Bio

Leanne Nichols was announced as the new Assistant Athletic Director for Sports Medicine on October 31, 2024.  This promotion comes after previously serving as the head athletic trainer since October 6, 2022. 

Leanne comes most recently from Lourdes University. She has worked extensively in the Athletic Training field-previously serving as the head athletic trainer at Lakeview High School and with the club football team at Oakland University. She also worked as the athletic trainer for Cleary University Athletics from 2015-2018, and returned to Cougar athletics in 2020, where she was the assistant athletic trainer from 2020-2022.  Nichols has served as a member of the NAIA's Senior Woman Leader Association board since 2024.  

In February of 2023, Nichols was selected as one of the few athletic trainers able to work with the United States women's wrestling (Team USA) team during their camp in Hungary.  During her time in Europe, Nichols worked with world champions, Olympic qualifiers, and coaches from more than 15 national teams from around the globe.  

Nichols is a 2010 graduate of Alma College, going on to receive her masters from Wayne State University in 2014 and her doctorate in athletic training from A.T. Still University in June of 2020. Leanne also comes with unique internship experiences; working for a semester at a teaching hospital in Kerala, India and in strength and conditioning and performance enhancement at the Institute for Athletic Medicine and the Orthopedic Spine and Sport Medicine.