Ricardo Santos, one of the top distance coaches in the nation, arrived at Stanford in August of 2019. Santos' main responsibility is the men's runners, though he is involved in coaching both the men's and women's teams.
Santos has coached cross-country teams to 14 NCAA top-10 finishes, and earned eight regional and 17 conference Coach of the Year honors.
Santos coached the Stanford men to three Pac-12 and three West Region cross country titles in his first five seasons. He won Pac-12 Men's Coach of the Year honors in 2020-21, 2022, and 2023, and West Region Coach of the Year honors in 2021, 2022, and 2023. Under Santos, the Stanford men have placed among the NCAA's top eight each year.
Among Santos' success stories, Ky Robinson arrived at Stanford as a lightly-recruited runner from Australia and blossomed under Santos into a two-time NCAA champion, sweeping the 5,000 and 10,000 titles at the 2023 NCAA Outdoor Track and Field Championships.
At that meet, Robinson and Charles Hicks combined to score 31 points to help Stanford place third as a team -- its highest placing in 23 years. Robinson was named National Men's Outdoor Track Athlete of the Year and Men's Outdoor Track Scholar-Athlete of the Year by the USTFCCCA. Santos was named West Region Men's Outdoor Assistant Coach of the Year.
Under Santos, Hicks became the first Stanford runner, man or woman, to win an NCAA individual cross country title, when he won in Stillwater, Oklahoma, on Nov. 19, 2022. This was Santos' second NCAA individual cross country champion, with Iona's Kate Avery being the first in 2014.
Robinson graduated as a 13-time All-American, two-time Academic All-American, three-time Pac-12 champion, and holder of four Stanford absolute records: in the mile (3:52.79), 3,000 (7:36.69), 3,000 steeplechase (8:32.01), and 5,000 (13:06.42).
In the fall of 2022, Santos earned USTFCCCA West Region and Pac-12 Men's Coach of the Year honors after guiding the Stanford men to regional and conference championships and a fourth-place NCAA finish. Hicks captured the NCAA and Pac-12 individual titles in course records and went on to repeat as the European under-23 cross country champion for his native Great Britain, adding a Euro U23 title in the 5,000 on the track the following spring.
Stanford won the 2022 Pac-12 men's cross country title with only 22 points, the third-lowest in conference history. The Cardinal placed six runners in the top 10 and five among the top seven.
In the 2022 track season, Santos was named USTFCCCA West Region Indoor Men's Assistant Coach of the Year in 2022 after his runners scored 19 points at the NCAA Indoor Championships. Robinson led the way with a second-place indoor finish in the 5,000, and placed fourth at the same distance outdoors before going on to represent Australia in the World Championships in Eugene and in the Commonwealth Games, in which he placed sixth in the 10,000.
Hicks, a two-time Academic All-American, won back-to-back Pac-12 titles in the 10,000 in 2021 and 2022 and broke the European U20 record at that distance (27:47.63). He went on to place sixth in the 5,000 at the British Olympic Trials.
The Cardinal women have won the past four West Region cross country championships and were Pac-12 champions in 2019 and 2020-21. In 2019, they captured conference and regional titles in the same season for the first time since 2007, and swept the top three places at the Pac-12 Championships -- the first time any team had done so since 2006.
Santos came to The Farm from the Boston Athletic Association, where he coached the high performance team. Prior to that he coached the distance squads at his alma mater, Iona College, from 2008-18. In 2017, he was elevated to Director of Cross Country and Track and Field.
He coached the Iona men to 10 Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference cross country championships (2008-17) and the women to nine (2008-14, 2016-17). Santos was named MAAC cross country Coach of the Year 14 times -- eight for the women and six for the men. His men placed second at the 2008 NCAA Cross Country Championships, and earned eight other top-10 finishes.
Before Iona, Santos spent three years (2005-08) as an assistant cross country and track and field coach at Harvard and was the recruiting coordinator.
Santos attended Iona, where he earned a degree in social work in 2000, and a master's in social work from Columbia in 2001. In 1998, he received All-America honors in cross country and was a two-time MAAC cross country champion. Overall, he won three IC4A individual titles and 11 MAAC championships. He was a two-time MAAC cross country Most Outstanding Runner.
Born in Portugal, Santos was raised in Toronto and raced for Michael Power/St. Joseph's High School. Santos was the Ontario cross country champ in the midget division in 1991, was second among juniors in 1993, and second among seniors in 1994. Santos made the Canadian junior national team and raced in the 1995 World Junior Championships in Durham, England.
