Ricardo Santos is Stanford's primary men's distance coach, arriving at Stanford in August of 2019. Santos' main responsibility is coaching the men's runners, though he is involved in both the men's and women's teams.
At the 2023 NCAA Outdoor Track and Field Championships, distance runners Ky Robinson and Charles Hicks combined to score 31 points to help Stanford place third as a team -- its highest placing in 23 years. Robinson swept the 5,000 and 10,000 titles and 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. Santos has coached cross-country teams to 13 NCAA top-10 finishes, and earned seven regional and 16 conference Coach of the Year honors.
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.
After placing 10th at the NCAA cross country championships, Robinson opened the 2022-23 indoor season with a stunning 13:11.53 to win the Sharon Colyear-Danville Season Opener in Boston. Robinson's time was the fastest 5,000 indoors or outdoors in Stanford history and was the third-fastest indoor time in collegiate history.
Robinson broke the school record in the men's steeplechase (8:32.01) as a freshman in 2021 in an Australian and Oceania under-20 record and Julia Heymach shattered the Stanford mark in the 1,500 by four seconds while placing sixth at the U.S. Olympic Trials in 4:04.84, the fourth-fastest time in collegiate history.
Hicks 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.
Santos has coached the Stanford men to two Pac-12 and two West Region cross country titles in his first four seasons. He has won Pac-12 Men's Coach of the Year honors in 2020-21 and 2022 and West Region Coach of the Year honors in 2021 and 2022. Under Santos, the Stanford men have placed among the NCAA's top six in all four seasons.
The Cardinal women have won the past three 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 its 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 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.
At the 2023 NCAA Outdoor Track and Field Championships, distance runners Ky Robinson and Charles Hicks combined to score 31 points to help Stanford place third as a team -- its highest placing in 23 years. Robinson swept the 5,000 and 10,000 titles and 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. Santos has coached cross-country teams to 13 NCAA top-10 finishes, and earned seven regional and 16 conference Coach of the Year honors.
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.
After placing 10th at the NCAA cross country championships, Robinson opened the 2022-23 indoor season with a stunning 13:11.53 to win the Sharon Colyear-Danville Season Opener in Boston. Robinson's time was the fastest 5,000 indoors or outdoors in Stanford history and was the third-fastest indoor time in collegiate history.
Robinson broke the school record in the men's steeplechase (8:32.01) as a freshman in 2021 in an Australian and Oceania under-20 record and Julia Heymach shattered the Stanford mark in the 1,500 by four seconds while placing sixth at the U.S. Olympic Trials in 4:04.84, the fourth-fastest time in collegiate history.
Hicks 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.
Santos has coached the Stanford men to two Pac-12 and two West Region cross country titles in his first four seasons. He has won Pac-12 Men's Coach of the Year honors in 2020-21 and 2022 and West Region Coach of the Year honors in 2021 and 2022. Under Santos, the Stanford men have placed among the NCAA's top six in all four seasons.
The Cardinal women have won the past three 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 its 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 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.