University of Nevada - Reno Women's Track

Head coach Shantel Twiggs wrapped up her 21st season as head coach for the Nevada Wolf Pack in 2025. She also oversees the sprinters in the program.   The 2024/25 outdoor season featured several standout performances for the Wolf Pack. Thrower Lilly Urban broke the school javelin record four times, culminating in a 56.89 m throw to win gold in the javelin at the Mountain West Championships and later placing 11th at the NCAA Championships—earning second-team All-American honors. Sprinter Magdalene George claimed silver in both the 100 m and 200 m and added another medal as a member of Nevada’s bronze medal winning 4×100m relay team. The 4x400m team consisting of Kylee Parsons, Annalies Kalma, Vivian Groppe and Halyn Senegal also won bronze. Meekness Dogonyaro secured silver in the triple jump, while Annalies Kalma earned bronze in the 400m. Johanna Haas added a further medal in the heptathlon. The Pack finished sixth as a team at the Mountain West Outdoor Championships, extending their streak of NCAA qualifiers to six of the last eight outdoor seasons. The 2024/25 indoor season was an eventful one for the Wolf Pack, opening competition in their new home facility, the Reno-Tahoe Indoor Track at the Reno-Sparks Convention Center. Sprinter Magdalene George broke school records in both the 60m and 200m, while also claiming two medals at the Mountain West Indoor Championships. The Pack placed ninth at the Mountain West Indoor Championships, highlighted by two medals for Magdalene George in the 60m and 200m.  The 2024 outdoor season was one of the best in recent years with multiple school records falling throughout the season. Twiggs saw Rayven Nealey set the school record in the triple jump as the first Wolf Pack athlete to reach 43 feet. On top of that feat, Magdalene George broke a 29-year-old school record in the 200m, running a 23:08 at the NCAA West Preliminaries. In addition to these records, the Pack also tallied three MW Outdoor All-Conference Honors.   The 2023/24 indoor season was also eventful for the Pack, Twiggs coaching the Pack to a 4x400m MW title, a MW title in the 800m from Halyn Senegal and a third place finish from Sarah Marske in the 60m hurdles. Twiggs also coached the Pack to their highest point total in program history at the MW Indoor Championships.  The 2018-19 season saw several individual and team accomplishments, including tying the best Mountain West outdoor finish in school history. The Pack took fourth with a score of 78.5 points. At the conference championship meet, Twiggs saw Hiley Dobbs break the 10,000m school record, and the meet ended with Nevada's 4x400m relay squad breaking a 19-year-old school record.  The 2019 outdoor conference championships included three gold medals for the Wolf Pack, a single year record for Nevada since joining the Mountain West. Alex Bohlman won Nevada's first gold medal in the javelin since 2008, Nicola Ader won the high jump and Karoline Sauer successfuly defended her 400m hurdles gold medal. Sauer would qualify for the NCAA West Prelims, where she broke her own school record in the 400m hurdles with a time of 58.42 seconds. At the same meet, Ader qualified for the NCAA Outdoor national championships in the high jump and long jump, after qualifying for the heptathlon during the regular season. No one from Nevada had ever competed in three events at nationals. In the 2018-19 indoor season, Twiggs saw school records fall in the pole vault and high jump. Palmer broke the record with a mark of 13' 6.25" (4.12 meters), then broke it again at the conference championships with a mark of  13' 8.5" (4.18 m). Ader tied the school record in the high jump with a mark of 6' (1.83 m), which qualified her for the indoor national championships. Ader would go on to be named a Second team All-American in the event. In 2017-18 she guided senior Brittany Graves to back-to-back top-five finishes in the triple jump, and sophomore Sauer to break a program record in the 400m hurdles with a time of 59.21 to take gold in the 2018 MW Championships. Twiggs led the Wolf Pack to some of its best finishes in recent years in the 2016-17 campaign, taking fifth at the Mountain West Indoor Track & Field Championships and fourth at the outdoor meet, just a half point out of the top three. Two student-athletes in Emily Myers and Nicole Wadden earned All-American honors to cap off the 2017 season at the NCAA Championships. Since taking over the program in 2004-05, Twiggs has seen a continuously improved level of performance by Wolf Pack student-athletes every season. During the program's second year in the Mountain West, six of Twiggs' student-athletes received all-conference selections and three went on to compete