Indoor Track and Field

2026 KCAC Indoor Track & Field Championships Event Preview

KANSAS — The 2026 Kansas Collegiate Athletic Conference (KCAC) Indoor Track & Field Championships will be held Friday, February 13 and Saturday, February 14 at the Heskett Center, on the campus of Wichita State University, in Wichita, Kan. The following is a meet preview written by meet announcer and long-time contributor to the KCAC, Carol Swenson.
 


2026 KCAC Indoor Track & Field Championships Preview

By Carol R Swenson, Meet Announcer

February 10, 2026 (Written Prior to Entry Deadline)

The 15th edition of the KCAC Indoor Track & Field Championships will return to Wichita, Kan., for a Friday-Saturday competition on the Heskett Center 200-meter flat track of the on the campus of Wichita State University.

The 2025 Championships saw the Kansas Wesleyan University men win their first ever KCAC Indoor men’s title while the University of Saint Mary women won their third straight team title.  

The 2026 meet will see action get underway at 10:00 a.m. on Friday with the men’s Shot Put and Long Jump, with the women’s portion to follow.  The women’s Pole Vault will begin at 10:30 a.m. with the men’s vault to follow.  Track events on Friday are scheduled to begin at 5:00 p.m. with the preliminaries of the 60-meter Hurdles followed by the preliminaries of the 60-meter Dash.  All track events will be women’s followed by men’s. The first final on the track will be the 5,000-meter Runs, scheduled for 5:50 p.m. on Friday, followed by the finals in the 4x800m Relays.  Friday’s competition will wrap up with the preliminaries in the 200-meter Dashes scheduled for 7:30 p.m.

Saturday’s action will begin at 9:45 a.m. with the men’s Weight Throw and Triple Jump with the women’s portion to follow.  Finals in the women’s High Jump will begin at 10:00 a.m. with the men’s portion to follow. All track events on Saturday, beginning at 3:45 p.m., will be finals only. Opening Saturday’s track events will be the 600-meter Runs.  Action will wrap up with the women’s and then men’s 4x400m Relays at approximately 8:30 p.m.  The 2026 KCAC Indoor Track & Field Championships will wrap up with the presentation of all individual and team awards along with recognition for the meet’s outstanding athletes and coaches’ awards following the 4x400m Relays.
 


The women’s competition will be headlined by the possible return of two double-event winners from last season: Autumn Nold (Evangel, 400m & 600m) and Carly Holadia (Saint Mary, 800m & 1,000m. Single event winners Josie Tyrrell (Saint Mary, 1-Mile), Delaney Miller (Evangel, High Jump), Aaliyah Ramirez (Friends, Pole Vault), and Kara Alexander (McPherson, Shot Put) are also eligible to return and defend their 2025 titles.

On the men’s side, six men are eligible to return and defend single championships from last season including Domonic Atkinstall (Ottawa, 60m), Wyatt Johnson (Kansas Wesleyan, 600m), Carter Giittinger (Friends, Pole Vault), Damon Scott (Friends, Long Jump), Charles Jones (Sterling, Triple Jump), and Keegan Lott (Kansas Wesleyan, Shot Put).
 


The NAIA Indoor National rankings by the USTFCCCA on February 3 had the Friends University women as the KCAC leader, holding the #15 position.  Ottawa University women had moved up to #34, just ahead of the University of Saint Mary women ranked #35, with Evangel ranked #39 nationally.  When comparing only marks by athletes from KCAC schools, Saint Mary is a slight favorite to take home the team title, with Friends, Kansas Wesleyan, and Evangel the other contenders.

On the men’s side in the USTFCCCA National rankings, Friends is leading the way at #39, followed by Ottawa at #50, and Kansas Wesleyan #60.  In the battle for the KCAC men’s team title, the USTCCCA predicts Friends will make a return to the winners circle, with Kansas Wesleyan and Saint Mary in a close battle for second, followed by Evangel, Ottawa, and McPherson.

Still, it comes down to who can fit the necessary pieces together to garner the points necessary for the KCAC title!
 

National Qualifiers &/or Top 20 Nationally ranked (as of February 10).  

NQ – Non-NAIA Qualifying KCAC Leader; NS – Doesn’t meet either National Qualifying Standard

Qualifying times listed are based on 300m Flat/200m Banked tracks (*Times to 200m Flat.)

