ABILENE – Abilene Christian’s fabled track program finished both of its All-Americans however the Wildcats seek to make a large impact in 2023.
The ACU guys shed All-American decathlete JJ Ply however have back 3 professional athletes that made it last springtime’s West Regional – Jamal January in the 110 obstacles and also lengthy dive, William Harris in the lengthy dive and also Jack Marshall in the 200.
Likewise, the Wildcat ladies shed All-American Annina Brandenburg however return Nationwide prelim qualifiers Ella Anttila (three-way dive), Zoe Burleson (discus), Payton Kirk (lengthy dive) and also Irene Rono (5000 meters).
“I think our guys’s group is a lot more powerful than they were in 2015,” claimed ACU Head Train Jerrod Chef. “We have a great deal of strong returners, a great deal of excellent beginners on both the guys’s and also ladies’s side. I assume we’re visiting a large adjustment. We understand what our group can doing this year and also our ladies have actually been a very solid program and also really regular. It is difficult when you shed 2 significant principals like Taylor Tolen and also Annina Brandenburg, however I’m thrilled to see the underclassmen and also others on the group tip up and also truly fill up the duties as leaders in all the locations on the track and also area. I’m thrilled to see brand-new faces truly end up being the standouts for this track program, however we’re thrilled we’re intending to promote a seminar title on the ladies’s side and also without a doubt, a leading 3 area on the guys’s side for interior and also exterior.”
The management is solid throughout the board and also the Wildcats have actually generated a multitude of beginners, suggesting the Wildcats are constructing for greater than this period.
“We have greater than 20 individuals can be found in as freshers,” claimed Chef. “We’re still a young group. We do not finish lots of people this year. I assume we’re going to obtain more powerful every year as we go.”
The interior period opens up at Texas Technology on Friday and also the Wildcats will certainly take a complete team to Pittsburg State on the 28th – a fulfill that ACU has actually typically utilized for runner just. A number of fulfills normal of the group’s custom get on the checklist with brand-new WAC Champion journeys to Spokane, Washington, inside your home, and also Nacogdoches outdoors.
Throwers
ACU will certainly redshirt several of its throwers however the lineup consists of Nathaniel Collier, Colt Cooper, Athan Huelskamp, Chidubem Lebechi, Tyler Richardson, Rylan Smart and also Rock Smith on the guys’s group and also Zoe Burleson, Kaitlyn Callaway, Kiley Kjelstrom, Avery Myrick and also Kailey Roskop for the ladies.
Burleson got the West Regional last springtime in the dicus.
“I’m ecstatic concerning the throwers,” Chef claimed. “I’m red-shirting a few of those simply for advancement and also have one today that we’re wishing he comes back for exterior however we have a solid team. It’s just mosting likely to have to do with 6 throwers that completing for us however what we were doing not have in numbers we offset skill. We’re mosting likely to be very affordable with the throwers we’re producing there.”
Multis
The ladies’s multi-event professional athletes consist of Jessica Campbell, Hannah Foster, Skylar Harris and also Natalie Poe. The guys’s team consists of Ethan Christian, Canaan Fairley and also Daniel Wheeler.
“I’m ecstatic concerning the multis team,” claimed Chef. “Ethan Christian need to be completing inside your home and after that I have 2 beginners on the ladies’s heptathlon side. I’m ecstatic concerning truly including numbers. Jessica Campbell was the only heptathlete completing and also this year we’re mosting likely to have 3 extra multis so we’re truly thrilled concerning the renovations because team and also simply seeing them complete with each other.”
Jumps/Pole Safe
ACU’s dive team consists of Ryan Borenemeir, William Harris, January, Rhett Kahlden, Caleb Lawrence, Donovan Ramirez and also Zach Youthful for the guys and also Antilla, Paige Boucher, Kirk, Ja’Dasia Sims and also Luize Velmere for the ladies. Mackenzie Blain post safes for the ladies with Jacob Thomas standing for the Wildcat guys.
Anttila won both WAC champions in the three-way dive in 2015 and also certified in that occasion for the West Regional. Kirk caught the WAC interior lengthy dive title and also made the local last springtime. January got the local fulfill in the lengthy dive.
“We have 2 truly excellent three-way jumpers in Ella Anttilla from Finland and also Luize Velmere from Latvia,” claimed dives instructor Diane Wholey. “Extremely solid, great jumpers practically. Like many Europeans, they have actually been leaping considering that they were 12. We’re respectable in the lengthy dive with Ja’Dasia Sims, that likewise is a high jumper and also Payton Kirk, that likewise is a vaulter and also a hurdler. We have some overlap there and also they are really solid in those occasions. Will certainly Harris is really solid on the guys’s side and also there are a few other youngsters that are great as well.”
Wholey is learning more about her jumpers after signing up with the personnel this loss.