in NCAA Regionals. Twiggs' 2014-15 indoor season saw sprinters make their mark on the school's all-time list, with Katherine Surin's second in the 400 meter dash being the highest. Six more made it onto the list in the outdoor season, as Twiggs' coaching Suring to a school record in the 400 meter dash. Two more sprinters qualified for the NCAA preliminary rounds under Twiggs' leadership. Twiggs guided the group to a third place finish at the Mountain West Indoor Championships in the team's first year in the conference. Twiggs led the team's 4x100 relay squad to the NCAA Outdoor Championships. Seven seasons ago, Twiggs led the outdoor track team to a second place finish at the WAC Outdoor Championships and was named Co-Coach of the Year. Hurdler Analisa Serrano became the second fastest 100m hurdler in school history while sprinter Polly Smith ended her career with the third best time in the 400m running 1:00.18. Twiggs brings an enormous amount of energy into every situation. She has created a team that thrives on stepping up in big meet situations. She has established a family atmosphere where athletes have support on and off the track. The success of Nevada Track and Field isn't just on the track. In 2008-09 alone, the team earned 39 WAC All-Academic awards, qualified eight student-athletes to the NCAA West Regional meet in 10 events. During the 2007-08 season, Twiggs coached four NCAA Regional Qualifiers and saw senior thrower Inger Appanaitis qualify for the NCAA National Championship and the Olympic Trials. Fourteen student-athletes during the season in both track and field and cross country earned a total of 26 All-WAC honors, including Appanaitis who was both the WAC Outdoor Javelin Champion and the Women's High Point winner at the Outdoor Championships. Twiggs led her 2007 outdoor team to a second-place finish at the WAC Championships and tied the program record for highest finish at the outdoor championships. In addition, the Pack won six medals at the outdoor championships. Since 2005, Nevada has seen 30 Regional Qualifiers, five qualifiers to Nationals and two All-Americans (Kali Baker, Indoor Mile; and Caira Hane, Outdoor Hammer). Prior to the start of the 2005-06 season, Twiggs collected an individual honor as she was named to the hall of fame at her alma mater, Northern Iowa. Twiggs came to Nevada from Northern Illinois where she spent three seasons resurrecting the Huskies' program. When Twiggs took over the program in the winter of 2000, the team had not competed in 18 years. Since that time, her athletes broke more than 14 school records. The 2003-04 season saw the school's first NCAA Mid-East Regional qualifiers when two Huskies finished 25 and 30th, respectively, in the shot put. One of those throwers, Ashley Morrow, was named to the All-Mid American Conference second team, also a first for the program. Before coaching at NIU, Twiggs was an assistant coach for three years at Northern Iowa. During her tenure at Northern Iowa, Twiggs coached the men's and women's sprinters to more than 10 school records and two dozen all-conference honors. In her final season, she coached five NCAA Division I qualifiers with one gaining All-America honors at the indoor track and field championships. Twiggs can also claim two Missouri Valley Conference Championships Athletes of the Meet on her coaching resume, as Marshall Frazier took home the award at the 2000 MVC indoor meet and Devon Davis nabbed the title at the 1999 outdoor competition. She also worked heavily in recruiting for the Panthers' program and assisted with the Northern Iowa cross country teams. Twiggs was an all-conference sprinter for the Panthers from 1990-94, earning All-MVC honors six times in her career. She also won All-America honors her senior season in the 200-meters and in the 55-meter dash in 1994 at the NCAA Outdoor Championships. Overall, she qualified for the NCAAs eight times with two provisional qualifying marks while at Northern Iowa and is the owner and co-owner of 13 school records. She has been a member of three U.S. National Teams (US vs. Great Britain, 1994; World Cup, 1994; and Pan Am Games, 1995) leading-off the gold medal 4x100-meter relay team at the Pan Am Games in 1995. She also won gold and bronze medals at the 1994 Olympic Festival as the anchor leg of the 4x100-meter relay team and the 200-meters, respectively. Twiggs received her Bachelor of Arts degree in chemistry and marketing from Northern Iowa in 1995. After graduation, she worked as an assistant track coach and substitute teacher for the Ferguson-Florissant School District in Berkeley, Mo., before returning to her alma mater in 1997. She is a member of both the US Track Coaches Association of America (USTCA) and USA Track & Field.

