Dustin Armbruster
Hays High and Athletic Director Chris Michaelis introduced two new coaches on Wednesday morning. Silas Hibbs will be directing the boys and girls soccer teams. Nicole Solis will be heading up the girls swimming program this spring.
Hibbs, a 2005 Hays High graduate, was an all-state midfielder for the Indians and was part of the soccer team’s state runner up finish in 2002. He went on to play soccer and compete in track and field at Tabor College. While at Tabor, Hibbs was a four time all-conference selection in the KCAC, a two time conference pole vault champ, and four time academic all-american.
He currently works for Koch Industries in Wichita but is moving back to Hays with his fiance and will be enrolling at Fort Hays State University to complete the MBA program. Hibbs is engaged to Nicole Tillman who will be joining her father at Great Plains Dermatology.
Hibbs takes over a program that will feature a player that looks to break his own record of goals in a career. Ethan Nunnery set the school record for goals in a season and is just three shy of the career mark. As coach, Hibbs hopes to run a 4-3-3 attack but will adjust his game plan to the personal he has on the team. He will be looking for an assistant coach that is more defensive minded to compliment his ability to coach the offense.
Hibbs was an assistant coach at Tabor following graduation and has spend time as part of the FC Wichita club including coach part of the youth program. He will be looking to increase the number of players on the team and build a foundation of expectations. Those expectations include wins, but only as a piece of the puzzle. Hibbs expects his athletes to perform in the classroom with the same dedication and commitment he wants from them on the field. Hibbs long term plans with the Indian’s program is to also help build a soccer culture in Hays that includes the clubs of Hays, FHSU and possible Thomas More Prep-Marian.
Michaelis also announced Nicole Solis as the new head coach for the girls swimming program. She is currently the assistant coach for the boys program and works as the library secretary at Roosevelt Elementary School. Solis is a Bishop Carroll high school graduate where she was a four year varsity swimmer.
Solis pointed out that swimming is a low impact sport that doesn’t carry a great injury risk. It is from personal experience that she relays that message. Solis broke her back in two places during her youth and swimming was the only sport that doctors would clear her to compete in. Like Hibbs with the soccer programs, Solis is looking to build the number of athletes out for the girls swimming program. Currently she has just eight out for the spring. Solis hopes to build the numbers by increasing the competitiveness of the swimmers while also building strong team bonding and creating a fun environment for the team. Those things combined she hopes will build excitement around the program and lead to the current swimmers bringing additional members to the team.
Solis and her husband moved to Hays less than two years ago, with her husband working on his masters at FHSU. Along with drawing on experience from being an assistant the boys team currently, Solis was an assistant coach at the Northwest YMCA in Wichita for the Neptunes swimmers.
Solis says practice will start with two practices a day. The practices will include a technique clinic. The goal is perfect the girls technique at the beginning of the season instead of needing to make correction during the year.