Bio

Since his arrival, Sikkema has built the throwing program at Mount Mercy. He has coached three national qualifiers. In 2017, Sikkema coached Armando Arellanos to a 25th place finish in the hammer at the NAIA Outdoor Track & Field Championships. In 2021, he coached freshman Bre Nail to 14th place at the NAIA Indoor Track & Field Championships and an 11th place finish in the shot put at the outdoor national meet. Both Arellanos and Nail posted the best finish in school history for their respective events. Sikkema has also coached two Heart of America Athletic Conference champions in the women's shot put -- Jasmine Wardell in 2019 and Nail in 2021. Overall, Sikkema has coached 77 conference qualifiers and 29 conference finalists.

Sikkema’s throwers have made their mark in the Mount Mercy record books as well. His throwers have broken school records in the men’s hammer (Armando Arellanos 2017), men’s discus (Mitchell Miller 2021), women’s indoor shot put (Bre Nail 2021), and women’s outdoor shot put (Jasmine Wardell 2019, Bre Nail 2021). The Mustang throwers have also placed 87 new entries on the all-time top 10 performance lists. Sikkema is also a member of the National Throws Coaches Association and has his USTFCCCA Throws Coach Specialist Certification.

Before coaching at Mount Mercy, Sikkema spent one season as the throwing coach for his high school alma mater, Fulton High School, in his hometown of Fulton Ill. There he helped an athlete break the women's shot put record on her way to a second-place finish at the IHSA 2A state track & field meet. Prior to his coaching career, Sikkema excelled as a student-athlete at Ashford University where he earned Daktronics-NAIA Scholar-Athlete honors twice and set the school record in the hammer throw.

Favorite Sports Moment: “Helping athletes define and achieve their goals.”