Williamson oversees the jumps, multi's, and throws. Williamson also directs all non-distance recruiting efforts. Williamson By the Numbers 11 All-American Honors  14 Mountain West Individual Champions  19 School Records 65 Athletes on Nevada's All-Time Top-10 lists  2024/25 Indoors: The indoor season also saw strong contributions for Nevada in the jumps, multis, and throws. In the jumps, Meekness Dogonyaro set a new school record in the triple jump with a mark of 13.01m at the Don Kirby Invitational, later finishing fourth at the Mountain West Championships. In the multis, Johanna Haas competed in the pentathlon, scoring 3,783 points to place fifth overall at the conference meet. 2025 Outdoors: The season was highlighted by several standout performances for Nevada in the throws, jumps, and multis. Lilly Urban broke the school javelin record four times, culminating in a 56.89m throw to win gold at the Mountain West Outdoor Championships before placing 11th at the NCAA Championships to earn second-team All-American honors. In the jumps, Meekness Dogonyaro secured silver in the triple jump with a mark of 13.23 m, earning All-Mountain West honors. In the multis, Johanna Haas delivered a career-best heptathlon score of 5473 points, the fourth-highest in program history, to claim silver, highlighted by wins in the 100m hurdles, 200m, and javelin. 2024 Indoors: The 2024 indoor season was highlighted by National records for Seychelles in the 200m and 400m for Natasha Chetty. Adding to the national record books was Argentinian Maria Paz Milani in the long jump. Valeria Paez Rueda, Meekness Dogonyaro and Natasha Chetty all moved onto the all time list in the pentathlon, triple jump and 200m respectively. Rounding out the Pack's success for the season was Maria Paz Milani who set a school record in the Triple Jump.  2023/24 Outdoors: The 2024 outdoor season was one of the best in recent years with multiple school records falling throughout the season. Williamson helped coach Rayven Nealey to a school record in the triple jump, becoming the first Wolf Pack athlete to reach 43 feet. He also coached Camrin Dolcini to another all-conference year, the third of her career, along with a silver at the MW Championships in pole vault. Two podium finishes for the Pack in javelin at the MW Outdoor Championships were highlights of the season for Emily Poole (Gold) and Lilly Urban (Bronze). 5 of Williamson's athletes qualified for NCAA's, Rayven Nealey (Triple Jump), Meekness Dogonyaro (Triple Jump), along with Emily Poole, Lilly Urban and Hallee Hughes in the Javelin. Natasha Chetty set a national record for Seychelles in the outdoor 200m. The Wolf Pack also had Rayven Nealey compete at the 2024 Olympic Trials.  The 2022 season saw an even more success for Williamson and his squad. The indoor season brought Iesha Hamm tieing the school record in the high jump with Nicola Ader with a distance of 1.83m. Hamm went on to finish 17th overall in the NCAA. Rayven Nealey breaks the triple jump record in 12.65m, previously held by Deborah Amoah from 2013. At the Mountain West Championship, Ader wins the high jump and defended her title from the previous year. This marks Ader's third straight Mountain West title in the event. Hamm won bronze in the event, getting another Wolf Pack member on the podium. Naia Boardingham broke the long jump record that was previously held by Beck Krupa from 2001 with a distance of 6.12m, the school record in the event. The team went on to earn fifth place at the championships. Maria Paz also moved up to sixth all-time at Nevada in the triple jump with a distance of 12.28m. Hannah Smrt also made moves and found herself on the Nevada all-time list in the pentathlon at ninth place in 3,504 points. The momentum continued for the outdoor season as earlier in the season, Ader broke the school record in the heptathlon with 5,836 points. Previously ranking third-all time, Ader moved up to the number one spot, surpassing Ali McKnight's school record of 5,832 points. This also ranked Ader fourth in the country in the event. At the Mountain West Championships, the whole squad scored a total of 60 points for the team. Ader and Iesha Hamm went on to qualify for the NCCA First Round, Ader competing in the long jump and Hamm in the high jump. Ader qualified for the NCAA Championship in the heptathlon. She finished ninth in the NCAA, just missing the podium and earning her seventh-career All-American honor.  2021 Outdoors: At the Mountain West Championships, the team finished sixth overall. Anna Somerfield moved to tenth on the all-time list for the heptathlon with 5,061 points. This surpassed Lea Halmans who previously was the tenth spot with 4,096 points. Ader moved up on the all-time list with her her first place in the heptathlon in 5,607 points. Rayven Nealey moved up on Nevada's all-time list for the triple jump with her 12.69m jump, which also qualified her for NCAA's in the firsts round. Ader also got the school record in the long jump with a mark of 6.34m.  2021 Indoors: After 74 weeks of no competition, Nevada saw instant success at the Air Force Invitational in January 2021. Ader finished in fourth place in the pentathlon. Senior Emma Dern broke her own personal record in the shot put. Beating her previous throw of 12.81m, Dern threw a distance of 13.10, putting her right under Nevada's top-10 all-time list in shot put. At the Mountain West Championships, Ader moved up to second all-time in the pentathlon with 3,937 points. This year also marked the first time that Ader qualified for the pentathlon and only the second woman in Wolf Pack History to represent the program in the event. At the NCAA Indoor Championships, she finished in 16th and earned second-team All American, making that her sixth All-American honor. Ader holds the record for the most All-American honors, no one in history having more than two honors.  