Bio

Nikki Ayers is entering her fifth year at CMS and her second as Senior Woman Administrator in 2021-22. Ayers oversees all NCAA and SCIAC compliance matters, monitors student-athlete eligibility, provides regular compliance education to all student-athletes, staff and coaches and prepares all annual compliance reports.  She is also serving as the Deputy Title IX Coordinator for Athletics and is a liaison with campus offices regarding student-athlete development, recruitment and academic success.

Prior to being the SWA, Ayers was also the advisor for the Student-Athlete Advisory Committee and served as the tournament director for all NCAA post-season events including the 2018 NCAA Division III Men’s and Women’s Tennis Championships. She started her tenure at CMS in 2016 as the Assistant Director of Events and Operations for Roberts Pavilion in its inaugural year. With coaching stops at Grinnell, Knox, Juniata and CMS, including four seasons as head coach at Knox College, Ayers gathered experience in governance, physical education, facility and event management, student-athlete development, student affairs, and intramurals/recreation.

Ayers is involved and active in NACDA, NADIIIA and Women Leaders in College Sports (formerly NACWAA).  She is a current member of the NCAA Men’s and Women’s Soccer Rules Committee with her appointment ending in 2022. She is also a member of the NADIIIA Education Committee, assisting in the planning and execution of educational sessions at the annual NADIIIA convention. In 2016-2017 she attended the NCAA Leadership Development Academy and was selected to attend the Women Leaders in College Sports Institute for Administrative Advancement in June 2017. 

Ayers (née McLellan) played soccer at Division III Juniata College in Huntingdon, Pennsylvania as a center-midfielder/forward for the Eagles.  In April 2018, she was the first soccer player, male or female, inducted into the Juniata College Sports Hall of Fame. She was a four-time MAC all-conference performer and was chosen as the women’s soccer MVP and Juniata College Bargerstock Female Athlete of the Year in 2006. She currently holds the record for career points, goals and assists at Juniata as well as the record for single season assists.

Ayers graduated from Juniata in 2006 with her bachelor’s in sports management and received her master’s in leadership from Duquesne University in 2012.  She resides in Claremont with her husband Jake and children Kennedy and Ben.