ABILENE – Abilene Christian opens the indoor track season this weekend with a host of newcomers hoping to contribute to a seasoned team.
The team is led by 2023 indoor national qualifier
Ella Anttila, who won the WAC triple jump with a school record last season. Indoor 400 conference runner-up
Ja'Dasia Sims also returns.
Riley Pyeatt,
D'anna Smith,
Savannah McCaleb,
Ja'Kaylon Sabbath and
Courtney Latham all scored points indoors and are back on the women's team this year.
Ethan Christian,
Athan Huelskamp and
Matthew Mills, who scored in last year's conference indoor meet, return this season on the men's side.
"We have a lot of new newcomers this year, so it's exciting to see their development and I'm excited to see what they're capable of doing in the spring," said ACU Head Coach
Jerrod Cook. "We have some strong returners. I think it's really going to take everybody. We're really going to push for a top-three finish in both men's and women's. Our conference is strong and my expectation is for this team to really rise to the occasion. It's going to be a big challenge but that's part of the game – putting it all out there when it counts."
Along with Cook,
Michael Rasor returns to coach the hurdlers and
JJ Ply is back in a full coaching capacity after filling in last year with the jump crew. The newcomers include distance coach Nathan Meeuwenberg and sprints coach
Taylor Daniels.
"It's really exciting – a fresh start," said Cook. "Coach Meeuwenberg is doing great. He is crushing recruiting and training. I think we're going to see some big changes in big steps for the distance program moving forward. JJ did a great job filling in for us last year in the jumps realm. And he's doing great with the training. He has a great he has a great eye for coaching and can really process things and communicate very well. I think he's a huge asset for the jumpers to have. And then
Taylor Daniels lights up any room she walks into. You can almost feel her passion and energy. She really wants to help the team be the best that they can be in all facets. And Rasor's back and he's a rock star. And so with our entire staff, I think there's going to be a lot of passion there to make sure that we're heading toward our goals."
Throwers/Multis
Men: Ethan Christian,
Colt Cooper,
Canaan Fairley,
Chris Herpin,
Athan Huelskamp, Chidebum Lebechi,
Christian Morales,
Hayden Norwich,
Rylan Smart,
Stone Smith,
Dillon Soileau,
Sutton Welch
Women: Kaitlyn Callaway,
Hannah Foster,
Sterling Glenn,
Kiley Kjellstrom,
Avery Myrick,
Natalie Poe,
Kailey Roskop,
Chesni Scott
Coach Cook on the throwers:
Athan Huelskamp had some rough times in the outdoor season. He broke part of his foot a little bit before conference, so he wasn't able to really get the reps in and perform like he was hoping to. He did great indoors. And so we are really excited about him returning. I think he's going to be a force on our team for sure.
Colt Cooper started practicing this week and he is looking really strong. I think they're going to be really strong contenders for us.
Rylan Smart has been looking really strong, really improving in the weight and the shot and his training. I think he can be an impact person at the conference meet. And then going to outdoor we'll have
Sutton Welch and
Christian Morales added to the roster. They're looking great. They're seasoned vets when it comes to competition. I think they're going to put some big personal bests out there and really get some good spots at conference for the outdoor season.
On the women's side,
Kailey Roskop is back and she's doing really well in her training. I think this spring semester is going to be able to flourish and really be able to focus more on training. So I'm excited to see what she's going to be able to do in the weight, hammer and discus.
Kaitlyn Callaway is coming back in the javelin. She was great in the javelin last year and she's trained great this year. I'm excited to see, to see what she's going to do in her last year.
Avery Myrick is a good all-around thrower. She's a workhorse and she's going to go out there and see what she can do for her first year in competition. But I think she can definitely be in the scoring range, potentially in the hammer and javelin.
Kiley Kjellstrom I think she'll be an impact person in the javelin, for sure, this year. We could make some good marks in the women's javelin, for sure. We've got a big outdoor crew kind of slim on the indoor right now and we're going to red-shirt our freshman throwers this year.
Coach Cook on the multi-eventers:
Ethan Christian. This is his last year and he's rock solid. He's been looking really great in training. Our biggest thing is we want to make sure he's staying healthy throughout the year and be able to get the reps in. I really want to see him break that 7000 barrier in the decathlon. He's definitely got the points in him.
Canaan Fairley is incredible. He is still kind of a diamond in the rough. He's got a lot of great tools and the things that are just going to help him flourish. I think he could be a scorer for us in the indoor and outdoor this year.
Dillon Soileau is a freshman we're going to see what he is he's got. A lot of learning and development to do there, but he's working hard and excited to see kind of his whole process throughout his career.
