Where Calling Meets Competition: A Family’s Generational Journey at Sterling

Thirty KCAC Championships, 21 school records, four Sterling College Hall of Fame Inductions and the list goes on. Sounds like an epic legacy, in reality it's a generational tradition for the Zimmerman/Wilson family. Starting with Hall of Fame coach and athlete Emil "Ywain" Zimmerman and carried down to current Sterling College junior, Cedric Wilson. The Zimmerman/Wilsons have had quite the careers at Sterling College.

Ywain started the tradition for the family as a stand-out, three-sport athlete at Sterling College from 1962-65, playing football, basketball and running track for the Warriors. He was inducted into the Hall of Fame as an athlete in 2022 and as a coach with the 1992 Women's Track and Field team that brought Sterling their first KCAC Championship in Outdoor Track and Field. Ywain was the head track and field coach at Sterling College from 1989-95, and he also taught physics at Sterling College from 1987-2004.

"In my day, we competed on a cinder track, six lanes, sort of, with trees going right next to the track so there were some issues with boundaries," Ywain recalled. "We would both high jump and pole vault into sand, we tried sawdust one year but the problem with that is if you don't cover up the pits it turns into plywood which is not very comfortable to land on. So it's changed quite a bit."

Despite the conditions, Ywain was outstanding, breaking the school record in the 120-yard hurdles in 1964, in the pole vault three times (1962, 1964, 1965) and tying the high jump record in 1964. As an athlete, he was most known for his ability to score points at meets, totaling 90 points in his freshman season and as many as 192 in his senior campaign

He also earned accolades for his ability on the basketball court, most notably the Emil S. Liston Award, a national award given to an outstanding men's and women's junior basketball player for scholarship, citizenship and basketball playing ability. He is the only Sterling College basketball player to ever earn the award. Ywain was also received the Stir award for Most Outstanding Basketball Player in 1964 and was named the Wilson Outstanding Senior Athlete.

Ywain met and married Donna (Kessler) Zimmerman at Sterling College who was also an athlete in her own right. Attending Sterling College from 1963-67, Donna was part of the Warrior Women's Athletic Association or "Warriorettes" as they were called in the yearbook. She played women's basketball when it was a six-on-six "activity" and not recognized by the KCAC as a sport.

"By the way, we won all the time," Donna said.

Her sentiment, although not entirely wrong, is hard to prove as records of activities were not well kept. However, according to the 1963 yearbook the team was 14-2 while a 1965 yearbook noted that the Warriorettes were 5-2 defeating Marymount (34-17), Bethel twice (32-31, 38-33), McPherson (20-19) and Fort Hays (35-33).

Donna and Ywain are the parents of another Sterling College Hall of Famer, Rene (Zimmerman) Wilson who attending Sterling College from 1991-95 where she played basketball and ran track. Rene has been inducted into the Hall of Fame three times as she was a member of the 1992-93 women's basketball team that was the first to win a KCAC Championship and also the first team to go to the NAIA National Tournament, she was also a member of the 1992 Outdoor Track and Field Team which was also the first to win a KCAC Championship where she was named the Most Valuable Performer, she was also inducted individually in 2006.

Rene is the most decorated athlete in the family with 13 individual KCAC Track and Field Championships. She was a three-time conference champion in four different events: high jump, long jump, triple jump and 100m hurdles. Rene was also a three-time Outstanding Female Athlete at the KCAC Conference Championship.

During her tenure on the track, she broke the indoor school records in the high jump, long jump, triple jump and 60m hurdles and broke the outdoor school records in the high jump, long jump, triple jump, 100m hurdles and was part of a record-breaking 4x100m relay team. Four of her records still stand including her indoor and outdoor high jump records at 1.73m (5-8) and 1.75m (5-9), respectively, her outdoor long jump record at 5.97m (19-7) and her 100m hurdle record at 13.86.

Rene also made noise on the national stage where she was a seven-time NAIA All-American. Following in her father's footsteps, she was named Sterling College's Outstanding Senior Athlete in 1995 and coached track and field at Sterling College from 2001-11.