Ricardo is married to Sarka Nastalkova, a native of the Czech Republic. They live in Sunnyvale.
Santos has coached cross-country teams to 14 NCAA top-10 finishes, and earned eight regional and 17 conference Coach of the Year honors.
Santos coached the Stanford men to three Pac-12 and three West Region cross country titles in his first five seasons. He won Pac-12 Men's Coach of the Year honors in 2020-21, 2022, and 2023, and West Region Coach of the Year honors in 2021, 2022, and 2023. Under Santos, the Stanford men have placed among the NCAA's top eight each year.
Among Santos' success stories, Ky Robinson arrived at Stanford as a lightly-recruited runner from Australia and blossomed under Santos into a two-time NCAA champion, sweeping the 5,000 and 10,000 titles at the 2023 NCAA Outdoor Track and Field Championships.
At that meet, Robinson and Charles Hicks combined to score 31 points to help Stanford place third as a team -- its highest placing in 23 years. Robinson was named National Men's Outdoor Track Athlete of the Year and Men's Outdoor Track Scholar-Athlete of the Year by the USTFCCCA. Santos was named West Region Men's Outdoor Assistant Coach of the Year.
Under Santos, Hicks became the first Stanford runner, man or woman, to win an NCAA individual cross country title, when he won in Stillwater, Oklahoma, on Nov. 19, 2022. This was Santos' second NCAA individual cross country champion, with Iona's Kate Avery being the first in 2014.
Robinson graduated as a 13-time All-American, two-time Academic All-American, three-time Pac-12 champion, and holder of four Stanford absolute records: in the mile (3:52.79), 3,000 (7:36.69), 3,000 steeplechase (8:32.01), and 5,000 (13:06.42).
In the fall of 2022, Santos earned USTFCCCA West Region and Pac-12 Men's Coach of the Year honors after guiding the Stanford men to regional and conference championships and a fourth-place NCAA finish. Hicks captured the NCAA and Pac-12 individual titles in course records and went on to repeat as the European under-23 cross country champion for his native Great Britain, adding a Euro U23 title in the 5,000 on the track the following spring.
Stanford won the 2022 Pac-12 men's cross country title with only 22 points, the third-lowest in conference history. The Cardinal placed six runners in the top 10 and five among the top seven.
In the 2022 track season, Santos was named USTFCCCA West Region Indoor Men's Assistant Coach of the Year in 2022 after his runners scored 19 points at the NCAA Indoor Championships. Robinson led the way with a second-place indoor finish in the 5,000, and placed fourth at the same distance outdoors before going on to represent Australia in the World Championships in Eugene and in the Commonwealth Games, in which he placed sixth in the 10,000.
Hicks, a two-time Academic All-American, won back-to-back Pac-12 titles in the 10,000 in 2021 and 2022 and broke the European U20 record at that distance (27:47.63). He went on to place sixth in the 5,000 at the British Olympic Trials.
The Cardinal women have won the past four West Region cross country championships and were Pac-12 champions in 2019 and 2020-21. In 2019, they captured conference and regional titles in the same season for the first time since 2007, and swept the top three places at the Pac-12 Championships -- the first time any team had done so since 2006.
Santos came to The Farm from the Boston Athletic Association, where he coached the high performance team. Prior to that he coached the distance squads at his alma mater, Iona College, from 2008-18. In 2017, he was elevated to Director of Cross Country and Track and Field.
He coached the Iona men to 10 Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference cross country championships (2008-17) and the women to nine (2008-14, 2016-17). Santos was named MAAC cross country Coach of the Year 14 times -- eight for the women and six for the men. His men placed second at the 2008 NCAA Cross Country Championships, and earned eight other top-10 finishes.
Before Iona, Santos spent three years (2005-08) as an assistant cross country and track and field coach at Harvard and was the recruiting coordinator.
Santos attended Iona, where he earned a degree in social work in 2000, and a master's in social work from Columbia in 2001. In 1998, he received All-America honors in cross country and was a two-time MAAC cross country champion. Overall, he won three IC4A individual titles and 11 MAAC championships. He was a two-time MAAC cross country Most Outstanding Runner.
Born in Portugal, Santos was raised in Toronto and raced for Michael Power/St. Joseph's High School. Santos was the Ontario cross country champ in the midget division in 1991, was second among juniors in 1993, and second among seniors in 1994. Santos made the Canadian junior national team and raced in the 1995 World Junior Championships in Durham, England.
Ricardo is married to Sarka Nastalkova, a native of the Czech Republic. They live in Sunnyvale.