Cathleen Cawley begins her seventh season with the Vandals. She is a volunteer coach helping out with sprints, hurdles and relays. In her first six seasons at Idaho, Cawley served as the sprints, hurdles and relays coach and also handled internal operations, event management, and communications. In addition, Cawley has served on Team USA National Teams with top athletes in the world, solving problems and working logistics to make the athletes comfortable and ready to compete to their best ability.
Cawley is passionate about education and continuing to learn and grow among the best in the country. Cawley completed her Master's in Business Administration in spring 2015. Cawley took the World Athletics Level 5 Certification for Sprints in December 2019 and submitted a final project in September 2020. This is the highest level sprint certification given in the world.
In her first six years at Idaho, Cawley coached multiple NCAA Qualifiers, 6 Big Sky Conference Champions, several Idaho All-Time Top 10 performers, and countless personal bests. In addition, Cawley worked on a daily basis to ensure the mission of Idaho Track and Field & Cross Country to create and foster a culture that thrives on excellence in character, academics, and athletics, while focusing on the process in a positive and collaborative environment.
The men’s and women’s team both had their highest finish as a team in the Big Sky Conference, and the most points they have scored yet in the Big Sky Conference at the 2020 Indoor BSC Championships. Freshman Spencer Barrera set the tone in the men’s 400. Barrera was the 4th seed going into the 2-heat final. Running in the slow heat of the final, Barrera took command of the race by winning the break. He never looked back and crossed the line in a new personal best of 47.64. As the second race began, the team watched the clock as the second heat sprinted two laps around the track. The team erupted in cheers as they realized Barrera had won the Big Sky Conference Championship in the men’s 400! Meanwhile, fellow 400 runner Kaizer Gillispie finished his indoor career as an All-Conference selection after running the 400 leg in the men’s Distance Medley Relay that finished 3rd. Transfer Alex Ayers sat out for the 2020 season, but had a chance to race on his own during the indoor season. Ayers won the prestigious UW Invitational, beating athletes from all over the Northwest. Senior Ben Doucette finished his final indoor season scoring once again in the 60H in the runner-up position. He came back shortly afterward to earn another point for his team in the open 60. On the women’s side, Lauren Paven made the final in the women’s 400. Paven combined with teammates Aaryanna Kurucz, Camryn Crouch, and Anna Pecha to bring home a point in the women’s 4x400 relay. Kurucz also ran the 400 leg in the 7th place Distance Medley Relay.
The sprint squad continued to show huge improvements in 2018-19. The first final of the meet was the men’s DMR. Mack Baxter ran the 400 on the Men’s DMR that placed 2nd. Nik Chappee took 6th in the 400. Chappee and Baxter ran on the 5th place 4x400 relay. Ben Doucette placed 6th in the 60H. During this indoor season, Doucette set a new indoor best in the 60H at 7.87. Doucette qualified for the USATF Indoor Championships, but chose to prepare for the Conference Championships instead. Freshman Lauren Paven surpassed her rank to qualify to the Final in the women’s 400 where she placed 7th. Fellow freshman Aaryanna Kurucz ran the 400 leg in the Distance Medley Relay to place 5th.
The outdoor season was inspiring! Freshman Aaryanna Kurucz ran a personal best of 62.19 in the 400 hurdles and would later go on to finish 6th at the BSC Championships. Henrike Fiedler set a new personal best in the 100H at 14.60. The men’s sprint squad took home All-Conference Honors in the 400, 110 hurdles, and 400 hurdles. Kaizer Gillispie finished 2nd in the 400, Ben Doucette 2nd in the 110 hurdles, and Mack Baxter 4th in the 400 hurdles. Gillispie and Baxter joined up with teammates Nik Chappee and Dean Ellenwood to finish 4th in the 4x400 relay.
