It’s not very often your sibling is a fellow D-1 athlete. It’s even more rare for you both to be in D-1 in the same sport, at the same school. Meet Christian and Haley Goines.
They are brother and sister and members of the IU Track and field team. Haley is a long jumper and hurdler in her sophomore year at IU. Her older brother Christian is a redshirted junior who exclusively competes in the hurdles. Some would say athletics runs in their genes. Their father Monty Goines was a running back for the D-1 football program, Morehead State University. Monty was also their track coach at Center Grove High School, near Indianapolis. Christian and Haley won Co-MVPs of Johnson County, while at Center Grove.
“Everyone was so excited,” said Christian. “My dad was so proud.”
Christian continued his track excellence while at IU. During Christian’s redshirt freshman year, he placed 2nd in the 60m hurdles at the Gladstein Invite and the Tennessee Duals. A tie of 3rd place at the Indiana Relays with a time of 8.32 seconds capped off a great indoor track season. But a stress fracture put a screw in the upcoming outdoor track season. Literally.
“After the injury, they had to put a screw in my foot to help it heal,” said Christian.
A lengthy rehab proved to be worthwhile. Christian’s foot healed in time for him to compete in the 2018-2019 indoor track season. But old roadblocks popped up again-another injury. Over the next recovery period, Christian took up yoga with his girlfriend. He found solace in the ways she helped him through a tough period. He was forced to wear a boot while his foot healed. After being redshirted his freshman year at IU, the re-injured foot began to drain him.
“I broke my foot, completely bent the screw,” said Christian. “It was a little bit harder to get motivated that time.”
But, there was hope. Christian was able to recover in time to accomplish two firsts. One was to compete in his first track meet since the prior indoor track season. The other was to compete in the first track meet with Haley, as college teammates. The 2020 Hoosier Hills indoor competition marked their first meet together since 2017. Christian competed and finished his 60m hurdles competition. Haley placed 2nd in the long jump competition. She would go on to complete a Pentahalon later that indoor season.
The NCAA might have cancelled spring athletics, but they did grant an additional year of eligibility for those same athletes. With Haley only in her sophomore year and Christian looking at being a student-athlete through grad school, the Goines family name will permeate and maybe even dominate IU track and field to start the 2020’s.
