The 2025-26 athletic season at Kansas Wesleyan featured several notable achievements and first-time accomplishments.
The list is lengthy and impressive.
- Two coaches (Bill Neale in baseball and Garrett Young in women's cross country) were named Kansas Conference Coaches of the Year.
- Baseball, women's cross country and women's golf won KCAC championships.
- Men's and women's cross country, indoor/outdoor track and field, women's golf, and baseball qualified for NAIA postseason competition.
- Flag Football achieved the highest finish in program history, placing third nationally.
- KWU was host for the KCAC baseball and softball tournaments and the NAIA Baseball Opening Round.
- 196 Coyotes earned All-KCAC honors.
- The department compiled a cumulative 3.45 grade point average.
- 259 athletes received All-KCAC academic honors; 191 were NAIA Scholar-Athletes; 18 CSC Academic All-District Honorees and one CSC Academic All-American.
Athletic director Miguel Paredes discussed the school year during a recent question and answer session with the Coyote Sports Network.
CSN: How do you view the '25-26 school year now that the dust has settled a bit?
Paredes: There were lot of firsts and what I mean by that is the first time hosting the KCAC baseball and softball tournaments in Salina, the NAIA Opening Round for baseball was the first; placing third in the inaugural NAIA flag football tournament which is I believe the highest for any program.
CSN: Does one achievement stand out?
Paredes: I view almost all sports as equal, and I think all of them bring that excitement. Flag football is amazing; it's a huge accomplishment with (coach) Chris Snyder taking over mid-year. Then you look at hosting both KCAC baseball and softball tournaments, and baseball with their historic run and hosting the NAIA opening rounds here in Salina. They were all amazing to me.
CSN: The KCAC baseball and softball tournaments were huge successes. How much work did that entail?
Paredes: It was a big task but the amount of support that we received from the city, Salina South High School, for letting us use their softball facilities and the support from not only our staff but outside of this department made it easy. Credits to my staff David Toelle, Sheresa Layton, Meagan Contreras and the coaches that helped out made it run smoothly. When you're able to host a national tournament or conference tournament you bring in people from all over the United States. The NAIA Opening Round we had people from Tennessee, Texas and Nebraska come to Salina, walk around and talk about what an amazing place it is. Working together in those relationships was essential.
CSN: The competitive successes were at least equaled by success in the classroom. What does that say about KWU's emphasis on academic achievement and progress?
Paredes: We finished with the overall department GPA of 3.45. We had 259 All-KCAC academic selections, which is amazing, and we had 191 NAIA scholar-athletes and in the fall, we were fourth in the nation with 84. That's proof that Kansas Wesleyan isn't just about athletics. We really are holistically about our student athletes and the growth of every individual.
CSN: KWU placed second in the KCAC Commissioner's Cup race after winning it three consecutive years, but second out of 14 schools is still pretty good. Does that serve as motivation going forward?
Paredes: It's something that is going to fuel the fire for next year. We told our staff we're going to come back with vengeance; we're going to come back better. We've had some transitions with new head coaches and now the new coaches know what the KCAC has to offer. We're going to rebuild and reload and come back stronger.
CSN: How do you view the current states of the KCAC and NAIA?
Paredes: I think the KCAC has proven to be much more than the oldest conference in America. What I mean by that is we've never really had respect outside of our conference at the national level. But the KCAC made a huge impact in football this year, made a huge impact in volleyball, basketball, baseball so now other conferences are looking at us like 'hold on, is there something going on there?' That's kudos to all the other athletic directors and the other head coaches and the other schools. But then again, I kind of want to say that we lit the fire with why not us, why not the KCAC, why not represent us at the national level?
CSN: How much additional pressure does that place on you and the university to continue finding ways to improve and keep moving forward?
Paredes: It's going to add fuel to the fire for next year. It's like I told our staff we're going to come back better. We're in a competition with ourselves first and foremost. We can't expect to beat a team, to beat an organization if we're not the best. We strive to bring the best of ourselves every day, to support one another to help push and pull our student athletes. At the end of the day, like we told our student athletes, the only person that can beat you in life is you so for us we strive to have that standard of excellence. It starts the minute you wake up. You've got to come with a motto, am I going to be better than I was yesterday? Can I be better than I was a second ago? How can we continue to fine tune our skills to best serve each other and to give the best of us? If you are honestly day in and day out giving your best, the scoreboard will take care of itself.
CSN: What are some of the challenges you see for 2026-27?