| Coaching History |
University of Wisconsin: 2013-Present
• Assistant Coach, Men's and Women's Track & Field |
University of Wisconsin: 2007-13
• Assistant Coach, Women's Track & Field |
Eastern Illinois University: 2005-07
• Assistant Coach, Men's and Women's Track & Field |
Independence Community College: 2002-04
• Head Coach, Men's Track & Field
• Assistant Coach, Football |
Elizabethtown (Pa.) College: 2001-02
• Assistant Coach, Men's Track & Field |
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| Notable Athletes |
• Zach Ziemek
2016 and 2020 Olympian (decathlon)
2020 World Championship bronze medalist (decathlon)
2016 NCAA heptathlon champion
Five-time first-team All-American
Four-time Big Ten champion |
• Georgia Ellenwood
2020 Canadian Olympian (heptathlon)
UW record-holder in the pentathlon and heptathlon
2018 NCAA heptathlon champion
Five-time first-team All-American |
• Egle Staisiunaite
2012 Olympian (400-meter hurdles) |
• Dorcas Akinniyi
Eight-time All-American
Five-time Big Ten champion
Silver medalist at 2010 NACAC U-23 Championships |
• Jessica Flax
Three-time Big Ten champion
Four-time All-American
2012 USA Olympic Trials qualifier
Silver medalist at 2012 NACAC U-23 Championships |
• Deanna Latham
2012 USA Olympic Trials Qualifier
2014 Big Ten Pentathlon Champion
Heptathlon runner-up at 2011 USA Junior Championships; Bronze medalist at 2011 Pan Am Junior Championships |
• Megan Seidl
UW record-holder in indoor high jump
Six-time USA Track & Field championships qualifier
Third at 2011 USA Indoor Championships
Ranked U.S. No. 4 U.S. and world No. 24 in 2011
2012 USA Olympic Trials finalist. |
•Chavon Robinson
UW record-holder in indoor and outdoor triple jump
2010 Big Ten indoor triple jump champion
2010 All-American |
• Jenny Soceka
Big Ten outdoor pole vault record-holder
2010 Big Ten outdoor pole vault champion and All-American; Ninth at 2009 USA Championships
Team USA for 2011 Five Nations Match in Scotland |
•Japheth Cato
2014 Big Ten Champion-Heptathlon
Three-time NCAA first-team All-American |
| Coach of the Year Honors |
| • USTFCCCA Great Lakes Region Assistant Coach of the Year - 2018 |
| • USTFCCCA Great Lakes Region Assistant Coach of the Year - 2012 Outdoor |
| • USTFCCCA Great Lakes Region Assistant Coach of the Year - 2010 Indoor |
| • USTFCCCA Great Lakes Region Assistant Coach of the Year - 2010 Outdoor |
Nate Davis enters his 18th year as an assistant track and field coach at the University of Wisconsin for the 2023-24 season. Davis coaches the Badgers' men and women in the combined-events, pole vault and high jump. In addition, "Coach Nate" serves as a USTFCCCA instructor for the combined events, has served as a USA Track and Field Level II instructor for the combined events, and is also one of only a few coaches to have earned both the USA Track & Field certified Level III accreditation and the IAAF Elite Coach certification in the jumping events.
In his 21 years as a top-level coach, he has an impressive list of honors:
- 2022 World Championship Bronze Medalist Zach Ziemek (decathlon)
- 2020 & 2016 U.S. Olympian Zach Ziemek (decathlon)
- 2020 Canadian Olympian Georgia Ellenwood (heptathlon)
- 2012 Lithuanian Olympian Egle Staisiunaite (400 hurdles)
- 4 IAAF World Championship Qualifiers
- 2 National Champions
- 32 All-Americans
- 25 Big Ten Conference champions
- 25 USA Track & Field Championships qualifiers
- 10 USA Olympic Trials qualifiers
- 9 USA Track & Field Junior Championships qualifiers
- 18 international team members (4 medalists)
- 52 NCAA championships qualifiers
- 88 NCAA Preliminary Round qualifiers
- 3 Junior college national champions
- 21 Ohio Valley Conference champions
- 16 University of Wisconsin records set
Badger Olympians and World-Class Performers
Davis has coached three Badger Olympians, including two-time Olympian Zach Ziemek in the decathlon.
At the 2016 Rio Olympics, he tallied 8,392 points to finish seventh, becoming the highest placing collegian in the event since 1984. At the 2020 Olympics, Ziemek came in sixth with 8,435 points as the second U.S. finisher.
Ziemek won a bronze medal at the 2022 World Athletics Championships in Eugene, Oregon, with the 10th best all-time performance by an American of 8,676 points. At the 2020 Olympic Trials, Ziemek set the world record for points in the jumping events in the decathlon with performances of 7.74 (25-4 3/4) in the long jump, 2.14 (7-0 1/4) in the high jump, and 5.55 (18-2 1/2) in the pole vault.
