The man who coached runners at Manitowoc Lincoln for nearly five decades will be honored next weekend.
On Saturday, August 9th, all former Track and Field and Cross Country athletes are invited to JFK Fieldhouse to celebrate the 80th birthday of Coach Len Nikolai.
He began his coaching career at Lincoln High School in 1968, when he was tasked with being the head boys’ cross country coach.
He began coaching the girls in 1987 and took over as head track coach in 1982.
Nikolai retired in 2012 after 45 years at the helm. During that time, his Shipbuilders won 15 Fox River Valley Conference cross country championships, including six in a row in 1968-73, and brought at least one person to the WIAA State cross country meet 41 times.
The 80th birthday celebration will run from 1:00 to 4:00 p.m. inside the fieldhouse on the Manitowoc Lincoln campus.
