Coaches
Kenny Anderson
Head Coach
Kenny Anderson enters his third season as the Director of Track & Field/Cross Country at Central Methodist in 2022-23.
The track and field programs have seen a steady improvement under Anderson's guidance over the past two seasons. The 2022 campaign saw the women's side win the first indoor Heart Conference Championship in program history. For his efforts, Anderson was named the Heart Indoor Coach of the Year. Sophomore KJ Johnson was the Highest Point Scorer award at the meet after sweeping the 60-meter dash, 60-meter hurdles, and long jump titles, with all three being new school records. In all, CMU won five events at the two-day meet. Anderson was also named the USTFCCCA South Central Region Women’s Indoor Coach of the Year.
On the men’s side, Taylor Bottomley won both the Hammer Throw and Shotput at the Indoor Conference Championship, setting new school records in both. In addition, Anderson guided freshman, Ethan Smith, to a first-place finish in the men’s heptathlon.
During the outdoor season in 2022, the women’s program continued to show they are a force, finishing as the Heart of America Team Runner-Ups for the second-straight season. The outdoor campaign also saw the emergence of Keiara-Ashley Cunningham’s dominance in the 400-meter hurdles under Coach Anderson. The native of Ontario, Canada not only broke the school record in the 400m hurdles but also set the Heart of America Conference Championship and facility record. She finished her junior season as an NAIA All-American with a fifth-place standing at the NAIA Outdoor National Championships in a time of 1:01.24.
On the men's side, CMU finished as the Heart of America Conference Runner-Ups, the highest finish since 2015. Taylor Bottomley led the charge as he won both the Hammer Throw and the Discus. Ethan Smith won the Decathlon and Parker Yager won the pole vault. Bottomley also finished fourth at the NAIA Outdoor National Championships in the hammer throw to gain All-American status.
The 2020-21 season saw both the men’s and women’s track & field programs soar to new heights, with numerous student-athletes collecting All-America, All-Region, and All-Conference accolades in Anderson’s first season.
During the indoor season, the women’s program garnered its highest finish since the conference expanded to 14 schools in 2015 with a runner-up finish. Anderson guided freshman Kailey “KJ’ Johnson to a new school record in the 60m dash (7.83) and a conference championship in the 60-meter hurdles. Johnson finished as the highest point scorer at the Heart Indoor Championships and was honored as the Heart Women's Indoor Track Athlete of the Meet. For his accomplishments, Coach Anderson was named the Heart Women’s Indoor Coach of the Year.
On the men’s side under Anderson’s tutelage, Senior thrower Taylor Bottomley broke school records in both the shotput (16.82m) and the weight throw (19.03m). Bottomley was named the Heart Men's Indoor Field Athlete of the Meet as well as the USTFCCCA South Central Men’s Field Athlete of the Year. Anderson also guided the quartet of Nehemiah Colyer, Jacob Fritz, Curtis Johns, and Mohammed Nyaoga, to a fourth-place finish in the 4x400 meter relay at the NAIA Indoor National Championship.
The same type of success carried over into the 2021 outdoor season. KJ Johnson was once again the highest point scorer at the Heart Outdoor Championships, and the women’s program finished as the Conference Runner-Ups. The same 4x4 quartet of Colyer, Fritz, Johns, and Nyaoga finished eighth at the NAIA National Championships, breaking the school record with a time of (3:14.87). Taylor Bottomley finished seventh and eighth in the Hammer Throw and Shotput respectively at nationals, earning NAIA All-America honors in both events. Anderson guided Hayden Hackman to a Conference Championship in the Men’s Decathlon in which he also was named the Heart Field Athlete of the Meet. Hackman broke the school record in the Decathlon at the NAIA National Championship, posting a third-place finish with 6890 points.
Between the cross country, indoor and outdoor seasons, Anderson has coached 48 National Qualifiers and 13 All-Americans in his two seasons at the helm.
Anderson came to Central after spending two seasons as the Assistant Track & Field Coach/Recruiting Coordinator for Johnson C. Smith University (NCAA Division II). During his time with the Golden Bulls, Anderson coached 15 Central Intercollegiate Athletic Association (CIAA) selections, two CIAA individual runner-ups, and inked four New Balance All-Americans.
Prior to his time with Johnson C. Smith, Anderson made stops on the track at Bolles School and Withrow High School. He also served as an assistant coach on the women's basketball side for Stetson University (NCAA Division I) and Lynn University (NCAA Division II).
Anderson, a Florida native, graduated with a degree in Electronic Engineering Technology from Florida A&M University.
George Robinson
Assistant Coach - Distance
George Robinson joined the Eagles in August of 2021, and currently serves as the assistant coach for the distance runners at CMU. Prior to Central, Robinson spent three seasons as the Cross Country/Distance Track Coach at F.L Schlagle High School.
In Robinson’s first year, he coach several runners who notched personal best in multiple distance events, including several racewalkers achieve new PRs. During Indoor season, Robinson had his first National Qualifier, Lilian Patterson, in the 3K racewalk.
During his time with the Stallions, the cross country teams won their first league title since 1992, while notching several league champions in that span.
Prior to his time at F.L Schlagle, Robinson was a student-athlete at MidAmerica Nazarene as a member the Cross Country/Track and Field programs. Robinson was named the Heart Indoor Athlete of the Meet at the 2016 Conference Championships. Twice, he was crowned conference champion in both the 800-meter run and 1000-meter run during indoor. He also won the 800-meter race at the Heart Outdoor Championships.
On a national scale, Robinson was a two-time national qualifier in cross country, and indoor track & field, and qualified once for outdoor nationals. He earned All-America honors as a member of the 4x400m relay team at the Outdoor National Championships.
Robinson, a California native, graduated with a degree in Recreation and Leisure Studies from MNU.
Tevin Riddle
Assistant Coach - Jumps/Recruiting Coordinator
Coach Riddle is entering his third season with the CMU track and field program. In his first two seasons, Riddle has coached numerous All-Conference performers, including a conference champion in the women's triple jump, and several national qualifiers in the long, triple, and high jump.
Prior to Central Methodist, he spent two years as the Assistant coach at Olivet Nazarene University. Where he coached CCAC champions (men's triple and women's long) and well as all-conference athletes in the men's and women's triple, long and high jump. He was also apart of the coaching staff that led the men's team to a runner-up finish at indoor nationals in 2020.
Prior to Olivet Riddle was apart of the track and field team at Malone University, where he is the school record holder in triple jump, and 3rd all-time in high jump. He's a former G-MAC Champion and conference record holder for triple jump, as well as all-conference in high jump and long jump. He was NCAA All-Midwest Region for triple jump and a national qualifier in the event.
Riddle is a native a Cincinnati, Ohio. Graduated from Malone in 2018 with a bachelors in Sport Management. And a master's in organizational leadership from Olivet in 2020.