On the women's side, we just have
Natalie Poe coming back. Her training has been great. She's been testing so much better than she has last year, really come around. And I think a big thing for her is her foot speed has really increased. I think that's going to increase everything across the board for her. And she's looking really strong.
Distance
Men: Kevin Castruita,
Levi Chambers,
Gabe Embree,
Mikhail Fortner,
Cooper Goggans,
Noah Jones,
Samuel Lanham,
Zach Martin,
Jacob Russell,
Garrison Shindler,
JP Trook,
O'Brien Verdin
Women: Peyton Bornstein,
Katelyn Coldicott,
Bella Evans,
Kyla Fuller,
Kate Hansen,
Tessa Holderman,
Georgia Lee,
Izzy Malo,
Riley Pyeatt,
Hadley Phillips,
Emma Shackelford,
Autumn Smith,
Kate Williams
Coach Meeuwenberg on the distance team:
We really expect Garrison to take a step in the right direction. He ran really well a couple of years ago and had some injury bugs. He's back and looking good and really hoping for him to take a step in the 800 and in the mile. The middle-distance group is, is getting better. Kevin is running really, really well. Levi comes back from not having any eligibility in the cross country and we're excited to see what he does in the 5K
On the women's side, Katelyn and Peyton are running really well and Riley is another girl that I would probably highlight. She scored in the 800 last year and she's, she's training really well as well. Bella is running really well and Autumn is a freshman who's continuing to develop really well. We're hoping to score some points.
Jumps
Men:
Ryan Bornemeier,
William Harris,
Donovan Ramirez,
Rhett Kahlden
Women: Ella Anttila,
Paige Boucher,
Brianna Brand,
Ja'Dasia Sims,
Luize Velmere,
Coach Ply on the jumpers
We have Ella until coming back. She was an indoor national qualifier last year and conference champion, so expect me to see big things from her again this year. We have Luize back from injury from last year and I think she's developing well and I see her being able to step up and contribute points-wise. We have Ja'Dasia who was second in the high jump at outdoor conference last year and she's looking really good this year. I think she'll be able to contribute both indoor and outdoor this year with a really high podium finish. We have
Brianna Brand joining us. She's a really strong athlete and I think she'll contribute in the long jump.
For the men, we have Canaan. He's a multi, but in certain meets, he'll like be doing the high jump for us. He's a solid jumper and probably score some points for us there at indoor conference.
Sprinters
Men: Tyce Chaney,
Sean Cooksey,
Ethan Krause,
Charlie Lee-Alliston,
Sky Mendez,
Matthew Mills,
Tiras Reed,
Ethan Sledge,
EJ Stubbs,
Jayme Wooley.
Women: Brianna Brand,
Elia Evans,
Savannah McCaleb,
Riley Pyeatt,
Gracyn Reed, Jesalyn Reyes,
Ja'Kaylon Sabbath,
D'anna Smith,
Lydia Szabo, Paiten Trowbridge,
Shiean Walters.
Coach Taylor on the sprinters:
They work really hard and I'm super excited to see what is going to happen. I believe that there's a lot of potential in there. We've got potential all the way around, which is exciting. UM. I don't even think that I can pick out one person, because every single one of them show up at 110 percent every single time, and they even want to do even more work after that. There's a lot of potential. There's a lot of room for points there. The returning sprinters are the leaders and they have the experience and the character and the backbone to be able to shuttle in the young ones.
Hurdlers
Men: Horatio Brooks,
Miguel Hall,
Jeremy King,
Harrison Manuel,
Kenan Reil,
Ryan Bornemeier
Women: Hannalee Banks,
Paige Boucher,
Courtney Latham
Coach Rasor on the hurdlers
So, this season, we've lost a huge core part of the team with Jamaal January graduating, a multiple conference champion. But I've brought in the best recruiting class I've ever had for men's and women's hurdles. So I feel really confident in their growth, development and contributions, whether now or down the road.
Jeremy King is the top returning hurdler in the conference based on outdoor finish. I think he's shown that he is embracing that and really working hard. We're getting
Ryan Bornemeier back from injury and he's looked really well. Same with Harrison Manual. He has looked good in practice so far. I think my freshmen,
Kenan Reil and
Miguel Hall have really been showing great effort, great focus, great intention and energy in practice that has been pushing those older guys.
On the women's side,
Courtney Latham is, is my top returner and she's looking really good. I think a big part of it is she's had some really good training partners on the sprinting side that have helped her. Hanna Banks, the freshman, has done well with attacking the hurdles. She's the best hundred hurdles recruit I've ever had. Paige did well last year in her progression throughout the season and I'm expecting that to continue. If she progresses the way she did last year, I think she's got a chance of making the finals.
