Karen (Way) Gaita, a former NCAA high jump champion and 1991 graduate of ESU, is in her 28th season as an assistant coach for the Warriors during the 2024-25 academic year.
Gaita is regarded as one of the nation's most knowledgeable jumping coaches and has coached 23 PSAC Champions, 17 All-Americans and 24 national qualifiers since 2001.
At the 2024 PSAC Outdoor Championships, Aaron Sanchez became the 23rd PSAC champion under Gaita as the junior secured the high jump title. Prior to the that, ESU returned to the top of the podium for the first time in five years in the high jump as Carlos Pepin captured the crown at the 2021 PSAC Outdoor Championships.
ESU continued its long run of PSAC success in the high jump under Gaita in 2017-18, with the Warriors combining for six top-eight finishes at the conference’s Indoor and Outdoor Championships. Junior Carly Gregas led the way individually, placing tied for third and earning All-PSAC status at both championship meets. Gaita’s daughter, Aspen, also had strong showings in the high jump while earning first team All-America accolades in the pentathlon (6th, indoors) and heptathlon (6th, outdoors). Aspen has broken seven ESU records in her first two years with the program.
Gaita is a two-time recipient of the USTFCCCA Atlantic Region Women's Indoor Assistant Coach of the Year, earning recognition in 2014 and 2015.
The ESU men won 7 of 10 PSAC high jump titles from 2012-16, with three different athletes taking conference championships - William Berry (2014, 2015 and 2016 outdoor; 2016 indoor), Seth Bailey (2013 outdoor, 2014 indoor) and Kyle Soden (2012 indoor).
Berry earned second team All-America honors outdoors in 2015 and indoors in 2016, and he was ESU's first seven-foot jumper, clearing 7-0 1/2 at Kutztown in January 2016. Bailey, meanwhile, was ranked third nationally indoors in 2014.
ESU's women also won 9 of 12 PSAC championships in the high jump from 2010-15, with Christina O'Connor winning five (including four straight in 2014 and 2015), and Lynn Mayer sweeping four straight in 2010 and 2011.
O'Connor finished her career as a four-time All-American and five-time national qualifier. She was the USTFCCCA Women's Indoor Field Athlete of the Year as a senior in 2015, winning the PSAC title and tying a conference record with a mark of 5-10 that was originally set in 1977.
Mayer, a 2011 graduate, was a six-time All-American to break Gaita's school record of four All-America honors. She was the national runner-up indoors and tied for third outdoors as a senior, tied for second indoors and tied for third outdoors in 2010 and also earned two All-America honors as a freshman in 2008.
Janelle Smith, a 2010 graduate, was a four-time national qualifier and Leslie Martin was an All-American indoors in the high jump and outdoors in the heptathlon in 2008.
In 2010, Gaita coached nine of the 16 PSAC placewinners in the women's high jump, as Mayer won both titles and Smith was the outdoor runner-up.
Gaita was a four-time All-American at ESU and won the high jump at the 1991 NCAA Division II Outdoor Track and Field Championships with a leap of 5-9. She finished second in the 1991 NCAA indoor and 1990 outdoor meets and tied for fifth in the 1990 indoor meet. She also won three PSAC and five ECAC titles and is the ESU record holder at 5-10 outdoors and tied for second at 5-9 1/4 indoors. She qualified for the 1996 and 2000 U.S. Olympic trials and has a career best of 6-1 1/4.
Gaita, also a former coach at Army, is a teacher in the Easton School District. She and her husband, Brian, have three daughters - Aspen, Riley and Giana.
Recent PSAC Championships by ESU High Jumpers
2024 outdoor - Aaron Sanchez
2021 outdoor - Carlos Pepin
2016 outdoor - William Berry
2016 indoor - William Berry
2015 outdoor - William Berry
2014 outdoor - William Berry
2014 indoor - Seth Bailey
2013 outdoor - Seth Bailey
2012 indoor - Kyle Soden
2004 indoor - Mike Newhard
2003 indoor - Mike Newhard
2002 outdoor - Brad Fees
2002 indoor - Mike Newhard
2001 outdoor - Mike Newhard
2015 outdoor - Christina O'Connor
2015 indoor - Christina O'Connor
2014 outdoor - Christina O'Connor
2014 indoor - Christina O'Connor
2013 indoor - Christina O'Connor
2011 outdoor - Lynn Mayer
2011 indoor - Lynn Mayer
2010 outdoor - Lynn Mayer
2010 indoor - Lynn Mayer
ECAC Indoor Championships
2001 - Brad Fees
2001 - Shavanna Ross
Recent NCAA Qualifiers by ESU High Jumpers (All-Americans bold)
2016 indoor - William Berry
2015 outdoor - William Berry
2014 outdoor - William Berry
2014 indoor - Seth Bailey
2013 outdoor - Seth Bailey
2003 indoor - Mike Newhard, Brad Fees
2002 indoor - Mike Newhard
2001 outdoor - Mike Newhard
2015 outdoor - Christina O'Connor
2015 indoor - Christina O'Connor
2014 outdoor - Christina O'Connor
2014 indoor - Christina O'Connor
2013 indoor - Christina O'Connor
2011 outdoor - Lynn Mayer
2011 indoor - Lynn Mayer
2010 outdoor - Lynn Mayer, Janelle Smith
2010 indoor - Lynn Mayer
2009 outdoor - Lynn Mayer, Janelle Smith
2008 outdoor - Lynn Mayer, Janelle Smith
2008 indoor - Lynn Mayer, Janelle Smith
2007 outdoor - Leslie Martin
2007 indoor - Leslie Martin
2001 outdoor - Shavanna Ross
2001 indoor - Shavanna Ross
