Cullowhee, N.C. – The Western Carolina men's track and field team has reloaded as head coach Jesse Norman announced the addition of 18 signees to the roster for the 2024-25 seasons.
The 18 additions consist of four transfers and 14 freshmen from eight states and two countries. Of the additions, nine will compete with the sprinters/hurdlers, four join the distance runners, three will join the Catamount throws squad, two will see action in the multi events, and one will compete in the jump events.
"This group of 18 student-athletes represent our push to add quality depth to the program," said Norman. "This group is heavily focused around our sprints/hurdles group and the needed depth to bring us back to Southern Conference team contention. We were still able to add some high-quality individuals and depth within the other event groups, even bringing back the 2022 SoCon Indoor Track Freshmen of the Year in Justin Hayes. Combined with our current group, we'll look to keep pushing the program back to its championship level."
Sprint/Hurdle Group
Ian Hicks (Belmont Abbey/West Henderson HS – Hendersonville, N.C.)
PR's: 200m – 22.11, 400m – 50.38
Coach Notes: A transfer from Belmont Abbey, Ian will be a great addition to our growing long sprints program here at WCU. He brings college experience, and we feel that he will blossom within the training group we're building here.
Ethan Long (Covington Catholic – Lakeside Park, Ky.)
PR's: 60m – 6.93, 100m – 10.55, 200m – 21.60
Coach Notes: One of the top short sprinters from Kentucky, Ethan will be able to step in immediately and have an impact with our short sprints group – especially considering our recent graduations from that group. He will be counted on to be a solid contributor right from the beginning.
Jaylen Morrow (Julius Chambers HS – Charlotte, N.C.)
PR's: 110H – 14.70, 300H – 38.13
Coach Notes: A solid hurdler that comes from the same school as current Catamount, Imani Boyd, we're excited to see how he develops within our growing hurdles group. We believe his addition will help that group to become a strong event group for the Cats in the coming years.
Christian Roberts (Spartanburg HS – Spartanburg, S.C.)
PR's: 110H – 15.08, 400H – 54.14
Coach Notes: Another solid long hurdler that will pair well with our other hurdlers. We believe within our program he'll become a solid all-around hurdler that will add depth and quality to our men's hurdle group.
Leyton Shuler (Dutch Fork HS – Irmo, S.C.)
PR's: 100m – 10.93, 200m – 21.79
Coach Notes: A newcomer to track and field, being only his second year competing, we're excited about what his potential looks like and for how we feel he'll develop within our sprints program over the coming years.
Devan Sloan El (Parkview HS – Stone Mountain, Ga.)
PR's: 200m – 21.61, 400m – 49.24
Coach Notes: A solid long sprinter who we're excited to add to the program. He brings a level of excitement in joining our sprints group. We'll look at him to further develop and become a big part of our sprints program moving forward.
Nadir Stukes (Northern Guilford HS – Summerfield, N.C.)
PR's: 100m – 10.79, 200m – 22.20, 400m – 49.12
Coach Notes: A North Carolina kid that has seen some tremendous growth in the last year of his prep career. We'll look to continue his future growth and are excited to see how he'll develop in the future here as a Catamount.
Kamdyn Swartz (Iowa Western CC/Bishop Neumann HS – Malmo, Neb.)
PR's: 60H – 8.20, 110H – 14.64, 400H – 56.10
Coach Notes: An experienced college hurdler, he can be someone to push on current Catamount CJ McFerrin while also helping to transition our freshmen hurdlers to the college heights and training loads.
Trevor Williams (Manchester HS – Chesterfield, Va.)
PR's: 400m – 49.83, 800m – 1:57.03
Coach Notes: A long sprinter who has flexibility to move down to the 200m or up to the 800m. We're excited to see where he'll develop and how to best leverage his talent to help the Catamounts in the future.
Jumps Group
Kwan Oates (Hickory HS – Hickory, N.C.)
PR's: Long Jump – 22-3, Triple Jump – 48-0.5
Coach Notes: An outstanding addition to our jumps group, Kwan won the North Carolina High School 3A state championships in both the long jump and triple jump outdoors this past spring. He is also the Adidas Indoor Track National Champion in the triple jump. Kwan is a big meet performer whom we're expecting to become one of the top jumpers in the Southern Conference.
Multi's Group
Elijah Cochran (Franklin HS – Franklin, N.C.)
PR's: 100m – 10.84, 200m – 22.32, 110H – 14.73, 400m – 50.94, High Jump – 6-2.00
Coach Notes: An outstanding addition to our multi's group that will be counted on to not only help in the multi's but could help in numerous open events also. A local product that we feel will continue to push our current multi's group to higher levels of competition.
Bennett Whitefield (Lipscomb Academy – Nashville, Tenn.)
PR's: Decathlon – 5,985 pts, 110H – 15.15
Coach Notes: A developing multi-athlete who we feel could develop into a solid Southern Conference level performer while also adding some competition to our current stable of multi's.
Throws Group
Ammar El Absy (Aspire Academy – Doha, Qatar)
PR's: Hammer – 56.26m
Coach Notes: An international student-athlete who has specialized in the hammer throw but will be taught the other throwing events. He is someone that we feel will be a solid Southern Conference performer in both the hammer and the weight throw.
Larry "Trez" Fouch (Hart County HS – Dewy Rose, Ga.)
PR's: Shot Put – 44-3, Discus – 164-9
Coach Notes: A developing thrower who made some tremendous strides his senior year. We're excited to see how he takes to the college implements. The addition of him to our throws group will give our throws group a great foundation of young throwers to develop over the coming years.
Kolton Weaver (Weddington HS – Matthews, N.C.)
PR's: Shot Put – 59-9.75, Discus – 159-5
Coach Notes: A solid thrower who placed third at the North Carolina 4A State Championships this outdoor season. We're excited to add him to our current crop of throwers as we feel that he will bring some immediate competition to that group and help to continue pushing our throws program to the top of the Southern Conference.
Distance Group
Logan Gullett (Colorado State/Eaton HS – Eaton, Colo.)
PR's: 8k – 25:54, 800m – 1:58.49, 1600m – 4:21.88, 3200m – 9:23.20
Coach Notes: A former high school teammate of current Catamount Dakota Braucher, Logan comes to us via Colorado State University. In high school he was a solid athlete with marks at altitude that will make him a competitive individual within the Southern Conference.
Justin Hayes (Charlotte/Panther Creek HS – Cary, N.C.)
PR's: Mile – 4:14.38, 3k – 8:18.87, 5k – 14:41.96, 8k – 25:35.3
Coach Notes: Justin comes back to WCU and rejoins a distance program that has developed into a solid program within the Southern Conference. He was the 2022 Indoor SoCon Freshmen Athlete of the Year here at WCU. We'll look at him picking up where he left off and become an anchor for our long-distance program and pair well with our current stable of middle distance athletes.
Noah Luke (Chicago Christian HS – Tinley Park, Ill.)
PR's: 1600m – 4:27.53, 3200m – 9:51.39, 5k – 16:20.20
Coach Notes: A developing athlete from the Chicago area, Noah will be someone that we'll look to for future development for both the cross country and track programs.
Calvin Smith (Chapin HS – Chapin, S.C.)
PR's: 1600m – 4:31.43, 3200m – 9:48.41, 5k – 15:49.48
Coach Notes: Another developing athlete, Calvin will pair well with our current student-athletes. We'll look for him to develop over the fall season and to help push our current team depth.
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