The team overall had a phenomenal season in 2018. During the indoor championships, the women continued to improve. Kaylee Hove ran the 400 in the Distance Medley Relay that took 5th place. The men were on fire. Kaizer Gillispie ran an indoor personal best at the Championships in 47.14 to finish in 3rd place and secure an All-Conference Performance. Freshman Nik Chappee also ran an indoor personal best of 48.05 to finish 6th. Meanwhile, Rikki McCaw ran the 400 leg in the Men’s DMR that took home 6th place. But the men’s 400 squad wasn’t done yet. Gillispie, Chappee, and McCaw paired up with Mack Baxter for the Men’s 4x400 relay. NAU opened the first heat by posting a much faster than anticipated time. The pressure was on for heat two. Idaho ran out of their minds and narrowly passed NAU’s mark to take home All-Conference honors in a 3rd place finish. Ben Doucette rounded out the men’s sprint points with a 7th place finish in the men’s 60H. Earlier in the season, Doucette ran a season best of 7.94 and qualified for the 2018 USATF National Championships. Doucette ran with the top hurdlers in the country in an elite field of 13 athletes.
With the majority of the men being freshmen and sophomores for eligibility, most of the men’s sprint squad was strategically redshirted for the outdoor season. Nik Chappee and Rikki McCaw were the only male sprinters to compete. Chappee took 6th in the outdoor 400. Chappee and McCaw paired up with middle distance runners to place 8th in the men’s 4x4. Meanwhile, the women’s 4x100 relay took home a point in 8th place.
2016-17 was an exciting year for Cawley’s athletes. Four of the five Vandals advancing to the NCAA Outdoor Championships competed in the high jump, sprints and hurdles, and all were freshmen or sophomores (Rechelle Meade – High Jump; Ben Doucette – 110 Hurdles; Kaizer Gillispie – 400; Mack Baxter – 400 Hurdles). At the outdoor conference championships, Cawley’s athletes put on a show. Freshman Rechelle Meade earned a berth to the NCAA Championships in the high jump after finishing second at the Big Sky Conference Championships in the high and long jump, earning the Freshman of the Year Award. The final day of the Big Sky Outdoor Championships started as Dusan Jevtic jumped a season best in the men’s high jump. Meanwhile on the track, the men’s and women’s 4x100 relays opened the day, where each outperformed their rank to contribute to the team success. Less than an hour later, Ben Doucette returned from the relay to run the 110 hurdles. Doucette earned All-Conference honors by finishing 3rd in the 110H, beating 4th place by 1/1000th of a second. Doucette ran a personal best of 14.17 and qualified for the NCAA National Championships as a freshman. Next on the track, sophomore Kaizer Gillispie was ranked 3rd in the 400 heading into the race. He ran a personal best of 46.52 to become the Big Sky Outdoor Champion and earn his first trip to the NCAA National Championships. In the women’s 400 hurdles, Meghan Palesch ran her collegiate best of 61.93 to score points for the team. In the following race, sophomores Mack Baxter and Zion Stuffle continued to score points for the team in the 400 hurdles. Baxter came from behind in an exciting race to take home the title as Big Sky Conference Champion. During the season, Baxter ran a new personal best of 51.98 in the 400 hurdles. Baxter finished his season at the NCAA Championships. Doucette, Baxter and Gillispie went on to earn USTFCCCA All-Academic Honors for their successes as one of the top student-athletes in the nation both in the classroom and on the track.
During the indoor season Meade finished top 3 in each jump at the indoor Big Sky Championships to win Freshman of the Year. Mead came to Idaho with a personal best mark of 1.65m in the high jump, which she improved to 1.76m in her freshman year. In the sprint squad, freshman Ben Doucette led the conference all season in the indoor 60-hurdles. At the indoor Big Sky Conference Championships, Doucette ran in heat 2 of the finals and watched as heat 1 posted times faster than he had ever run. Doucette stayed composed and ran to an all-time best of 7.96 to become the Big Sky Indoor Conference Champion.
