KENOSHA, Wis. -- Parkside head track and field and cross country coach James Halford has announced staffing changes for the upcoming 2026-27 season. Andrew Hylen and Parkside Hall of Fame member Mike DeWitt will be additions to the staff as assistant coaches with focus on the distance and cross country groups, and Katie Weldy will serve as an assistant coach after spending two years with the Rangers as a graduate assistant coach with an emphasis on the throwers.
Andrew Hylen
Hylen arrives at Parkside after spending the 2025-26 season as a graduate assistant distance coach at Grand Valley State University. In that role, he assisted with the recruitment of prospective student-athletes, monitored student-athlete academic progress and supported the Lakers' distance program through workout tracking, training and race-day responsibilities.
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Prior to beginning his coaching career, Hylen was a member of the Grand Valley State cross country and track and field programs from 2019-25. His six years as a student-athlete provided him with extensive experience competing within one of the premier NCAA Division II distance programs in the country.
Hylen earned his bachelor's degree from Grand Valley State in 2023, majoring in secondary education, English and psychology. He earned his Master of Education in higher education student affairs administration from Grand Valley State in May of 2026.
Mike DeWitt
DeWitt has a long history of success as a coach and athlete that began with being a member of the first Parkside cross country and track teams in the fall of 1968 for cross country and spring of 1970 for track and field. He is the first UW-Parkside track All-American, earning the honor at the NAIA Indoor Championships in 1972 in the two-mile race walk.
His coaching resume includes being the head women's coach for cross country and track at Parkside beginning in the fall of 1981 in cross country and then adding track in the 1982 season. He also was the coordinator of the race walking program. DeWitt added the men's program in the winter of 2007. He departed UW-Parkside following the 2010 season.
His women's cross country program earned 27 national meet appearances in his 29-year career, which included the 1986 NAIA championship as well as four other top-four national meet finishes and a total of 13 top-10 finishes. Along with the dual membership, the program placed fifth at the NCAA II meet two times as well. During the GLVC years, the program won seven GLVC championships and never placed lower than third in the 16 years. Individually, 127 runners and race walkers earned NAIA or NCAA II All-America honors, as well as a total of 287 individual All-America awards and 33 national championships. Nine individuals from the race walking program earned spots on the USA team in the Olympics covering 1984 to as recent as 2020.
As an athlete, DeWitt competed in the U.S. Olympic Trials 20km and 50km race walks in four different trials, placing in the top 10 of the 50km race walk in 1984 (eighth), 1988 (10th) and 1992 (ninth). He represented the U.S. internationally on five occasions, including the 1989 World Cup of Race Walking in Barcelona, Spain, where he finished 53rd of 135 walkers with a lifetime best of 4:22:23 at 50km.
Katie Weldy
Weldy joined the program in the fall of 2024 as a graduate assistant before being promoted to an assistant coach in the summer of 2026. During her time at Parkside, she has helped grow the throwing program exponentially. Under Weldy there have been 15 top-10 performances in program history on the men's side and 23 top-10 performances on the women's side, including school records in the weight throw, hammer, javelin and shot put.
Prior to Parkside, Weldy was a national qualifier in the weight throw and hammer throw at Hillsdale University, earning All-GMAC recognition in 2024.
You can keep up with Parkside cross country and track and field at ParksideRangers.com.