In the 2020 season, although it was cut short due to the COVID-19 pandemic, Nicola Ader broke the school record in the 60M hurdles with a mark of 8.46. She was named to All-MW Indoor Team after her performance at the Mountain West Championship. This record was previously owned by Fiyin Olusya, who had a mark of 8.49. Ader also qualified for NCAA's in the High Jump, her jump putting her at first on Nevada's Indoor Top-10 All-Time list. A total of 18 all-time records were broken during the indoor season, including freshman Rayven Nealey and Gabby Fraser. Nealey moved to eighth all-time in the triple with a distance of 11.93m. Fraser was right behind Nealey with a distance of 11.91m which she earned at the Mountain West Championship. This placed her at number 10 on the all-time list for triple jump.  Williamson was instrumental in Nicola Ader having one of the strongest individual seasons in Nevada history. During the indoor season, Ader tied the Nevada record in the high jump, qualifying for nationals for just the sixth time in school history. Ader would record the best indoor national finish in school history, finishing ninth and earning second team All-American honors. During the outdoor season, Ader broke the long jump school record, took gold in the high jump at conference and moved into third all-time at Nevada in the heptathlon. Ader would qualify for nationals in all three events, becoming the first ever from Nevada to compete in three events at the outdoor national championships. After strong javelin performances in each of his years overseeing the event, Williamson guided Alex Bohlman to Nevada's first javelin gold medal since 2008. In 2017-18, Williamson's squad was ranked third nationally in the high jump, top 20 in javelin, and had five athletes qualify for NCAA West Prelims. He also coached Katia Coquis Lossio for four years, during which she finished in the top four in the Mountain West each year, and never failed to qualify for the NCAA West Prelims. Williamson's group earned three medals at the 2017 Mountain West Outdoor Championships, including a gold in Nicole Wadden's heptathlon performance. The season was capped with an All-American performance from Wadden at the NCAA Championships, taking ninth. Williamson's group also continued their climb up the Nevada all-time list as many of his athletes moved several places during the season. Williamson's group saw an incredibly and nationally recognized performance in the indoor and outdoor seasons of 2015-16. Following a phenomenal performance at the 2016 Mountain West Indoor Championships, Williamson's high jump group sky rocketed to 10th in the country among all Division I schools. Included in that group was a third place performance by junior Leah Carter. The biggest performance of the indoor season came when senior Nicole Wadden snagged gold in the pentathlon, setting new personal records in several of the events and a school record for the pent. In the outdoor season, Williamson saw two javelin throwers in Raffaela Wiesbeck and Katia Coquis Lossio move up the all-time list, a major feat considering the level of throws on the list. Williamson's shot putter also steadily moved up the list in both the indoor and outdoor season to cement their legacy in Nevada history. The strong season for Williamson's group was capped off by sending five to the NCAA West Region preliminary round. Williamson coached several athletes to success during the 2014-15 season, including new school records, all-time list debuts and NCAA qualifying athletes. Under his coaching, Alison Powers tied the indoor pole vault record and broke the outdoor record by two inches. Nicole Wadden (High jump, pentathelon), Kinsey Minter (High Jump) and Anna Dubois (Shot put) all made appearances on the indoor top-10, with Wadden making the biggest mark at fourth in the pentathelon. Williamson also coached Wadden, Minter, Dubois and discus-thrower Tara Park to spots on the outdoor all-time list. Powers, Minter, and javelin-tossers Ali Zunino and Katia Coquis all qualified for NCAAs in the season all well. Perhaps Williamson's most impressive accomplishment, however, was when Coquis received first in the javelin toss at the Spanish Junior National Championships. Williamson coached three student-athletes to all-conference honors during the 2013-14 indoor and outdoor track & field seasons. In 2013, Williamson's student-athletes would go on to break two school records and win two Mountain West Outdoor Titles with marks among the best in the history of the conference. La Tijera Avery would follow up her senior indoor season by winning the outdoor crown in the high jump, finishing with a Top-15 West Region Ranking, setting a school record, and earning a berth to the NCAA Preliminary Round. Kerri Simmons finished her junior season