SIU’s new sprints coach had less than a month to recruit after being hired, so he’s hoping to find talent already on campus by holding tryouts.

Coach Connie Price-Smith announced the hiring of sprints coach Anthony Acklin on July 28. The Salukis scheduled the tryouts for 1 p.m. Aug. 27 at the Lew Hartzog Track and Field Complex.

“I’m hoping to see what’s available on campus if there’s any talent that’s laying around not doing anything,” He said. “I’m hoping it can help our program.”

Last season sophomore sprinter Tyra Wooten made the team as a walk-on.

“When I got to here I started to miss [track],” Wooten said. “I think it’s a part of me. It’s not just a sport to me. It’s me. I love track.”

Wooten posted the fastest indoor 500-meter time on the team at 1:18.70 at the Notre Dame Invite on Jan. 25. She also ran a leg of the fastest Saluki 4×400-meter outdoor relay of the season at the Missouri Valley Conference Championships. The team finished seventh with a time of 3:47.54.

Acklin said regardless of what the tryouts bring, the team has potential.

“The expectations are high,” Acklin said. “There’s a lot of talent here already, it just has to be brought out and get it to perform.”

Acklin ran for the Salukis and graduated in 2006. He was an assistant coach at Iowa Central Community College and Rend Lake College before landing the job at SIU. He was part of nine national championship teams, and was named the NJCAA Assistant Coach of the Year three times.

Acklin said being a former Saluki might have been a slight advantage in getting the job, but said his resume speaks for itself and he has a good relationship with Price-Smith.

“Anthony was a wonderful athlete,” Price-Smith said. “He was the kind of athlete that every coach would want to have. He would do almost anything you wanted him to do, and whatever he did he would put his heart and soul into.”

Wooten said it’s challenging with a new coach. She said former sprints coach Chidi Enyia was a father figure to her and taught life skills along with track skills. Enyia was fired after the outdoor season.

“We basically have to learn different things,” Wooten said. “Basically, I’m a freshman all over again. I have to learn [Acklin’s] different methods and different practicing skills. He has to detrain all of us, and retrain us for his particular things.”

She said she has to get to know Acklin better, and thinks the team will surprise a lot of people this year including itself.

Price-Smith said all other areas of the team have a lot of men and women and the rosters are pretty concrete.

“All of the other areas are probably set,” Price-Smith said. “We might have a few other athletes in some of the other events tryout, but we’re not going to hold a specific tryout for them.”

Students wishing to try out must have a physical within the past six months. They can schedule one with the Student Health Center if they do not have one. They will also need to bring their insurance information and a waiver form found online at www.siusalukis. com “If it’s something you want to do, you have to have a love for track,” Wooten said. “You can’t just say ‘Oh, I want to run.’ You have to be it.”

Aaron Graff can be contacted at [email protected], @Aarongraff_DE or (815)-483-3781