The KCAC indoor track and field championships moved to a new location in 2024.  For the first time in its history, the conference schools gathered in the state of Nebraska on the campus of the College of Saint Mary in Omaha.  The athletes of the KCAC found the 200m flat track located in the Lied Fitness Center to their liking, as they set 12 new conference indoor meet records (8 women; 4 men) and posted 70 NAIA national championships qualifying marks (42 women; 28 men) over the two days of competition.  Of the new meet records set, five were broken or tied by multiple individuals including the women’s 60m Dash, 5,000m Run, and Distance Medley Relay, and men’s 4x800m Relay, each twice, while the old record in the men’s 1,000m Run was buried by an avalanche of six finishers.

The chase for the team title in both divisions came down to two-team battles as the University of Saint Mary women won their second straight title as they topped KCAC newcomer Evangel University, 180 to 138, while in the men’s division Friends built a large first day lead, powered by their strength in the field events to break the University of Saint Mary men’s two-year winning streak, 188 to 154.
 

Multiple winners were the name of the game as five women and three men went home with more than one individual gold medal.  
 

Multiple individual event champions on the women’s side included: Delaney Weimer (Evangel) winning the 60m and 200m, Maddy Walter-Sherretts (Saint Mary) the 600m and 800m, and Candice Jones (York) the Shot Put and Weight Throw.  Winning three individual events were Reagan Hiebert (Saint Mary) and April Phillips (Evangel).  Hiebert ran away with the 1-Mile, 3,000m and 5,000m Runs, while Phillips won three field events: the High Jump, Long Jump and Triple Jump.
 

Men winning multiple individual event titles were: Luis Perez (Saint Mary), winner of the 800m and 1,000m Runs, Ryan Stade (Tabor) sweeping the 3,000m and 5,000m Runs, and Mikkel Tarver (Friends) taking home gold in the Long Jump and Triple Jump.  Stade’s win in the 5,000m broke a string of nine straight wins by a Spire of Saint Mary in that event.
 

New KCAC Meet Records:

Women

• 60m Dash: 7.61 by Gretchen Raney (Saint Mary) in the preliminaries, which was tied by Delaney Weimer (Evangel) in the finals.
• 1,000m Run: 3:00.06 by Madisyn Ehrlich (Kansas Wesleyan).
• 3,000m Run: 10:17.11 by Reagan Hiebert (Saint Mary).
• 5,000m Run: 17:44.47 by Reagan Hiebert (Saint Mary).  Old record also bettered by Josie Tyrrell (Saint Mary).
• 60m Hurdles: 8.64 by Mariah Fede (McPherson)
• 4x800m Relay: 9:27.33 by University of Saint Mary.
• Distance Medley Relay: 12:28.61 by Kansas Wesleyan.  Old record also bettered by Evangel.

Men

• 1,000m Run: 2:27.73 by Luis Perez (Saint Mary).  Old record also bettered by Carter Huyser (Kansas Wesleyan), Dillon Callaway (Tabor), Liam Neidig (Saint Mary), Julian Avila (Kansas Wesleyan), and Jonah Godina (Saint Mary).
• 4x800m Relay: 7:46.38 by Kansas Wesleyan.  Old record also bettered by the University of Saint Mary.
• High Jump: 2.15m/7’0.5” by Vance Shewey (Tabor)
• Triple Jump: 14.57m/47’9.75” by Mikkel Tarver (Friends)

Team Scores

Women 
1. Saint Mary 180
2. Evangel 138
3. Friends 86.5
4. Ottawa 81.5
5. Tabor 66
6. York 65
7. Kansas Wesleyan 43
8. McPherson 32
9. Bethel 31
10 (tie). Southwestern and Bethany 8.

Men
1. Friends 188
2. Saint Mary 154
3. Kansas Wesleyan 95
4. Evangel 69
5. Tabor 63
6. Ottawa 59
7. Bethany 35
8. York 33
9. Bethel 21
10. McPherson 17
 

Individual Awards

• Athlete of the Meet: 
  • Women – (tie) April Phillips (Evangel) and Reagan Hiebert (Saint Mary)
  • Men – Inioluwa Ojo (Bethany); 2nd straight year
• Field Events Athlete of the Meet
  • Women – April Phillips (Evangel)
  • Men – Mikkel Tarver (Friends)
• Track Events Athlete of the Meet:
  • Women – Reagan Hiebert (Saint Mary)
  • Men – Domonic Atkinstall (Ottawa)
• Coach of the Year:
  • Women – Brandon Staley (Evangel)
  • Men – Henry Brun (Friends)
• Assistant Coach of the Year:
  • Women – Joshua Saak (Evangel)
  • Men – (tie) Trevor Biedron (Friends) and Nolan Ryan (Saint Mary)

Complete results can be found here.