Kyle Hiser remembers when he could get all his Kansas Wesleyan track and field athletes into one van or in a couple of rows of seats on a plane when they traveled to NAIA national competitions.
Those days are happily gone.
Hiser and his staff will be accompanied by 17 Coyotes on their trip to Gainesville, Fla. for the U.S. Marines NAIA Indoor Championships. Competition begins Thursday and continues through Saturday at the Alachua County Sports and Events Center.
"This is the biggest group we've ever had going to nationals," said Hiser who is in his third season as cross country/track and field director. He has been head track coach since the 2019-20 season. "I feel like I'm a broken record saying this, but I really can't thank our administration enough. They have given us the resources to build this team the way coach (cross country coach Garrett) Young and myself and our other coaches have wanted to build it."
Four relay teams - two men and two women - will compete as will individuals Madisyn Ehrlich, Julian Avila, Damion Jackson and Keegan Lott. KWU enters the national meet with considerable momentum after winning the program's first Kansas Conference indoor title earlier this month.
"It's just a steppingstone, each year we keep raising the bar," Hiser said. "Right now, the thing that we're chasing is a national championship not as a team but as a relay or an individual. That's been the elusive thing so with the biggest group that gives you your best chances to go and do it."
Ehrlich returns to run the 1,000 meters after earning All-America honors with a seventh-place finish. She's seeded 11th with a qualifying time of 2:58.99 and also will run in the 4x800-meter relay.
"That 1K event is probably the deepest it's ever been," Hiser said. "She always seems to rise to the occasion and kind of finds it over those last 200 meters, just finds a way to get into the final and finds a way to get to the finish line."
Avila is the third seed in the 1,000 meters with a time of 2:25.94 and will run a leg on the 4x800-meter relay team. He placed 10th in the 1,000 meters last year.
"I know it's nationals so it's not any small meet, but I don't let the pressure get to me - I just go," Avila said. "I trust what I've been doing and trust that I'm going to run well. We're going to be competing against the best runners in the nation and I think I am one of the best runners in the nation, so that just makes it a little bit easier for me. I know I belong there, and I can compete against these guys."
"I don't know if I've seen another athlete during my time look as strong and confident as he has," Hiser said of Avila. "He just goes and wins, and he runs fast so I'm excited to see what he can do in that individual 1K."
Lott will throw the shot put in his first NAIA indoor appearance. He's seeded 27th after a qualifying throw of 15.93 meters.
"He finally won his (KCAC) title and he's been chasing that and now it's time to go knocking around with the big dogs at nationals and I'm excited," Hiser said. "You talk about someone who just personifies hard work and is the role model for what you want a student athlete to be and it's Keegan Lott."
Jackson will run the 3,000 meters where he's seeded 18th with an 8:33.60 time and also will run a leg on the distance medley relay. He ran the 3K at nationals last spring as well.
"He didn't hit the (qualifying) standard originally but if there's not 20 declared in an event, we can submit a declaration and he got in because the field size wasn't full," Hiser said.
Joining Avila on the 4x800 relay team is Ty Davidson, Wyatt Johnson and Triston Cottone. They're seeded sixth with a time of 7:41.53. The distance medley relay team is seeded 28th in 10:12.43 and consists of Nate Chavez, Austin Schaeffer, Nicholas Martinez and Jackson.
Ehrlich's teammates on the women's 4x800 relay team are Josie Koppes, Hailey Nordhus and Kirstin Hackney. They're seeded eighth with a time of 9:24.71. Joni Schroeder, Julie Rottinghaus, Lauryn Mikkelson and Kierra Jensen will run the distance medley relay and are the 18th seed with a time of 12:33.26.
"Two relays in both genders - not a lot of schools are able to do that and it's a testament of what we were also able to do in cross country," Hiser said.
"The group that we have this year has been fully bought in since the summer," Young said. "I think their commitment and their work is showing through and it did in cross country as well. I really think they're starting to see the results of that buy-in and that work over the last six months."
Young said it should be a seamless process.