“I’m truly pleased with the progression that they have actually had throughout the loss,” she claimed. “As I are familiar with them much better, we’ll have the ability to take advantage of their toughness. Every jumper has subtleties in their dives and also it is crucial to take advantage of that. It’s an excellent number of professional athletes. and also there are several of the more youthful ones are coming.”
Range
The range team consists of ladies’s joggers Peyton Bornstein, Katelyn Coldicott, Renee Elliott, Bella Evans, Kate Hansen, Tessa Holderman, Carefulness Kiyeng, Irene Rono, Elegance White and also Kate Williams. The guys’s team consists of Kevin Castruita, Levi Chambers, Gabe Embree, Cooper Goggans, Neal Helgerson, Luke Hernandez, Noah Jones, Maxwell Kiplagat, Samuel Lanham, Keaton Raney, Jacob Russell, Fort Shindler, Gabe Trevino, JP Trook and also O’Brien Verdin.
Rono got the West local last springtime in the 5000 meters.
“On the ladies’s side, we do not have a lots of deepness however we need to be well-covered in the mile, 3K and also 5K, interior,” claimed cross nation and also range instructor Jarvis Jelen. “We have a team that prepares to go and also a pair that will certainly prepare to go quickly. Certainly, we have actually had Irene Rono do huge points over her profession and also these are her last periods, interior and also exterior. She’s in shape and also all set to do advantages. We have Tessa Holderman returning from red-shirting in the loss and also are thrilled to see what she can do right now in track. We have a great deal of freshers that can doing a whole lot however require to obtain some experience. We will certainly occur a bit much more gradually en masse on the ladies’s side, however I assume we’ll have an excellent team by midseason.
“On the guys’s side is where there’s a great deal of exhilaration. We have a large team of men throughout all the occasion teams, 800 on up and also the DMR, that is truly in shape and also have actually been educating truly well and also prepare to go. I can not also solitary someone out since we have a great deal of individuals that need to do some truly advantages right now and also we are so ecstatic to start with this team.”
Obstacles
Competing the guys’s group in the obstacles are Bornemeier, Horatio Brooks, January, Jeremy King and also Harrison Manuel. Boucher, Rylee Jordan, Payton Kirk, Courtney Latham, Julia Perry and also Jada Rocquemore remain in the obstacle occasions for the ladies.
January is coming off WAC champions in the 110 obstacles last springtime and also 60 obstacles in the interior fulfill. He likewise got the local finals, the opening night at that degree in the obstacles in ACU’s Department I age.
“We came off with our finest year for guys’s obstacles this previous year,” claimed obstacles instructor Michael Rasor. “We’re trying to find Jamal to take that following action and also to obtain him to Nationals. Being a local finalist is significant, and also he’s flown up the leading 10 listings, interior and also exterior, on our efficiency checklist. Jeremy King is an additional returning hurdler. He made both finals in the 60 obstacles in the 110 obstacles in 2015 therefore I’m thrilled for him to find back.”
The Wildcats finish their leading ladies’s hurdler from in 2015, however revive a solid section for 2023.
“Although we finished an institution record-holder in Megan Kirby, I’m thrilled to see just how Payton Kirk and also Paige Boucher tip up to fill up that duty in the sprint obstacles,” Rasor claimed. “Additionally, we’re wanting to take that following action in the 400 hurdlers to get involved in a seminar last, and also I think we have a team to do that.”
Sprints
The sprint group consists of Joseph Baluti, Rovaughn Banks Jr., Tyce Chaney, Addison Franklin, Charlie Lee-Allison, Jack Marshall, Matthew Mills, Tiras Reed, Aydan Roberts, Jared Williams, Jayme Wooley and also Marquis Wortham-Edwards on the guys’s side and also Amy Ambelang, Riley Pyeatt, Breonna McCarthy Reese, Gracyn Reed, Ja’Kaylon Sabbath, Sims, D’Anna Smith and also Savannah Pedestrian on the ladies’s side.
Marshall got to the local degree in the 200 meters last springtime. Ambelang, Smith and also Pedestrian belonged to the WAC 4×100 relay champion team last period.
“We finished a great deal of our team so we have a great deal of inbound freshers that we’re thrilled to see this year,” claimed sprints instructor Kristian Dillard. “Certainly, we have Jack Marshall, a 10.3 individual that reached regionals and also we anticipate to go even more. Precisely his back is Addison Franklin, that has actually seen a lot development considering that he’s been right here.”
The ladies’s group will certainly seek to change Tolen and also proceed its success from last period.
“We’re trying to find an additional championship game in the relays once again, and also outdoors too,” Dillard claimed. “We hired some longer-distance sprinters so I’m thrilled to see just how they alter the relay with Tolen gone. We have some individuals that prepare to take her area.
ACU completes in 6 interior fulfills prior to the WAC Indoor Championships in Washington, March 10-11. The exterior period opens up at residence with the Wes Kittley invitational on March 17-18. The Wildcats complete in 8 various other fulfills, consisting of the Oliver Jackson Golden on April 27, prior to the WAC Outdoor Championships in Nacogdoches on May 11.