WOMEN

  • 60m
    • 2t. Tiyna Ridge (Friends) 7.40 A
  • 200m
    • 20. Roy’Janae Brown (Ottawa) 24.86 (25.24*) B
  • 400m
    • 10t. JayOnna Perry (Ottawa)  56.68 (57.43*) B
    • 13t. Deslyne Cooper (Saint Mary)  56.93 (57.68*) B
  • 600m
    • 4. Fien Molenberg (Friends) 1:33.21 (1:34.35*) A
    • 6. Autumn Nold (Evangel) 1:33.69 (1:34.83*) A
  • 800m
    • 10. Fien Molenberg (Friends)  2:14.37 (2:15.92*) A
  • 1,000m
    • 18. Carly Holadia (Saint Mary)  2:59.31 (3:01.26*) B
  • 1-Mile
    • 13. Josie Tyrrell (Saint Mary)  5:04.80 (5:07.81*) NS
  • 3,000m
    • 6. Josie Tyrrell (Saint Mary)  9:58.11 (10:03.23*) B
  • 5,000m
    • 13. Josie Tyrrell (Saint Mary)  17:37.25 (17:46.31*) B
  • 60m Hurdles
    • 17t. JayOna Perry (Ottawa)  8.81 B
  • 4x400m Relay
    • 19. Saint Mary  3:56.92 (4:00.06*) B
  • 4x800m Relay
    • NQ Tabor  10:11.51 (10:18.56*) 
  • Distance Medley
    • 6. Saint Mary  12:15.42 (12:23.29*) B
    • 20. Tabor  12:47.56 (12:55.78*) NS
  • High Jump
    • 4t. Delaney Miller (Evangel)  1.70m/5’7” A
    • 11t. Belle Barnett (Sterling)  1.66m/5’5.25” B
    • 11t. April Phillips (Evangel)  1.66m/5’5.25” B
  • Pole Vault
    • 10. Aaliyah Ramirez (Friends)  3.70m/12’1.5” A
    • 19t. Isabella Garito (Friends)  3.55m/11’7.75” B
  • Long Jump
    • 6t. JayOnna Perry (Ottawa)  5.83m/19-1.5” A
    • 15. Aneesa Sheppard (Friends)  5.71m/18’9” B
  • Triple Jump
    • 3. Aneesa Sheppard (Friends)  12.08m/39’7.75” A
    • 6. April Phillips (Evangel)  11.82m/38’9.5” B
  • Shot Put
    • NQ Aiyanna Green (Friends)  12.59m/41’3.75”
  • Weight Throw
    • 8. Javon Joyner (McPherson)  17.61m/57’9.5” A
    • 18t. Abby Green (Friends)  16.66m/54’8” B
  • Pentathlon
    • 5. JayOnna Perry (Ottawa)  3429

MEN

  • 60m
    • NQ Kristian Paronto (Kansas Wesleyan)  6.90
  • 200m
    • 14. Domonic Atkinstall (Ottawa)  21.54 (21.92*) B
  • 400m
    • NQ Wilson LeGrande (Ottawa)  49.68 (50.51*)
  • 600m
    • NQ Spencer Hines (Friends)  1:21.22 (1:22.44*)
  • 800m
    • 9. Wyatt Johnson (Kansas Wesleyan)  1:52.59 (1:54.20*) NS
  • 1,000m
    • 11. Wyatt Johnson (Kansas Wesleyan)  2:27.77 (2:29.80*) B
  • 1-Mile
    • NQ   Brian Fackert (McPherson)  4:15.23 (4:18.48*) 
  • 3,000m
    • NQ Damion Jackson (Kansas Wesleyan)  8:42.25 (8:48.32*)
  • 5,000m
    • 22. Damion Jackson (Kansas Wesleyan)  14:53.31 (15:02.88*) NS
  • 60m Hurdles
    • NQ Omarion Udell (Saint Mary)  8.37
  • 4x400m Relay
    • 18. Friends  3:17.72 (3:20.87*) B
  • 4x800m Relay
    • NQ Friends  8:31.99 (8:39.31)
  • Distance Medley
    • NQ Kansas Wesleyan  10:19.68 (10:28.09*) 
  • High Jump
    • 3. Daniel Blout (Ottawa) 2.09m/6’10.25” A
    • 18t. Peyton Ligon (Evangel)  2.03m/6’7.75” NS
  • Pole Vault
    • NQ Dylan Brice (Bethany)  4.55m/14’11”
  • Long Jump
    • 19t. Charles Jones (Sterling)  7.17m/23’6.25” B
    • 25. Payton Willits (Friends)  7.13m/23’4.75“ B
  • Triple Jump
    • 11t. Charles Jones (Sterling)  14.63m/48’0” B
  • Shot Put
    • 16. Lamar Gordon (McPherson)  16.17m/53’0.75” B
  • Weight Throw
    • 9. Julian Winters (Friends)  18.42m/60’5.25” B 
    • 12. Lamar Gordon (McPherson)  17.99m/59’0.25” B
    • 21. Blake Robertson (Sterling)  17.70m/58’1” B
  • Heptathlon
    • 4. Carter Giittinger (Friends)  5129 (5104*)
    • 20. Braxton Baker (Evangel)  4521
 
—KCAC—