Nikki Kelsey, a nine-time Western Athletic Conference (WAC) Diving Coach of the Year, begins her 28th year at the helm of the Northern Arizona diving program, a squad that she has consistently led to the NCAA Zone Diving Championships. Kelsey, who is also a four-time National Independent Conference (NIC) Diving Coach of the Year, takes her team into their 17th year of WAC competition ahead of the 2023-2024 season.
The 2022-23 season was one of historic proportions for Kelsey and her divers. At the 2023 WAC Conference Championships, NAU saw six of its divers place in the top-eight places in the 1-meter and 3-meter events. It was more success for the Lumberjacks at platform, with three divers finishing in the top-eight with two others scoring. All in all, NAU divers scored 267 points at the WAC Championships, the most ever diving points scored at the conference championship which dates back to 1991. Northern Arizona went on to win a 10th consecutive WAC title in 2023, the most consecutive ever in WAC history.
Over the last 28 years, NAU has not had less than two divers who have competed at the NCAA Zone Championships under Kelsey's leadership. Last season, all nine female divers qualified to the NCAA Zone Championships, the first time in program history that has been accomplished. In all, Kelsey has coached 30 different divers to the zone diving meet on the women's side, a number that is double the amount who represented NAU prior to Kelsey's arrival. With Kelsey's guidance, NAU has routinely proven to be equal competitors with those from the Pac-12, Mountain West and Big West on the regional stage.
While success on the boards has been prominent in describing Kelsey, her charges have also been superior in the classroom. The divers have helped the Lumberjacks be named an Academic All-America Team by the Collegiate Swimming Coaches Association of America (CSCAA) numerous times - an honor given to a team with a grade-point average of 3.00 and higher. She has coached two NAU Golden Eagle Female Scholar-Athletes of the Year (Courtney McKenzie, 2002-03; Chelsea Jackson, 2015-16; Emily Luberto 2022-23), two CoSIDA Academic All-District honorees (McKenzie, 2003 First Team; Lana Christensen, 2011 Second Team) and four different student-athletes to CSCAA Honorable Mention Academic All-America honors (Anna Deem, 2003; Alexa Geiger, 2014, 2015; Jackson, 2013, 2014, 2015; McKenzie, 2003).
In the most recent season of 2020, Kelsey coached junior Jenny Cheetam to qualify for NCAA's, marking a huge accomplishment for both. The 2016-17 season was a special one for Kelsey as she coached sophomore Tatiana Kurach to the NCAA Swimming & Diving Championships. Kurach became just the second women’s diver in school history to qualify for the national championships when she punched her ticket with a seventh-place finish on 1-meter at the NCAA Zone E Diving Championships. Kurach, who was later named NAU’s Female Athlete of the Year, placed 49th at the national meet to cap her first season at NAU.
In addition to earning her second straight WAC Diving Coach of the Year award, Kelsey was also voted NAU’s Female Sport Coach of the Year in 2016-17. Led by Kurach, Kelsey's divers were pivotal in the Lumberjacks’ fourth consecutive conference championship. Kurach won her first career WAC gold medal on 3-meter while senior Alexa Geiger defended her title on 1-meter. Kurach followed Geiger’s footsteps in earning the WAC Diver of the Year honor. All five of NAU’s divers contributed points in each of the three diving events as they proceeded to account for a quarter of NAU’s winning point total. Kurach, Geiger and sophomores Raquel Gonzales and Christina Torrente each were named WAC Diver of the Week at least once during the season and combined for eight all-conference honors. Each of the four competed at the Zone Championships.
The Lumberjack divers made a big splash at the WAC Championships earning Kelsey the honor of 2016 WAC Diving Coach of the Year. Kelsey's divers played a critical role in NAU capturing its third straight conference championship during the 2015-16 season and were led by junior Alexa Geiger, who was awarded the WAC’s Diver of the Year award. Geiger took home the hardware after winning gold on both the 1-meter and 3-meter springboards, while freshman Raquel Gonzales placed in the top eight in all three diving events. The ’Jacks put their stamp on the meet from the first individual event – placing all six of their divers in scoring positions – and never let up. For the second consecutive year, four divers combined for nine all-conference honors, and the momentum was carried over into the NCAA Zone E Championships where all six divers qualified – matching the most in school history. Senior Chelsea Jackson, a five-time WAC Diver of the Week awardee during the season, narrowly missed her bid to the NCAA Championships by placing 10th at the Zone Meet while Geiger was two spots back in 12th.
