Former Gardner-Webb University standout Evan Brusich is in his sixth season as an assistant coach for sprints, jumps and combined events with the GWU track and field program.
This past season, Brusich’s fifth year of guidance, saw another year of marked improvement for the Runnin’ Bulldogs.
During the indoor season, Chase Thornhill set a new school record in the men’s 400-meter run with a time of 48.30 seconds at the Liberty Kickoff and tied the 200-meter dash record at the Buccaneer Track and Field Invitational, clocking in at 21.83 seconds.
Karin Sastre earned All-Conference honors at the Big South Indoor Championships in the pole vault, posting a career-best mark of 3.65 meters to take home a third-place finish.
During the outdoor season, Carlos Williams continued to show signs of improvement, setting PRs in the men’s 100-meter dash at 10.78 seconds at the Don McGarey Invitational and the men’s 400-meter run at 49.51 seconds at the Duke Invitational to become just the second male in GWU history to rank in the top-10 in the 100-meter dash, 200-meter dash, and 400-meter run record books.
Diviana Forrest set a new school record in the women’s 400-meter run at the Big South Conference Outdoor Championships, timing in at 54.73 seconds, earning All-Conference honors with a second-place finish.
Freshman Louise Schmdtgen showed rapid improvement throughout the season in the women’s pole vault, improving her mark over a foot throughout the year to a career-best 3.70 meters at the Big South Outdoor Championships, qualifying her for the German U20 Championships.
The men’s 4x100-meter relay team continues to post solid results throughout the season, as the team of Mason Marshall, Carlos Williams, Tre Carson, and Chase Thornhill posted the program’s second-best time at 41.26 seconds at the Don McGarey Invitational.
In Brusich’s fourth year with the program, freshman Chase Thornhill broke a nearly 20-year record in the men’s 400-meter run with a time of 46.82 seconds at the Big South Conference Outdoor Championships to qualify for the NCAA regionals, earning All-Conference honors as well as being named the 2018 Big South Freshman of the Year.
The men’s 4x100-meter relay team also broke a nearly 20-year record on two occasions, as the team of Mason Marshall, Carlos Williams, Austin Billot, and Chase Thornhill earned All-Conference honors with a record-time of 41.19 seconds at the Big South Outdoor Championships. The men’s 4x400-meter relay team of Caleb Silvey, Carlos Williams, Patrick Sastre, and Chase Thornhill also took home All-Conference honors with a time of 3:15.57 that ranks second in program history.
Karin Sastre also showed improvement throughout the season in the women’s pole vault, posting a career-best mark of 3.70 meters at the Duke Invitational, a mark that ranks fourth in program history.
The Runnin’ Bulldogs continued to show progression under Brusich’s third year of guidance, as the squad posted several impressive results throughout both the indoor and outdoor seasons.
At the indoor Chipotle Marshall Invitational, Jordan Davis clocked in at 7.90 seconds in the women’s 60-meter dash. It was the fifth-fastest time in the event all-time for a Runnin’ Bulldogs and the fastest time since the 2002 season.
At the Big South Conference Indoor Championships, Kaylin Mujahid earned a second-place finish in the women’s high jump with a mark of 1.69 meters, while freshman Carlos Williams earned a sixth-place finish in the men’s 60-meter dash, clocking in at 7.09 seconds, competing against a stacked lineup, signaling things to come over the next few years.
The women’s 4x400 meter relay team of Davis, Merideth Byl, Paige Peterson, and Mujahid took home a third-place finish with a time of 3:55.74 to earn All-Conference honors, with the conversion besting the previous year’s time, which was best since 2003.
Seaver Wait had a personal-best jump of 2.03 meters in the men’s high jump at the outdoor Mountaineer Open, which was the second-best mark in school history and the best by a Runnin’ Bulldog since the 2007 season.
At the Big South Conference Outdoor Championships, Elise Moffatt earned her second conference title in three seasons in the women’s pole vault with a mark of 3.80 meters.
Jalin Lawson had an impressive meet, earning All-Conference honors in three individual events. He finished second in the men’s triple jump with a school record distance of 15.51 meters, second in the men’s 100-meter dash with a time of 10.66 seconds which ranks second in GWU history, and placed third in the men’s long jump with a mark of 7.21 meters, ranking second in GWU history. He earned a total of 23 points for the Runnin’ Bulldogs over the course of the championships.
