Pacific Index

Track and Field will enter the new season with new coaching

   A new era for our Pacific University track and field team is underway. After nine years of coaching Pacific cross country and five years leading the track and field programs, longtime head coach Ryan Huntersimms departed the university this summer. Huntersimms leaves behind an impressive legacy, including 30 school records broken during his time as head coach, 15 Northwest Conference champions and 10 All-Americans.

   To continue the momentum of success, Pacific has turned to Sarai Seekamp, who was recently named the program’s new head track and field coach. Seekamp arrives in Forest Grove after spending the last two seasons as an assistant coach with the Lewis & Clark track and field and cross-country programs.

   “I have enjoyed working in the Northwest Conference for the past two years as an assistant,” the coach told the Index, “especially having grown up in Portland. Coming to Pacific was appealing because of the program that Ryan had already helped establish and the potential I saw for continued growth and excellence in the sport.”

   Seekamp brings vast experience to Pacific despite being relatively new to the collegiate head-coaching level. Before joining Lewis & Clark, Coach Seekamp served as the head coach of both the men’s and women’s track and field programs at Jefferson High School in Portland from 2019 to 2023. During that time, she helped grow and develop the program from 20 athletes to 115 and oversaw more than 20 school records. Her athletes also found success at both the district and state levels, including a girls 4×100-meter relay team that won a district championship and finished seventh at the OSAA State Championships.

   Seekamp’s experience extends beyond her coaching performances. “My extensive background as a high school teacher and head coach has really set me up well to work with the whole student-athlete, not just view them as a number or a mark,” coach Seekamp stated. At Jefferson, Seekamp established programs which focused on female-athlete leadership, academic support and helping student-athletes understand their opportunities to continue competing after high school. “I have a passion for building programs in this sport that are not only competitive but enjoyable spaces for athletes to be and that really comes from my education.” The emphasis on developing athletes as people appears to be a major part of her coaching philosophy and could be a great quality to bring with her as she enacts on the next chapter of her coaching career.

   “I’m a people-first type of coach. There’s textbook ways to coach the events of track and field that don’t change much from program to program, but what matters is what you do with the human in front of you.”

   Seekamp also brings recent NCAA track and field success. During her time at Lewis & Clark, she worked primarily with both sprinters and hurdlers while also helping the program produce numerous All-Conference athletes and school records. In the 2025-26 season, Lewis & Clark athletes earned 17 All-Conference honors, while the program established eight indoor records and additional outdoor records.

   Her background in coaching successful athletes could benefit a Pacific program that has already established a foundation of success under previous head coach Huntersimms. Rather than having to completely rebuild a program, Seekamp will continue what has already been created while bringing her own perspectives and ideologies to the team.

   “Am I able to foster confidence and resiliency in the person I’m working with while pushing for athletic and academic excellence without compromising safety, happiness, or the integrity of the sport? If I’m able to do that, then I’m happy. The performance outcomes come secondary. I always tell my athletes, ‘you can do more than you think you can.’ And I mean that mentally, physically, emotionally; not necessarily in a detrimental or unhealthy way, but in the sense that when things get challenging, the choices you make are more important than the outcomes themselves because if you take care of all the little things, the rest will follow,” coach Seekamp shared.

   As Pacific begins a new chapter, Seekamp inherits a program with an established competitive nature and a history of individual success. The next step now will be maintaining the standard while also establishing her own mark on the Boxers. “I’m really looking forward to getting to know the members of the team and working with the awesome coaches already on staff to identify areas for growth and really set a foundation for what’s to come next for Pacific Track and Field in the years to come, and hopefully that comes with plenty of podium finishes come late April at conference,” stated Seekamp. For Pacific’s athletes, the upcoming season will provide the first opportunity to see what that new direction looks like. With Seekamp’s experience in recruiting, athlete development and multiple event groups, the Boxers enter the new era with plenty of reasons for optimism and upside.