KIRTLAND – Kirtland Central High School’s Kyler Joe, a recent graduate and one of the school’s most decorated student athletes, has agreed to extend his scholastic and sports careers by signing a letter of intent to join John Brown University in Siloam Springs, Arkansas.
Joe, a multisport athlete with school records and state championships in football, soccer, wrestling and track and field, has agreed to be a part of the Golden Eagles men’s track and field team next season.
Joe is a 14-time state medalist in track and field for Kirtland Central High School, with state titles in 2021 and 2022 in the 4x100 meter relay competition as well as the 400-meter dash. Joe also earned medals in pole vault competitions as well as the 200-meter dash.
Joe is the school record-holder for the 200-meter dash (22.19 seconds) and the 400-meter dash (48.83 seconds), both of which he earned during his most recent senior season.
In addition to his work on the track, Joe also had an extremely decorated career on the football field, achieving a school-record nine successful points after touchdown in a single game and converting on 41 of 43 PAT’s during the 2021 season.
Joe also won accolades on the soccer pitch, named player of the year in San Juan County in 2022, as well as earning all-district and all-state honors in 2021 and 2022. Joe scored 80 career goals for the Broncos boys soccer team in three seasons.
On the wrestling mat, Joe took home a pair of third-place medals. In 2021, he finished third in the New Mexico Activity Association’s Class 4A championships at the 152-pound weight class then came back a year later and finished third at the 160-pound division.
The Golden Eagles men’s track and field team is coached by Scott Schochler, who has been with the program for more than 10 years.
Among Schochler’s accomplishments with the team is producing three cross-country National Championships qualifiers and one indoor track and field National Championship qualifier in his first season of with the program.
John Brown University competes in the National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics (NAIA) within the Sooner Athletic Conference, consisting of teams from Kansas, Oklahoma, Texas and Arkansas.
The Golden Eagles women’s track team took home a Sooner Conference championship last month when Hope Ahnfeldt won the 10,000-meter run in a time of 39 minutes, 57.85 seconds. Jean-Benoit Merte won a conference title for the men’s team in the 3,000 meter steeplechase competition, and Matthew Cook finished second in the 1,500-meter run, losing to Walid Jarfani from Texas Wesleyan.
Joe, who already possesses an associate degree and while maintaining a 3.98 grade-point average, ranked eighth of 160 recent Kirtland Central High School graduates.
