Wichita State University Women's Track & Field

John Wise Title Assistant Director of Track and Field / Sprints and Hurdles Email jwise@goshockers.com Twitter @john_wise_wsu

Aliyah Fertig (formerly Welter) joined head coach Steve Rainbolt's staff at Wichita State in 2023 as an assistant coach in charge of pole vault. As a student-athlete

Vaughn was named volunteer assistant coach for the Shockers in the fall of 2022. He joins the Shockers after spending four years as a volunteer assistant coach

Entering the 2022-23 season, Heidi Benton (formerly Heidi Yost) was in her 17th year as an assistant coach with the Wichita State track and field staff after completing a brilliant career as a Shocker. She was a five-time Missouri Valley Conference champion, garnering three championships in the long jump and two in the triple jump, and earned multiple all-conference honors in her time as a student-athlete. She was also an NCAA Regional qualifier in the long jump. Her personal bests were 6.00m in the long jump and 12.79m in the triple jump. Heidi has mentored her student-athletes to 25 individual Conference titles and nine All-Americans in her career as a Shocker assistant coach. In addition, her athletes have earned 70 All-conference honors. A Wichita State graduate, she earned a B.S. in criminal justice in 2003. In 2004, she added a B.S. in liberal arts with an emphasis in sociology. She also completed her master's degree in sport administration from Wichita State in May 2007. Benton hails from Lecompton, Kan., where she graduated from Perry-Lecompton High School. She was also a six-time 4A State Champion with three long jump titles and three triple jump titles. She also holds the Kansas State Record in the Triple Jump at 39'1. Heidi resides in El Dorado, Kan., with her husband Andy Benton.

John Hetzendorf Title Assistant Coach / Throws Email jhetzendorf@goshockers.com Phone 316-519-5182 Twitter @CoachHetzendorf

Now in his 17th year as Wichita State's head cross country coach and assistant track and field coach, Kirk Hunter has maintained one of the top distance programs in the Midwest. Hunter has coached at the collegiate level for 36 years, serving as the Colby Community College head coach from 1988-2000 and the Butler Community College head coach from 2000-09 before taking over as Wichita State's distance leader in 2009. He was named the NJCAA Coach of the Year 22 times between his men's and women's cross country and track and field teams' successes, coaching 274 athletes to a total of 674 NJCAA All-American honors and 45 Honorable Mention honors. He coached 50 individual national champions and 79 runner-up national finishers, claiming six NJCAA team championships and seven NJCAA second place team trophies. Hunter served as President of the NJCAA DI Cross Country Coaches Association from 2000-05 and Vice President from 2005-08 and was inducted into both the Colby Community College and NJCAA Coaches Hall Fame. Since joining the Shockers in 2009, Hunter has coached 37 All-Americans, 84 individual conference champions and has led Wichita State to two cross country conference team titles, the first being the 2010 Missouri Valley Conference Women's Championship and the most recent being the 2018 American Athletic Conference Women's Championship. He was named the MVC Women's Cross Country Coach of the Year in 2010 and has coached eight conference cross country Runners of the Year, four

Steph Wright was promoted to Assistant Director of Communications in June of 2023 after spending two years as a graduate assistant for Wichita State. Wright serves

Steve Rainbolt Title Director of Track and Field and Cross Country / Multis and High Jump Email srainbolt@goshockers.com Twitter @coachbolt