Michael Sweigart and his Impressive AU Career
Michael Sweigart is one of the best track athletes in AU history. He is from Alexandria, IN, and is currently a senior at Anderson University, majoring in engineering management. He currently holds a record in the hammer throw (59.94) and has multiple HCAC Throws Athlete of the Week awards and was recently awarded HCAC Athlete of the Meet for throws. As Sweigart recalls it, “This was an amazing last outdoor season.”
“I would say my parents are the biggest motivation,” Sweigart said. “They kind of just funded everything since I was in high school, and they always told me if I’m gonna do something, do as well as I can.” The other big motivation for him was his throws coach, Chuck Foga, who also coached him at Alexandria and now at AU. “Coach Foga would definitely be a big motivator, because I wasn’t even gonna go to college until he told me I needed to go to college and pushed me to Anderson University,” he said.
With throwing, there is definitely a very particular way of training and being able to hit the milestones you want to hit. “When winter starts to hit, we’ll hit just super heavy sets for a lot of reps,” Sweigart said. “So, like, everything consists of, like, 4 sets of 10 at 80% of your one rep max for all of your lifts across the board. So with 100 throws a day, with about 200 turns each day, as well as for all of my events. So I’ll be turning about 1000 times in a week, give or take.”
Sweigart is also in contention for going to the DIII National Championship. He’s been twice before; in his junior year, he placed 9th overall. Then last year, he caught the flu and placed only one spot out of the finals. This year his goal is to go big. “My goal has always been to bring a national championship to Anderson University because the publicity would just help the school as a whole,” he said.
Sweigart is also planning for that next step in life as well. “I plan to get an engineering management job or some type of management job as soon as I’m done, and be able to coach at Indiana Tech in Fort Wayne or even come back to Anderson University,” he said. Sweigart still wants to continue his throwing career. He wants to be the 3rd Anderson University Olympian and he is also attempting to go try out at the next trials.
The 2026 NCAA Division III Track and Field Championship outdoor meet will be held at UW-La Crosse, Wisconsin (May 21-23).
Lai’Lonie Waller-Thomas’ Historic Freshman Season
Lai’Lonie Waller-Thomas started her career off as a Raven with an incredibly memorable freshman season. Over the course of the indoor and outdoor seasons, she hit the conference standard in both the indoor shot put and weight throw, as well as the outdoor shot put, discus throw, and hammer throw.
Recruiting was a big piece of Waller-Thomas finding a place on the AU track & field team, and she recalled,“He [Coach Nic Huffman] found out I did track in high school and reached out. I did it because I missed it and needed a reason to be active.” Her addition to the team was a huge piece for both indoor and outdoor seasons, as she scored big points in both HCAC championship meets.
In high school, Waller-Thomas only threw the shot put and discus, but she had the chance to try out some new events with the indoor weight throw, outdoor hammer throw, and javelin in college. “The new events have really won over my heart,” said Waller-Thomas. She certainly thrived with her new events, as she set a new school record in the weight throw, heaving it 16.27 meters, which ended up being the second-best mark in the HCAC by the end of the season.
She has done many important things to see success in the sport, but she said that the most important was to have fun. “I just love the sport and all sports in general. I did so many in high school, and they just come naturally to me. I love joking around and dancing at practice, and I love talking to people and being me.”
One of the most important things for athletes is their pre-meet rituals, which she values in a different way. She said, “I just try to get out of my head. I love to dance. I go out and eat. I enjoy my friends. Then, I rest, prepare, and pack. I also eat hot chips, which are so bad, but they are my fuel.”
Waller-Thomas still has three years of eligibility left to compete for AU, and she has some incredible goals for her future here. “I want to break the hammer and discus records by next year. Then hopefully the shot put junior year, as well as continuing to just crash it,” she said.
She’s off to a fantastic start, as she holds personal records of 11.37 meters in the indoor shot put, 11.56 meters in the outdoor shot put, 36.85 meters in discus, 25.06 meters in javelin, and 39.53 meters in the hammer throw, in addition to her school record of 16.27 meters in the weight throw.
These two athletes have brought great attention to the AU Track & Field program. The meaningful impact from Sweigart in the past and now Waller-Thomas in the future has created the foundation for not only throwers but runners on the AU Track & Field team.