During Steven Cary's tenure as head cross country and track and field coach, St. Edward's program has rapidly expanded. 
 
Roster sizes have increased, leading to a greater diversity of skill sets and events. St. Edward's has added to its coaching staff in the past two summers to accommodate that growth, bringing on Antwain Morgan and Linsey Montgomery to train those new events specifically. 
 
On Saturday, St. Edward's will bring all that to bear when the Hilltoppers open their first indoor track & field season at the Crimson & Gold Invitational, hosted by Pittsburg State.
 
The St. Edward's men's cross country team just finished the best season in its NCAA history, and the women closed the year with personal records across most of its roster. Through it all, St. Edward's cadre of sprinters, hurdlers, and jumpers cheered their teammates on while training to join them in competition this winter. 
 
"This is the first time [this season] we'll have everyone competing at the same venue and time, so I want to see the energy. Our sprinters, hurdlers, and jumpers are chomping at the bit to compete," Cary says. "We've competed indoors as exhibitions in the past, but this is the first time our marks and times will count towards something. The team has a sense of urgency, and it's exciting." 
 
Graduate student AUDREY WISTAIN is St. Edward's most tenured athlete and has seen the track and field program grow from an extension of the fall's cross country season with primarily distance runners into a more well-rounded track program. 
 
At the beginning of Wistain's collegiate career, she was the lone hurdler on the team and one of the few sprinters. Now, she's surrounded by teammates Mary Kate Havens, Myocia Virgin, Karly Weyand, men's hurdler Isaac Kim, and a coach to tailor their workouts. 
 
"Audrey has seen the program evolve rapidly over the years. She embraced a leadership role, holding the team accountable while not letting them get too down. But she's also embraced the competition and learning from teammates in her events," Cary says. "If you look at each hurdler, they all have different strengths and weaknesses. Some have a better approach to the first hurdle, others are more efficient in getting over the hurdles, and some are stronger and can maintain their form longer. So, with Coach Mo, it's all about their ability to feed off each other in practice and make each other better."
 
The competition has done wonders in sprints on the men's side, where DRE MOORE, TYRIQ WILSON, and JORDON CHAPPELL pushed each other constantly last spring.
 
"Tyriq and Jordon are leaders on and off the track and should perform well in the 200 and 400 again, but we also have guys like Christian Mendoza. He came to us as a short sprinter but showed potential in the longer ones, so we're not sure where exactly we'll put him, but he's going to impact our relays, which is exciting," Cary says. "Then on the short spring side, we've got young guys like George Shelton, Coby Harrison, Rudy Quintela, and [returner] Dre working hard. Then, we can throw MARCUS AGUINALDO into our relays. So, it's a lot of returning talent with a mix of young guys, and there's some potential to turn some heads. I'm excited to see what our relays can do." 
 
The women return three of the four sprinters who made up the program's record-setting 4x400 relay team, bringing back YAMILA CARTWRIGHT, HAILEY RODRIGUEZ, and SARAH WILLSON. 
 
Rodriguez entered college as a mid-distance runner and has transformed into the program's best long sprinter, setting school records in the 200 and 400. Cartwright has shown tremendous improvement in the 400 and is now breaking 60 seconds. 
 
"In the past, the program has mostly been the long-distance runners, but we're starting to complement each other with a more well-rounded roster," Cary says. "We're seeing more output with sprints and hurdles. We're still building depth to impact the overall team leaderboard, but we can make noise at individual events."
 
The mid-distance runners made some noise at last year's outdoor conference meet. Willson and JULIANA MERLO clocked points in the 800, Merlo added more in 1,500, and Willson was part of the 4x400 relay team. Both own most of the program's ten best times in the 800, and Merlo owns the five best times in the 1,500. 
 
MIA RIVERA is arguably the women's best cross-country runner. She has an all-conference performance on her resume and is the team's record-holder in the 6K. She's looking for a breakout performance on the track but has been a mainstay in the 1,500 and relay teams.
 
Rivera, Merlo, Cartwright, Rodriguez, JENNA SAUNDERS, BRYN PETERS, MYLA CASTILLO, and Maggie Ritteyer are part of a junior class pushing the envelope for St. Edward's. 
 
"This is a special group between Hailey, Mia, and Juila. This junior class came in with ambition and has removed any mental barriers to what is possible," Cary exclaims. "One of the things I say about life as well as athletics is, 'Are you willing to pay your price?' You can accomplish much of what you want in life as long as you're willing to pay a price. You can't have everything. This group is willing to pay its price and trains extremely hard." 
 
The men's mid-distance runners feature several underclassmen brimming with potential. 
 
"There are some young guys I'm excited about in HOGAN HEIKKINEN, Parker Stevens, and Arlo Gonzales. Aloof them will do fantastic in the 3K, 5K, and possibly even the mile on the mid-distance side, as well as JOSIAH GUAJARDO and WILLIE ODEM," Cary says. "Arlo is an exceptional talent who's not afraid to take risks and compete with some of our older guys and others in the conference. He's fearless." 
 
The younger runners will have to step up to replace IVAN GUZMAN and OMAR GUZMAN, who graduate this month after helping lead the cross country team to a regional ranking. 
 
Senior DYLAN SEQUEIRA remains from that trio of all-conference runners, looking to translate the success from cross country to the track, where he owns the program's fourth-best mile time and fifth-best 10K time. 
 
"Dylan showed out this fall and he's been consistent. I'm challenging him with transitioning from cross country to indoor track and field to outdoor," Cary says. "With his cross country personal records, he ought to be able to compete with the best in the conference, so I've challenged him, and he's responded with great workouts." 
 
AJ PENA's solid work during cross-country season has Cary considering moving him up from the 800 to 5K and mile, and the team will look for more significant gains from BRADEN COX, Gabe Hernandez, and WILLIAM SULENTICH. 
 
Senior CAROLINE WILDRICK opened last year's outdoor season with a 10K win and school record at Trinity Invitational. Wildrick and MAGGIE RITTMEYER also earned top-20 finishes in the LSC Meet 10K. Saunders and JORDAN SANDERS earned top-25 finishes at the conference meet in the 5K.
 
The team will also field some athletes in the jumps events. David Marquez competed in the long jump and triple jump in high school, and on the women's side, Bre'Asia Veal also has experience in the long jump, which is perfect for a program looking to make another leap. 
 
"I want to see the right mindset this weekend. We need to be locked in and focused on executing everything we worked on in practice," Cary says. "I have so much joy seeing how far our program has grown into being a track program. When we go to practice, I see people jumping, hurdling, throwing, sprinting. We have more opportunities to gain points now. We're much more well-rounded."