At the 2015 WAC Championships, Kelsey's divers were the class of the competition, making their mark on the first day. All four of NAU’s scoring divers - juniors Chelsea Jackson and Carlye Townsend, sophomore Alexa Geiger and freshman Emma Simmonds - all placed in the top eight on 1-meter. After making a statement in the first diving event as a team, the Lumberjacks got their first gold medal of the championship when Jackson claimed the 3-meter title. In all, Kelsey's four divers accounted for nine all-conference honors, with Jackson and Geiger diving in the championship final in all three events. Kelsey also mentored freshman Alyssa Loeffelman to an impressive WAC Championship performance. Although she dove as a non-scorer, Loeffelman’s preliminary scores on both springboards would have been good enough to score points in the finals. Jackson and Geiger proceeded to dive at the NCAA Zone E Meet where Jackson placed 15th on 1-meter and 18th on 3-meter. Both Jackson and Geiger earned WAC Diver of the Week honors during the season, combining for three awards from the conference office.
Kelsey's divers were an integral part of NAU's first-ever WAC Championship team in 2013-14 as all four of her divers scored points for the Lumberjacks at the conference meet. Sophomore Chelsea Jackson led the way as she placed third on all three boards to earn three All-WAC first team honors. Kelsey also coached senior Jane Wakefield, sophomore Carlye Townsend and freshman Alexa Geiger to breakout performances at the WAC Championships. In her final conference meet, Wakefield scored on 1-meter and platform while Towsend earned a pair of All-WAC second team honors. Meanwhile, Geiger made a sensational debut on the conference stage placing in the top-seven on all three boards. All together, Kelsey's divers totaled eight all-conference honors. Jackson, Geiger and senior Gwen Smithberg represented NAU at the NCAA Zone E Meet highlighted by Jackson's 15th place finish on 3-meter. That trio also combined to win four WAC Diver of the Week awards during the regular season.
Prior to NAU's championship run, Kelsey earned WAC Diving Coach of the Year in 2012-13 on the heels of senior Kristy Ardavanis' gold medal on 1-meter which marked the program's first WAC diving championship since 2008 and first on 1-meter since 2004. Junior Gwen Smithberg also claimed victory on platform in the same meet. Ardavanis, a 10-time WAC Diver of the Week honoree in her final two seasons, would up being voted NAU's Female Athlete of the Year and finished as an alternate for the national championship meet following a sixth-place finish on 1-meter at NCAA Zones.
Kelsey earned her first WAC Diving Coach of the Year award in 2007-08 after senior Natalie Hughes became NAU’s first-ever gold-medal winner in diving in the WAC (3-meter) and was named the WAC Diver of the Year.
In the eight years prior to joining the WAC, the Lumberjacks dominated conference competition in the NIC. NAU won 11 individual conference diving titles in eight years in the NIC women's competition under Kelsey's guidance, and earned four conference diver-of-the-year awards (including back-to-back honors by Kate Morgan in 2002 and 2003, and Blair Buder in 2004). Kelsey was named the Women's Diving Coach of the Year four times (1997, 2002, 2003, 2004).
Prior to NAU, Kelsey spent two years at Clemson, where she was voted the 1996 Atlantic Coast Conference Men's Diving Coach of the Year. With the Tigers, Kelsey coached both men's and women's diving teams to winning seasons, with the women's team being ranked in the top-25 of the national coaches' poll in 1996. She had one ACC champion each year and took five divers to the zone meet in 1996.
Kelsey began her coaching career at her alma mater, Oakland University. She coached six All-Americans and three Division II national champions, being named Division II National Men's Diving Coach of the Year in 1994. At Oakland, she coached Dario D'Fazio, who represented Venezuela in the 1992 and 1996 Summer Olympics.
As an athlete, Kelsey was a eight-time All-American and two-time national champion during her career at Oakland, where she returned every time the NIC Championships were held at the Rochester, Mich., school. Kelsey is a member of the Hollie L. Lepley Hall of Honor at Oakland for her athletic contributions to the Golden Grizzlies program.
A 1991 graduate of Oakland, Kelsey has two adult children, Kayla and Darren.
