By Chris Chavez
September 20, 2023
Rising track and field stars Sadie Engelhardt, Quincy Wilson, Tinoda Matsatsa, Daniel Simmons and Ali Ince have been announced as New Balance’s latest name, image and likeness signings.
"We are so excited to continue growing the sport through our NIL partnerships with some of the most talented young athletes in the country," Pete Riley, Head of Running Sports Marketing at New Balance, says. "All five of these athletes were New Balance National Champions this past year, which truly makes these partnerships a full circle moment. With a mix of high school and college athletes across a variety of events, we're thrilled they’re a part of the New Balance family and can’t wait to see where they take the sport of track & field in the future.
Here’s what you need to know:
– New Balance made its first splash in the NIL space by signing Stanford’s Roisin Willis in July before she competed at the U.S. Outdoor Track and Field Championships. The brand also signed Stanford women's basketball senior Cameron Brink to a deal in August.
– New Balance’s new additions will share their own input and insights into future product development, wear test gear and will be outfitted in the company’s footwear and apparel all throughout the year. They may also make appearances at New Balance events and share posts on social media promoting the brand.
Sadie Engelhardt
Meet the new signees:
– Sadie Engelhardt is only a junior at Ventura High School (CA) but has already posted times among the best in U.S. high school history. As a sophomore, she won the New Balance Nationals titles in the indoor and outdoor mile. She became the first California high school girl to win state titles in the 800- and 1600-meter runs in the same season.
Quincy Wilson
– At 15 years old, Quincy Wilson makes history as one of the youngest high school athletes to sign an NIL deal with a major sportswear company. As a freshman at the Bullis School (MD), he ran 45.87 for 400m at the U.S. Outdoor Track and Field U20 Championships. He was the New Balance Nationals Indoor 400m champion.
Tinoda Matsatsa
– Tinoda Matsatsa is entering his freshman year at Georgetown University. He made the most of his senior year at St. Andrew's Episcopal High School (MD) by winning the New Balance Nationals Indoor and Outdoor 800m titles. His personal best of 1:47.61 put him at No. 8 on the all-time U.S. high school boys 800m list. He also ran 3:58.70 for the mile to become the first African-American high school boy to break four minutes for the mile.
Daniel Simmons
– American Fork (UT) senior Daniel Simmons is heading into the 2023 cross country season as one of the favorites to claim a national title. During the 2023 outdoor track season, he was the New Balance Nationals Indoor runner-up in the 5000m with a personal best of 13:59.96 and then claimed the New Balance Nationals Outdoor two-mile title in 8:41.23.
Ali Ince
– Normal Community High School (IL) junior Ali Ince is one to watch in the 800m in 2023-2024 as the reigning New Balance Nationals Indoor champion. She boasts a personal best of 2:03.98 and qualified for the Pan American U20 Championships, where she finished fourth.
Here’s what they said:
– Ali Ince: “It’s super exciting. Meeting with the people from New Balance has been amazing. They’ve been so welcoming. You can just look at who the New Balance athletes are on the track and they’re just such great role models and I’ve looked up to them my whole life. To be welcomed into that family is a dream.”
– Tinoda Matsatsa: “When it was first brought up to me, it was a big surprise. There wasn’t much talk before or anything hinting that this would happen. I had never heard of a high school athlete getting an NIL deal with New Balance so I’m glad I get to be one of the first few people to do so.”
NCAA Track and Field NIL Stars
NIL entered the collegiate landscape in 2021 and allows student-athletes to earn compensation with a brand while levering their name, image and likeness through marketing or promotional content.
Engelhardt, Wilson, Matsatsa, Simmons and Ince are just the latest high school and NCAA track and field star to sign an NIL deal with a major sportswear company.
NC State’s Katelyn Tuohy (Adidas) was the first before fellow NCAA cross country champion Charles Hicks signed an NIL deal with Nike.
Other top NCAA runners with NIL agreements include Florida’s Parker Valby (Nike), Notre Dame’s Olivia Markezich (On), and Stanford’s Roisin Willis (New Balance), Ky Robinson (On) and Juliette Whittaker (On). Lake Oswego High School star Mia Brahe-Pedersen signed an NIL deal with Nike before making the U.S. Outdoor Championships final in the 100m.
Last week, U.S. high school 100m record holder Shawnti Jackson signed an NIL deal with Brooks before the start of her freshman year at Arkansas.
Chris Chavez
Chris Chavez launched CITIUS MAG in 2016 as a passion project while working full-time for Sports Illustrated. He covered the 2016 Olympics in Rio de Janeiro and grew his humble blog into a multi-pronged media company. He completed all six World Marathon Majors and is an aspiring sub-five-minute miler.
