dave (also the Carleton men's cross country and men's track & field head coach) and their daughter, Karissa.