"Anything and everything I've accomplished is through the gifts, abilities, strengths and opportunities that have been given to me by my savior Jesus," Rene states. "Being on a Christian campus really helped me stay focused on what was important over the wins and losses."

She met and married Dwayne Wilson who attended Sterling College from 1991-94. He is also a Sterling College Hall of Famer for his contributions to the 1992-93 men's basketball team, the first team to win a KCAC Championship. Dwayne also ran track for Sterling where he was a prominent high jumper and 400m hurdler, winning a KCAC Championship in the high jump in 1993 and a runner-up in the 400m hurdles in 1993 and 1994. He also tied the men's outdoor high jump record during his junior season.

"That was one of the reasons I chose Sterling is because they would let you do both," Dwayne commented when asked about being a dual-sport athlete. "Honestly, from an athletic standpoint, the cross training and having multiple ways to express competitiveness was really valuable to me. In fact, back in those days, all the high jump record holders were basketball guys: my brother (Doug Wilson), Brian Ashley had it before him and the guy that broke it after me was a basketball player, (Brandon) Davidson (who still holds the record)."

Dwayne and Rene are the parents of three Sterling College legacy student-athletes: Sydney (Wilson) Stout who competed for the Warriors while earning her master's in Sport Ministry in 2021-22, Taya (Wilson) Smith who attended Sterling College from 2018-23 and Cedric Wilson who is currently a junior on the track and field team.

"I can't give a sport's accomplishment that I'm most proud of because being a wife and mom will always be my greatest accomplishment," Rene said.

During her short time at Sterling, Sydney got to work breaking her mother's indoor track and field records and now holds the indoor long jump record at 5.53m (18-2) and the 60m hurdle record at 8.91. She also racked up her own KCAC Championships winning the 60m hurdles, high jump and long jump in the indoor season and the 100m hurdles and high jump in the outdoor season. She also followed in her mother's footsteps and served as an interim head coach for the Warriors in the 2022-23 indoor season.

Taya was better known for her talents on the basketball court where she was part of a three-peat KCAC Championship team (2020-2021, 2021-22, 2022-23) and a back-to-back KCAC Tournament Championship team (2020-21, 2021-22). She was the KCAC Freshman of the Year (2018-19), KCAC Player of the Year (2022-2023), four-time KCAC All-Defensive team (2018-19, 2020-21, 2021-22 and 2022-23), a WBCA All-American (2023) and broke the school record in career and single season rebounds (1,147 and 347). However, she also had a short career on the track where she set the school record in the pole vault at 3.30m (10-10) and was a KCAC Champion in the 100m hurdles, pole vault and a runner-up in the javelin. Taya also followed in her mother's footsteps and was named Sterling College's Outstanding Senior Athlete (2023).

Cedric came to Sterling College in 2021 and has also found success on the track, breaking the school's indoor high jump record this season with a jump of 1.99m (6-6.25) which was later broken by teammate Charles Jones at the KCAC Indoor Championship. Cedric also finished fourth at the KCAC Indoor Championship in the high jump and looks to improve on that placing in the outdoor season. Needless to say, he's not done yet.

"You have to realize, it's not about what other people have done," Cedric said when talking about the pressure of the generations before him. "If you're always comparing yourself to others you'll always be discouraged. You have to work on yourself; it's you against yourself."

What makes this family's story remarkable isn't just the medals or the records, but the steady thread of faith and purpose running through each generation. Sterling College has long been a place where calling and competition meet, and the Zimmerman/Wilson family embodies that intersection. The campus shaped them, challenged them and ultimately connected them across generations. Their story is proof that a small college can leave a big imprint, not only on a single athlete, but on an entire family tree. Their achievements echo far beyond the track or court—they reflect a legacy built on perseverance, gratitude and the belief that God-given gifts are meant to be used boldly. And as Cedric continues the tradition, it's clear that this story is still being written.