K-State announced 10 new signees on National Signing Day, bringing in athletes from across the United States and four different countries. With experience ranging from national records to state championships, the incoming class adds depth and talent to both the men’s and women’s teams.
The men’s team landed four recruits, including three international athletes, while the women’s team added six new Wildcats.
Notable international signings for the men’s team included Kenya’s George Mutinda. Hailing from Embu, Kenya, Mutinda posted a 44.51-second time in the 400-meter dash and currently holds African and national records in the 4×400-meter relay, set May 2 of this year.
Joining Mutinda on the international side are decathlete Sondre Jahren and jumper Chavez Penn.
Hailing from Oslo, Norway, Jahren is set to compete in the decathlon, with a personal best of 7,417 points.
Meanwhile, Penn comes from Kingston, Jamaica, to join a K-State team that had a historic jumps season this past spring. Penn is ranked 228th in the world in the high jump, with a personal best of 7 feet, 1 inch, and has an NACAC U18 championship title. He also competes in the triple jump, where he has a personal best of 54 feet, 2 inches.
The final recruit for the K-State men’s team is middle-distance runner Tate Goergen from Adams, Minnesota.
Goergen currently competes for Southland High School and specializes in middle-distance events. He is a two-time Class A state champion in the 800-meter run, posting a personal best of 1:50, and a state champion in the 1,600-meter run with a time of 4:14. He also holds a 48.7-second personal best in the 400-meter dash.
Meanwhile, the women’s team signed six recruits. Two of them plan to compete in combined events, specifically the heptathlon.
Dru Zeka comes from Wellington, Kansas, just south of Wichita. At Wellington High School, she won nine state track and field championships. Her top marks include a 5-foot-10-inch high jump and a 19-foot-5-inch long jump. Over the summer, she also placed third in the high jump at Nike Outdoor Nationals in Eugene, Oregon.
Hailing from Dallas, Texas, De’Ari Porter-Moore joins K-State as a combined-events athlete with a personal best high jump of 6 feet and a 300-meter hurdles personal best of 41.3 seconds. She will join Zeka on the women’s team to compete in the heptathlon for the 2028 track season.
Competing for Liberty High School, Lily Hurt won the state championship in the 3,200-meter run and finished runner-up in the 1,600-meter run, where she holds a personal best of 4:50. She also placed sixth in the 800-meter run, with a personal best of 2:09, and helped her team win the 4×800-meter relay.
Additionally, K-State added two sprinters to the women’s roster — Rachel Kacmaryski and Amira Whitehead.
Kacmaryski is from Pella, Iowa, where she attended Pella Christian High School. While there, she won 12 state titles and set four records, including personal bests of 11.66 seconds in the 100-meter dash and 24.08 seconds in the 200-meter dash. She also ran on the school’s record-holding 4×100-meter and 4×400-meter relay teams.
The newest addition from California, Whitehead attended Summit High School in Fontana. While there, she specialized in the 200-meter dash with a personal best of 23.80 seconds and the 400-meter dash where she ran 53.77 seconds.
The Wildcats added another international recruit in Ashlynn Norman.
Norman hails from Brakpan, South Africa, and specializes in the long jump, with a personal best of 21 feet, 2 inches.
With 10 new athletes joining the program and accomplishments ranging from national records to state championships, K-State track and field has plenty of new talent to build on heading into the upcoming seasons.
