Nick Ekel, Southwestern Community College head cross country/track and field coach, recently signed three student-athletes to run for the Spartans during their 2016-17 campaign. Spartan signees included Briar Clay of Stuart, Collin Maag of Scottsbluff, NE, and Caden Trygstad of Nevada.

Briar Clay is a May 2016 graduate of West Central Valley High School in Stuart. He qualified for state in the 100m dash in 2015 with a time of 11.2 seconds. He is an honor roll student. Clay is the son of Darren Clay and Marykay Smith.

Pictured (L to R) Sitting - Marykay Smith, Briar's mother; Briar Clay; and Darren Clay, Briar's father. Standing - Nick Ekel, SWCC cross country/track and field coach, and Tony Hooper, West Central Valley High School coach

Collin Maag is a May 2016 graduate of Scottsbluff High School in Scottsbluff, NE. He was a member of the Nebraska state champion team in 2013 and 2014. In track and field, Maag ran on the 2015 state champion 4x800 team and he was a state qualifier in the open 800 in 2016. He is the son of Patrick and Kristin Maag of Scottsbluff, NE.

Pictured (L to R) Patrick Maag, Collin's father; Kristin Maag, Collin's mother; Collin Maag; Nick Ekel, SWCC cross country/track and field coach; and Jim Barker, Scottsbluff High School coach

Caden Trygstad is a May 2016 graduate of Nevada High School in Nevada. He is the son of Rick and Lori Trygstad. During high school, he received varsity letters in baseball, cross country, and track and field. He was captain of the cross country team. He was a member of the National Honor Society and was awarded academic all-conference honors.

Pictured (L to R) Sitting - Lori Trygstad, Caden's mother; Caden Trygstad; Rick Trygstad, Caden's father. Standing - John Pelzer, Nevada High School track coach; Nick Ekel, SWCC cross country/track and field coach; and Mike Christiansen, Nevada High School cross country coach