Kansas State University Athletics
Rowing
Wiltfong, Hanna
Hanna Wiltfong
- Title:
- Assistant Coach/Recruiting Coordinator
- Phone:
- (785) 706-1957
Hanna Wiltfong begins her tenth year on the K-State coaching staff in 2021-2022, after spending five years on the K-State Rowing team from 2007-12. Wiltfong then served as a graduate assistant coach from 2012-2015, before being promoted to full-time assistant coach in 2015.
A member of the team from 2007-12, Wiltfong served as a team captain from 2010-12. She has now spent over a decade reinventing the recruiting system for K-State Rowing. The recruited population remains the same, but the method of outreach and communication has changed dramatically in her time at K-State. With the calculated additions of hardworking alumni, Wiltfong has led the charge in maximizing a recruiting system in which Noelle Dykmann is the first point of contact for recruits in their junior year of high school. As a team. Dykmann and Wiltfong prepare recruits for senior level visits where Wiltfong has become the final stop in a recruit's journey to commitment. As senior level recruiter, Wiltfong has been able to focus on becoming highly selective in recruiting and simultaneously refining the first year development sequence for more efficent teaching and advancement among new-to-sport athletes.
“It means something to me to work with this team. In many ways, K-State Rowing built me and it is my privilege and my challenge to attempt to help these young women to be as empowered by this sport as I was. This program has a grass roots approach that is so rare in division one sports and I am proud of how far we have come and the student-athletes who continue to push our program forward. After 10 years here, I can say that K-State Rowing team members are tough kids who want to work hard, together; and that’s who I want to work with,” Wiltfong said.
There exists a long-standing tradition of student-athletes moving into coaching roles for K-State rowing – when Wiltfong first joined the staff she worked alongside Stephanie VanMatre and Grace Ure who had both competed for the Wildcats as undergrads. The tradition continues still as the rowing team has since added Beth DeMars, Noelle Dykmann, Kayla Brock and Kennedy Felice, all former rowers and team leaders, to the coaching staff.
Wiltfong had a strong career with K-State, serving as a co-captain her junior and senior years, and most notably being the first Wildcat rower to be named to the All-Big 12 First Team. She also excelled off the water, earning Academic All-Big 12 honors in 2011 and 2012 and was a two-time CRCA Scholar-Athlete.
“Having Wiltfong on staff has made a tremendous impact on our recruiting. She is passionate and invested in this program and it really comes through in her coaching and recruiting style. She works well with the younger coaches and is playing a large role on staff,” Sweeney said.
In her three years as graduate assistant coach, Wiltfong was part of perhaps the best seasons in program history. Assisting the staff in recruiting, as well as teaching and coaching the novices in the sport, Wiltfong has played a role in the development of top-three finishing Wildcat squads at Big 12s in 2014, 2015 and 2017.
In 2018-19, Wiltfong helped guide the Wildcats to their second-straight Sunflower Showdown victory over rival Kansas, defeating the Jayhawks 22-0. The Wildcats then went on to place third among Big 12 programs at the Big 12 Championship, before being awarded the 2019 Big 12 Co-Sportspersons of the Year after overcoming the loss of senior coxswain Samantha Scott.
Wiltfong earned two bachelor’s degrees in her five years as a student-athlete. The first in Mass Communications – Public Relations and the second in Sociology, both in 2012. While picking up a minor in Leadership Studies. She then went on to earn a Master’s degree in College Student Development – Administration complimented by a Master’s certificate in Advising in 2015.
A member of the team from 2007-12, Wiltfong served as a team captain from 2010-12. She has now spent over a decade reinventing the recruiting system for K-State Rowing. The recruited population remains the same, but the method of outreach and communication has changed dramatically in her time at K-State. With the calculated additions of hardworking alumni, Wiltfong has led the charge in maximizing a recruiting system in which Noelle Dykmann is the first point of contact for recruits in their junior year of high school. As a team. Dykmann and Wiltfong prepare recruits for senior level visits where Wiltfong has become the final stop in a recruit's journey to commitment. As senior level recruiter, Wiltfong has been able to focus on becoming highly selective in recruiting and simultaneously refining the first year development sequence for more efficent teaching and advancement among new-to-sport athletes.
“It means something to me to work with this team. In many ways, K-State Rowing built me and it is my privilege and my challenge to attempt to help these young women to be as empowered by this sport as I was. This program has a grass roots approach that is so rare in division one sports and I am proud of how far we have come and the student-athletes who continue to push our program forward. After 10 years here, I can say that K-State Rowing team members are tough kids who want to work hard, together; and that’s who I want to work with,” Wiltfong said.
There exists a long-standing tradition of student-athletes moving into coaching roles for K-State rowing – when Wiltfong first joined the staff she worked alongside Stephanie VanMatre and Grace Ure who had both competed for the Wildcats as undergrads. The tradition continues still as the rowing team has since added Beth DeMars, Noelle Dykmann, Kayla Brock and Kennedy Felice, all former rowers and team leaders, to the coaching staff.
Wiltfong had a strong career with K-State, serving as a co-captain her junior and senior years, and most notably being the first Wildcat rower to be named to the All-Big 12 First Team. She also excelled off the water, earning Academic All-Big 12 honors in 2011 and 2012 and was a two-time CRCA Scholar-Athlete.
“Having Wiltfong on staff has made a tremendous impact on our recruiting. She is passionate and invested in this program and it really comes through in her coaching and recruiting style. She works well with the younger coaches and is playing a large role on staff,” Sweeney said.
In her three years as graduate assistant coach, Wiltfong was part of perhaps the best seasons in program history. Assisting the staff in recruiting, as well as teaching and coaching the novices in the sport, Wiltfong has played a role in the development of top-three finishing Wildcat squads at Big 12s in 2014, 2015 and 2017.
In 2018-19, Wiltfong helped guide the Wildcats to their second-straight Sunflower Showdown victory over rival Kansas, defeating the Jayhawks 22-0. The Wildcats then went on to place third among Big 12 programs at the Big 12 Championship, before being awarded the 2019 Big 12 Co-Sportspersons of the Year after overcoming the loss of senior coxswain Samantha Scott.
Wiltfong earned two bachelor’s degrees in her five years as a student-athlete. The first in Mass Communications – Public Relations and the second in Sociology, both in 2012. While picking up a minor in Leadership Studies. She then went on to earn a Master’s degree in College Student Development – Administration complimented by a Master’s certificate in Advising in 2015.
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