Ziemek finished 2022 ranked No. 1 in the United States in the decathlon. Ziemek trains daily with the Wisconsin track and field team and resides in Sun Prairie, Wisconsin.
Heptathlete Georgia Ellenwood qualified for her first Olympics in 2020, finishing 20th. In 2012, Egle Staisiunaite became Davis' first Olympian, competing in the 400-meter hurdles, finishing 33rd.
National Champions
Double Z won his first national title at the 2016 NCAA Indoor Championships, where he scored a Big Ten record 6,173 points in the heptathlon. He also finished second at the NCAA Outdoor Championships with a score of 8,300 points. Georgia Ellenwood became the program's first NCAA heptathlon champion in 2018 and is the first women to score over 6,000 points in the event, holding the school record of 6,173.
School Record Holders
In his 14 years at Wisconsin, Davis' athletes have set 16 school records and three Big Ten Conference
records.
In 2016, Ziemek broke Big Ten records in the heptathlon (6,173 points) and decathlon (8,413 points) and also broke the outdoor school record in the pole vault of 17-10 1/2 (5.45m). Ellenwood also set a Big Ten record in the heptathlon, scoring 6,173 points in 2018.
Taylor Amann set both the indoor and outdoor school records in the pole vault during her career as a Badger. She won three Big Ten pole vault titles before capping off her stellar career with a seventh-place finish at the 2018 NCAA outdoor meet.
Senior Deanna Latham held the school record in the 60-meter hurdles at 8.29 seconds for five years and also set the UW record in the heptathlon at the 2015 Big Ten Championships with a score of 5,914 points to place second. Latham broke the reocrd of 5,826 points set by Jessica Flax in 2012. In 2012, the trio of Dorcas Akinniyi, Flax and Latham put together an unprecedented performance in the combined events, sweeping the podium at the Big Ten championships in the indoor pentathlon and the outdoor heptathlon. Akinniyi finished second in the pentathlon at the 2012 NCAA Indoor Championships with a then-school-record performance of 4,299 points.
Megan Seidl qualified for the 2010 NCAA Indoor Championships as a senior and broke a 14-year old school record in the high jump by clearing 6-0 3/4 (1.85m). She became UW's first Big Ten champion in the high jump in 2009. She went on to a personal best of 6-3 (1.90) and a top-five U.S. ranking on her way to making the finals at the 2012 US Olympic Trials.
Chavon Robinson earned All-America honors, claimed a Big Ten championship in 2010 and posted a school record mark of 43-3 1/4 (13.19m) in the triple jump.
Jenny Soceka won the Big Ten title in the pole vault and went on to finish eighth at the 2010 NCAA Outdoor Championships in Eugene, Oregon, to earn All-America honors. Soceka broke the Big Ten outdoor record in the pole vault with her clearance of 14-3 1/2 (4.36m). She competed in two US National Championships and finished as high as ninth.
Outstanding performances at Eastern Illinois
Davis came to Wisconsin from Eastern Illinois University, where he served as the coach of the men's and women's jumpers, pole vaulters and multi-event athletes from 2005-07. He coached 21 Ohio Valley Conference champions with the Panthers, while his athletes earned a total of 60 all-conference honors.
During his three years at EIU, Davis' athletes set nine school records and three conference championship records. Obe Eruteya finished sixth at the 2007 NCAA Mideast Regional in the triple jump at 51-0 1/4 (15.55m). He also sent two athletes to the USA Outdoor Championships, three athletes to the USA Junior Championships and qualified 12 athletes to the NCAA Mideast Regional.
Davis aided the Panthers to six Ohio Valley team titles (four for men and two for women), while two of his athletes were named the conference field event athlete of the year and one earned conference freshman of the year honors.
Two-sport coach at Independence
Davis also served as the head track and field coach and assistant football coach at Independence (Kan.) Community College from 2002-04. In two years, he coached three junior college national champions, 10 junior college All-Americans and one junior college national record holder as Ryan Koontz jumped 7-1 3/4 (2.18m) in the decathlon high jump.
The Pirates set 23 school records and had a 10th-place finish at the national junior college meet, their highest ever. Under Davis' tutelage, Independence had three different high jumpers produce the top-three high jump marks in the NJCAA for 20 consecutive months.
Prior to Independence, Davis was an assistant coach at Elizabethtown (Pa.) College, where he was the field events coach. He was also a teacher and assistant coach at Chinle (Ariz.) High School.
Two-sport athlete in college
Davis graduated from Lebanon Valley College in 2000 with a bachelor's degree in political science. He was a three-year letterwinner in football and set the school's all-time record in the decathlon. He earned his master's degree in health and human performance from Fort Hays (Kansas) State in 2004.
In 2011, Davis was credited with his work in the book "Special Strength Training Manual for Coaches" written by world-renowned expert in strength training Yuri Verkoshansky and his daughter, Natalia.
Davis and his wife, Ann, have two daughters Kobi-Ann and Kaari, and a son Maxon.