with a conference championship, a school record, and a berth to the NCAA First Round. Williamson also developed two freshmen, Nicole Wadden and Shannon Forman, into Nevada All-Time Top-Ten performers in the pentathlon, and also coached Kennedy Hall onto the Nevada All-Time Top-Ten list for the shot put. He made an immediate impact as a member of the coaching staff in his first season, coaching La Tijera Avery to All-American status after she won a WAC indoor high jump title. Under Williamson's tutelage she would go on to compete at the NCAA Indoor National Championships and receive 2nd Team All-American recognition after finishing in the top 16 in the Nation. Coach Williamson also coached two athletes, April Pate and Alexa Anderson, to All-Conference performances. He saw an additional three athletes improve their performances to advance to the NCAA Preliminary Round as Nicole Williams went on to compete in high jump, and Danielle Stallworth and Sarah Nichols advanced to compete in the javelin. Prior to Nevada, Williamson spent six years as the head cross country and track and field coach at Nicholls State University. During his time at Nicholls State he led the 2010 cross country team to its first ever regional ranking, and coached the 2011 indoor and outdoor track and field teams to their highest conference finishes in school history. He recruited and coached 62 school record holders, two NCAA Championship qualifiers, 11 Southland Conference Champions, and 23 All-Southland Conference performers. In addition to his teams' athletic success, the academic performance record rate jumped from 843 to 967 during his tenure. Williamson began his coaching career as a volunteer coach for sprints and hurdles at the University of Iowa before being hired to take over sprints and hurdles at Emporia State University. He earned a double-major bachelor's degree in health, leisure, and physical studies and psychology in May of 2002 from the University of Iowa, and earned his master's in education from Emporia State in May of 2005. "We are very lucky to have Scott as a member of our staff," Head Coach Shantel Twiggs said, "He brings a wealth of knowledge and a passion for track and field to the Wolf Pack. He is amazing at developing talent, and when you look at his teams, everyone he has worked with has seen improvement."

Elias brings more than 35 years of experience as he enters his 11th season as the head cross country coach and his 12th season as the assistant track coach for Nevada. Under his direction, the Wolf Pack cross country team saw significant improvement in the 2015-16 season and the track & field team's distance runners have been record-setting fast. Elias' Division-I coaching experience is extensive, and includes stints at Minnesota, Texas Tech, Arkansas-Little Rock and Nevada. Since arriving at Nevada, Elias has coached 13 All-WAC cross country selections, including eight first-team selections, and two WAC Cross Country Freshman of the Year honorees. Since moving to the Mountain West, the cross country team has seen four all-conference team honors, including a first team, as well as a freshman of the year. The Wolf Pack cross country team posted four consecutive top-three finishes at the WAC Cross Country Championships under Elias' direction, and the track team's distance corps has routinely turned in impressive performances, logging several top-five performances at the conference level since entering the Mountain West. The 2008-09 squad recorded first place finishes in the 1,500-meter, 3,000-meter steeplechase, 5,000-meter and 10,000-meter races at the outdoor championships. Elias entered the Division-I coaching scene in 1985 as an assistant at Minnesota, where he coached All-America and All-Big 10 selection, Gretchen Otto. In eight seasons with the Golden Gophers, Elias coached sprints, hurdles, jumps and multi-events. He also founded a club team for post-collegiate distance runners, where he coached Leslie Seymour who went on to make five World Championships for the USA. As an assistant at Texas Tech, Elias coached the cross country team to its then-highest finish ever at the NCAA District Championships. He is credited with recruiting and coaching two individual national qualifiers in the 1996-97 season, the university's first women to reach nationals since 1984 in cross country and 1985 in track. Elias' student-athletes set 12 school records during his four seasons with the Red Raiders. At Arkansas-Little Rock, Elias led the Trojans to four conference cross country titles in 2001 and 2002 - two women's and two men's - the first in the school's history. He also earned four Sunbelt Conference Cross Country Coach of the Year awards during his tenure. Elias' track athletes at UALR were equally accomplished. He coached All-America selections from the men's and women's teams, and saw his 2002-03 and 2003-04 squads earn national All-Academic honors. Elias is one of just a handful of coaches to lead a team at the high school, NAIA, Division-III, Division-II, Division-I and international levels. Equally important is his wide-range of experience coaching across the sprint, hurdle, jump, multi-events, middle and long distance events. Elias earned a Bachelors of Science in secondary education with an emphasis in speech and a minor in English from the University of Minnesota in 1978.