Winston Salem Times

John Hayes, the Wake Forest University track and field coach, told Winston Salem Times he expected superlative performances during the 2021 Atlantic Coast Conference Indoor Track and Field Championships earlier this month in Fayetteville, Arkansas.

“We’re excited,” Hayes said. “We think they [athletes] can do quite well.” 

He wasn't off the mark. Wake Forest graduate Hannah Brookover of Florida won second team All-America honors in the 3,000 meter run and redshirt junior Anna Bush also earned second team All-America honors with a score of 3,984 points in women's pentathlon. Sophomore Aleeya Hutchins finished 13th in the 800-meter run and also earned second team All-America honors.

Hayes added that it’s a pleasure to see the university sports program get back to normal after the COVID-19 pandemic shut down track meets last year. The ACC is part of the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA).

Hayes said there is a difference between a conference track meet where athletes can compete in many different events and score well, as opposed to a national meet with fewer events.

“It takes just a few elite athletes to score high at a national meet,” he said. "We have three young ladies that are going to be there, so so you know, three is enough to score well if they all do very well.” 

Hayes said the athletics department had weathered the shutdowns caused by the pandemic about as well as could be expected.

“We managed the training well, that hasn’t been the biggest issue,” he said. ”You go out and you warm up and wear your masks. It was not much of a nuisance.”

Hayes said the hardest part was when contact tracing caused some of his athletes to miss large blocks of training last fall, adding, “That’s what really hurt us. It has hurt a lot of teams across the country."

Hayes credited school administrators for controlling the spread of the virus on campus and noted, "I’m just excited to have the opportunity to give the kids a chance to compete.”   

In late February, the university's track and field teams also took home six all-conference victories. and Tony Jones and Bush also took home titles at a meet at Clemson. As a team, the women finished 12th and the men placed 13th.

Hutchins broke a record for the university with a time of 2:04.73 for fifth place in the women's race. Brent Bailey, a redshirt sophomore, placed fifth in the men's mile with a time of 4:01.60 and earned Second Team All-ACC honors. Kenton Bachmann placed fourth and Archie Wallis placed sixth in the 800-meter run. Both are juniors.

"It was an outstanding week for our student-athletes, coaches and entire program," Hayes said in a release. "I am proud of the effort everyone gave and we have some real momentum as we move forward."