Evander Wells was named head cross country and track and field coach in May of 2019.
The Knox College Track and Field teams have made tremendous strides under Wells’ guidance. In three seasons, Wells has had 35 All-Midwest Conference performers, 81 Academic All-Midwest conference honorees, eight MWC Performer of the week wins and a Knox student-athlete has broken a school record on 31 occasions.
The 2019-20 season was the start of Knox's rise under Wells. Six athletes had nineteen performances to move onto or up on the Knox Top 10 performance list. Sophomore sprinter Derrick Jackson had an outstanding season, setting five school records in three events. He also won conference titles in the 60m and 200m, with a conference record in the 60m and was voted Outstanding Track Athlete of the meet by the coaches. Jackson qualified for the indoor NCAA meet in the 60m and 200m dashes and earned All Region and All American honors in both. The meet was not contested due to COVID-19. Sophomore Charles Broomfield was named the Elite 20 Winner, as the student-athlete with the highest cumulative grade point average, participating in the MWC championship.
The 2020-21 season showed that Knox was on a steady rise. The Prairie Fire won a total of four conference event titles and produced fourteen All Conference performances. Freshman Tyrell Pierce was voted Newcomer of the year. That season Knox saw school records fall on 10 occasions. Derrick Jackson qualified for the National Championship meet in both the 100m and 200m. He earned All. All American honors in both with a 4th place 100m finish and 5th place 200m finish.
The 2021-22 season was a statement that Knox was a top contender in the Midwest conference. In total, Knox won twelve Midwest Conference event titles and produced twenty All-Conference performances. Senior thrower Charles Broomfield, junior sprinter Derrick Jackson, and sophomore jumper Peyton Balfour all won Outstanding Performer of the MWC Championships in their respective fields. Broomfield was again named the Elite 20 Winner. Through the season, Knox had athletes produce 39 performances to move on or up the Knox top-10 list, including seven school records. Jackson’s 100m record of 10.17 was not only a Knox record, but the fastest in the history of Division lll Track and Field. Jackson qualified for Nationals in both the 60m and 100m earning All American honors in the 100m. He was joined at the meet by sophomore Tyrell Pierce, who placed 10th in the 400m.
Wells came to Knox from Earlham College in Indiana, where he was an assistant track and field coach. He instructed sprinters and jumpers and mentored 16 student-athletes to league titles in the Heartland Collegiate Athletic Conference (HCAC). Wells also served as the recruiting coordinator for the Quakers. Wells coached Earlham sprinter Aishat Sadiq to an eighth-place finish and All-America honors at the 2019 NCAA D-III Outdoor Track & Field Championships, earning Earlham's first All-America honor in any sport since 2008.
As a student-athlete, Wells had a successful sprinting career at the University of Tennessee. He was a four-year member of the Volunteers and a nine-time All-American, as well as an 18-time Southeastern Conference (SEC) finalist. Wells ranks in the top-10 all-time at Tennessee in the 60m, 100m, and 200m dashes. He qualified for seven NCAA Championships and was a member of the United States NACAC and World Junior Teams.
Wells received his Bachelor of Arts degree in studio art with an emphasis on two-dimensional art in 2010.