2015-16 included another Big Sky Champion in the sprint squad as Benjamin Ayesu-Attah won the men’s 400. Ayesu-Attah had a fantastic season, posting personal bests of 47.22 seconds indoors and 46.20 seconds outdoors, taking second at the Canadian National Championships and being an NCAA National Qualifier. Zion Stuffle also had a tremendous season, his first with the Vandals. A true freshman, Stuffle came to Idaho after a bad hamstring injury closed out his senior season in high school, but he persevered and finished second in the 400-meter hurdles at the Big Sky Outdoor Championships and finished the season as the 10th fastest time in Idaho history. Kaizer Gillispie also had a great true freshman season, taking sixth in the men’s 400-meters at the Big Sky Championships. On the women’s side, Andrea Pikes earned sixth in the 100-meters at the Big Sky Championships. After not breaking 12.1 seconds in the 100-meters in her collegiate career prior to this season, Pikes saw an incredible boost in performance and set a personal best of 11.86 seconds to move into sixth on Idaho’s all-time list. Meghan Palesch placed seventh in the 400-meter hurdles at the Big Sky Championships, while Wednesday Walton posted a new personal best in the event. Cawley also worked with Katelyn Peterson as she took third at the Big Sky Championships in the high jump.
2014-15, her first year with the Vandals, Cawley was instrumental in the growth and development of Jesse Villines, who posted a personal best of 52.05 seconds in the 400-meter hurdles. Cawley also helped Katelyn Peterson continue her growth in the high jump, leading to her winning the Big Sky Championships in the event.
Cawley came to Idaho after spending five years at Colorado State University as an assistant track coach and Director of Operations for the track and field programs. Cawley handled operations, coached high jumpers, and assisted Coach Tim Cawley with the horizontal jumps and multi-events. While at CSU, Cathleen Cawley coached four NCAA national qualifiers, one honorable mention All-American, the women’s high jump runner-up at the 2014 U23-England National Championships, one USA Junior National Championship qualifier, and five top-three All-Conference performances. Cawley served as a volunteer coach with the Rams during the 2008-09 season.
Prior to CSU, Cawley continued to train post-collegiately as a 400 hurdler and as a heptathlete, training and being mentored by one of the top sprint coaches in the country. During the 2007-08 season, Cawley worked as the high jump coach at University of Northern Colorado where she coached one conference champion and one NCAA regional qualifier. Prior to Northern Colorado, Cawley served as a volunteer coach assisting with jumpers and decathletes at Colorado School of Mines.
A graduate from the University of Richmond in 2003 with a Bachelor of Science, Cawley double majored in Computer Science and Physics. She competed in the high jump, heptathlon, and 400 hurdles. While at Richmond, she was a team captain, a member of the 2003 Atlantic 10 Indoor Championship Team, and a two-time conference champion in the heptathlon.
Cawley is Level I USA Track & Field certified and Level II USA Track & Field certified in Jumps, Sprints, Throws, and Combined Events. She is also certified as a USA Track & Field Level 1 Instructor and has served as a USA Track & Field Official. Cawley also completed the USTFCCCA Jumps Specialist Certification, Sprints Certification, and Strength & Conditioning Certification.
Cawley takes an active role in her communities. Within track and field, Cawley served as a USATF Colorado board member, and currently serves as the USATF Women's Development Chair for horizontal jumps. In 2016, Cawley was awarded the Rita Sumerlot Development Coordinator of the Year. Formerly, she served as president and vice president for the United States Women’s Track Coaches Association. At Colorado State University, Cawley served on the Administrative Professional Council and as a committee member of the Gold Team. Cawley has served Team USA as the women’s head team manager for the 2015 NACAC Senior Championships in San Jose, Costa Rica, as well as a team manager for the Junior Pan Am Championships in Lima, Peru. In 2018, Cawley traveled to Finland with Team USA to serve on the World Junior Team as an Event Manager. In 2019, Cawley was selected by Team USA to serve as the Head Women’s Manager for the World Championships in Doha, Qatar.
