Tim Nickas joined the George Mason University track and field staff in August 2019 and currently serves as associate head coach. He works with vertical jumps, multi-events, and javelin.
Since arriving at Mason, Nickas has coached 2 NCAA All-Americans, 17 NCAA Championship qualifiers, 16 U.S. Track & Field and Cross Country Coaches Association (USTFCCCA) All-Academic honorees, and contributed to five Atlantic 10 (A10) team championships. His athletes have also earned five conference records, two A10 Most Valuable Performer awards, five A10 Rookie of the Year honors, three IC4A/ECAC individual titles, and more than 90 All-Conference selections.
The 2025 season featured several career highlights. Multi-event athlete Abby Weening was named A10 Most Valuable Performer after winning the pentathlon and high jump while also scoring in the 60-meter hurdles, helping the women’s team secure its first indoor title since 2014. Pole vaulter Walter Bannerman set an A10 record with a clearance of 5.40 meters, becoming the second-highest vaulter in program history. In addition, Kennedy Drish and Alina Florou Dimitriadou earned USTFCCCA All-Academic honors for their performances.
In 2024, Bannerman earned Second Team All-America recognition after improving his personal best from 4.71 meters to 5.37 meters. He also won two A10 titles. That same season, Geni Roberts and Kelsey Sebwe qualified for the NCAA Championships in the triple jump, while Roberts claimed his first A10 title. Nickas’s athletes collected 16 All-Conference awards and nine All-East honors that year.
The 2023 campaign included three NCAA qualifiers, three USTFCCCA All-Academic honorees, and seven A10 champions. His athletes scored 121 points at the outdoor championship, highlighted by Cason Gardner’s facility-record decathlon (7,393 points) and Dhiambi Otete’s facility-record triple jump (12.77 meters). Freshman Micah Jones was named Rookie of the Year for both indoor and outdoor championships. Mason’s jumpers, vaulters, and multi-eventers combined for 21 A10 medals that season.
During the 2022 season, Xavier Shirley set the A10 indoor record in the long jump at 7.46 meters and later qualified for the NCAA Championships outdoors with a 7.58-meter mark. He earned USTFCCCA All-Academic recognition. Nickas’s group won six A10 titles and secured 11 total medals that year.
Despite the shortened 2020 and 2021 seasons, Nickas coached three NCAA qualifiers and three USTFCCCA All-Academic honorees. Kiana Stallworth won the 2021 ECAC outdoor long jump title, while five athletes captured A10 championships across the two seasons.
Before Mason, Nickas spent seven years at Mount St. Mary’s University, including one year as head coach. He guided one NCAA All-American, seven NCAA qualifiers, five USTFCCCA All-Academic honorees, and four Penn Relays champions. His athletes set seven school records, two NEC records, and earned 25 All-NEC honors.
As a student-athlete at Mount St. Mary’s, Nickas competed in the decathlon under Hall of Fame coach Jim Deegan, earning All-East honors. He later worked as a personal trainer and strength coach before beginning his collegiate coaching career.
Nickas earned a bachelor’s degree in political science from Mount St. Mary’s in 2012. He lives in Fairfax, Virginia, with his wife, Danielle, and their daughters, Nora, Ella, Thea, and Lena.
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Coach Nickas by the Numbers:
- 5 Division 1 Team Conference Championships
- 2 USA Senior Championship Qualifiers
- 2 Division 1 All Americans
- 16 Division 1 USTFCCCA All Academic Athletes
- 17 Division 1 National Championship Qualifiers
- 4 Penn Relays Championship Section Champions
- 5 Division 1 Conference Records
- 2 Division 1 Conference MVPs
- 36 Division 1 Conference Champions
- 94 Division 1 All Conference Honorees
- 5 Division 1 ROYs
- 3 IC4A/ECAC Champions
- 41 All-East Honorees
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