Nele Huth, a multi-event athlete, grew up in Frankfurt am Main, Germany, where, before track, her earliest memory of outside activity came in kindergarten, going to the bathroom in the forest.

“I was in the dirt every day,” Huth said. “We just went to a different place in the forest and spent the whole day there. There was no toilet. Just go to the forest.”

This built up a childhood of trying anything. From soccer, tennis, ballet, judo, and other things, Huth seemed to accidentally brush up against her later most prominent sport.

“Track was actually the last sport I started,” Huth said. “I just went to practice with my best friend … we’re just jumping over boxes, having fun.”

Nele Huth, sophomore multi-event sophomore, competes in the high jump during the 2026 Wes Kittley Invitational. (Photo by Callie Brimberry)

That fun quickly turned to commitment because, unlike schools in America, if you want to play a sport in Germany while in school, you have to find a club system to play for.

For Huth, track always came easily, and after going to practice with her friend and talking to her parents about joining a sport, she learned her father ran track, which grew the love even further. Despite that, what came just as easily as the sport were the injuries.

Huth went through a foot injury, hip injury, torn tendons, among other things, consistently having her sidelined, at times facing surgery that would cause her to lose her ability to walk. The injuries took a toll not just physically but mentally, while going through depression and an eating disorder.

“I had like so many injuries … and I was like, ‘OK, should I quit,’” she said.

Instead of quitting, her life shifted into a break, stepping away from the track for nearly 10 months while traveling around Europe.

“That trip helped me so much because I completely lost connection to like reality and to all my problems,” she said.

When she returned from her trip, she made the spontaneous decision to get back into things, go to the United States and try to give track another chance. While researching agencies, she applied for one and did not tell anyone.

“I signed up for the agency without telling my parents,” Huth said, “but they got an email. That’s how they found out.”

The ball started rolling from there and with the support of her parents, the countless calls and conversations with coaches around the world landed her at ACU.

“I got here … and I literally didn’t know anyone,” she said. “Different country … didn’t know the coaches … didn’t know anyone here.”

That also came courtesy of a program change where new staff were implemented after her recruitment, before she arrived on campus.

Associate Head Coach Anthony Acklin said when he first met Huth, he was not sure what she would be like, but that quickly changed.

“She works hard … does whatever I ask her to do,” Acklin said.

That work ethic stems from Huth rediscovering what she had been missing.

“I got here, started practice, really enjoyed it, because I finally had a team again,” she said.

Her mindset shifted. The pressure was gone, replaced by joy.

“If you see me competing, I’m just like smiling like a little kid,” she said. “I’m just happy.”

Part of the reason to be happy is helping others through hard times as well, which she said she feels is a big way she connects with her teammates, which her coach seconds.

“She’s very supportive of [her teammates] and cheering everyone on, making sure everyone is doing everything they can to get better,” Acklin said. “We need more like her.”

Outside of the leadership role, the success comes on the track as well, including a recent school women’s indoor pentathlon record at the Western Athletic Conference Championships. But for Huth, that is not the greatest victory, but instead appreciating the chance to move forward.

“It’s like a new chapter now,” she said. “The old chapter with depression, injuries, just everything is just over … It is a new chapter I can start writing.”

Huth said she looks back on the moment and stands firm in her own personal conviction: never quit.