Carlos Williams once again showed signs of things to come in the future, earning a seventh-place finish in a loaded 200-meter dash field, timing in at 22.50 seconds, the tenth-fastest time in school history.
The men’s 4x100 meter relay team of Williams, Lawson, Darius Gary, and Wait posted a time of 42.15 seconds, earning a fourth-place finish. The result marked the fifth-fastest time in the event in GWU history.
Merideth Byl led the women’s team in scoring at the Big South Championships, competing in five different open events that showcased her depth of training. Byl placed third in the heptathlon with a total of 4,745 points, the third-best performance in school history, while also earning a fourth place finish in the javelin with a throw of 38.91 meters, the third-longest throw in GWU history. She also competed in both the 4x100 meter and 4x400 meter events and the shot put with a mark of 11.26 meters.
Coach Brusich’s second season with the Runnin’ Bulldogs showcased how much athletes can develop in the right system, with the freshman duo of Quenton Jones and Jalin Lawson providing the perfect example in the long and triple jumps. Both athletes left their mark in the record books with top outdoor long jump marks of 7.03 meters for Jones and 6.99 meters for Lawson, which rank second and third respectively all-time at Gardner-Webb.
Lawson also set a personal best of 14.70 meters in the indoor triple jump - moving into second on the program’s all-time list - while Jones’ top mark of 14.60 meters placed him second on the outdoor all-time list.
In the women’s high jump, Kayin Mujahid continued her assault on the program’s annals with another pair of all-conference finishes, taking third at the indoor championships and second at the outdoor championships. Mujahid also set a new indoor personal best of 1.70 meters.
Both Merideth Byl and Ashleigh Cleveland made great strides in the women’s combined events with Brusich’s guidance, as they each set new personal records in nearly every individual event and bested their previous top point totals - both in the pentathlon and the heptathlon - by several hundred points. Byl found a particular knack for the throwing events, and used those strengths to win the Winthrop Adidas Invitational heptathlon title.
The women’s 4x400-meter relay team of Jordan Davis, Ivy Harris, Byl and Mujahid dominated their section of the event at the Big South Indoor Championships, and ran the fastest time by a women’s relay at GWU since 2003. Josh Wembolua took advantage of his last indoor championships and claiming runner-up honors in the 60-meter hurdles.
Brusich helped make the most of the program’s existing talent during his first season, as sophomore Elise Moffatt won the Big South Outdoor Conference Championship with a school-record mark of 3.85 meters. Megan Melton took second at the indoor championships with a mark of 3.70 meters to jump to fourth on the program’s all-time list in the event.
Mujahid continued her climb through the conference ranks with a pair of runner-up finishes in the high jump at both the indoor and outdoor championships. The men’s sprint group put their depth and determination on display at the outdoor championships, as the team of Joseph Martin, Darien Evans-Hensley, Marcquel Woodard and Wembolua posted the second-best 4x400-meter relay time (3:16.62) in school history despite not having a runner in the individual 400-meter final.
Brusich, a native of Lilburn, Georgia, graduated from Gardner-Webb in 2011 and spent the next three seasons as a volunteer coach at Baylor University.
During his time in Waco, Texas, Brusich assisted with combined events, pole vault and throws – helping Henry Vildasola to a 17th-place finish in the decathlon at the 2014 NCAA Championships and Annie Rhodes to third at USA junior nationals in the pole vault.
He also worked with All-America student-athletes Skylar White (discus), Erin Atkinson (weight throw) and Desmine Hilliard (discus), as well as All-Big 12 performers Hunter Brook (decathlon), Jenna Pfeiffer (heptathlon) and Jessica Shadley (heptathlon).
Brusich earned his master’s degree in sport pedagogy from Baylor in 2012.
Brusich enjoyed a successful career during his time with the Runnin’ Bulldogs as a student-athlete. He was a team captain for three seasons and earned All-Big South Conference honors in the decathlon and 4x400 meter relay run. He is the school record holder in the decathlon and heptathlon.
