The 2026 Kansas Collegiate Athletic Conference (KCAC) Outdoor Track & Field Championships was held Thursday, April 30 and Friday, May 1 at Adair-Austin Stadium, on the campus of Friends University, in Wichita, Kan. The team titles went to Friends University (Men) and the University of Saint Mary (Women). The following is a meet recap written by meet announcer and long-time contributor to the KCAC, Carol Swenson.
2026 KCAC Outdoor Track & Field Championships Recap
By Carol R Swenson, Meet Announcer
May 4, 2026
The 2026 KCAC Outdoor Track & Field Championships found new champions in both divisions as the University of Saint Mary women and Friends University men took home the KCAC Outdoor Track & Field championship banners!
Pre-meet predictions called for the team championship races in both division’s to have at least four teams battling for the championship banners. The Saint Mary women led after the first day and held on for their fifth team championship in six years, a 13-point win over Friends, while the Falcons’ men used their strong, second day depth to overtake the Spires men for Friends’ first men’s outdoor team win since 2016.
The meet saw the women post six new meet records in five events while the men altered the meet record book twice. The first meet came in the women’s Hammer Throw as Abby Green (Friends) became the first ever, four-time winner in the event with a throw of 176’1” (53.94m). The meet record in the women’s 100m Hurdles fell twice as Gabriela Millan (Friends) lowered the record to 14.19 in the preliminaries only to have JayOnna Perry (Ottawa) win the finals for a third straight year, bettering Millan’s time with a new meet record of 13.75. Tiyna Ridge (Friends) picked up a pair of meet records during Friday’s finals, winning both the 100m and 200m Dashes in meet record fashion as she crossed the finish in 11.37 and 23.66, respectively. The final meet record on the women’s side came in the 4x100m Relay as Ottawa lowered its own meet record from last year with a time of 46.24.
Both new meet records on the men’s side came on Friday as Dylan Brice (Bethany) closed out the field event portion of the meet with a 2026 NAIA-leading, meet record of 16’8.75” (5.10m), erasing a 10-year old KCAC record. The final meet record in the men’s program came as Friends men set a new record in the 4x100m Relay with a time of 41.10.
Multiple individual event winners seemed to be the theme of the meet as Perry was the only individual to win three events, taking the 400m Dash as well as both the 100m Hurdles and 400m Hurdles. Also on the track, Ridge swept the 100m and 200m Dashes while Josie Tyrrell (Saint Mary) swept the 5,000m and 10,000m Runs.
In addition to Green’s four-year sweep of the women’s Hammer Throw, Perry’s win in the 400m Hurdles made her only the second woman ever to win that event four times (equaling the 2015-2018 sweep of the long hurdles by Southwestern’s Taylor Needham). Perry’s win in the 100m Hurdles marked her third straight win in that event.
Winning a second individual in their respective events were Ridge (100m Dash), Carly Holadia (Saint Mary) in 1,500m Run, Josie Tyrrell (SaintMary) in the 5,000m Run, Delaney Miller (Evangel) in the High Jump, Abby Beets (Evangel) in the Pole Vault (’24 and ’26), and April Phillips (Evangel) in Triple Jump (’24 and ’26).
The men saw three multiple individual-event winners, all from McPherson College, as Marcellus Linton won the 100m and 200m Dashes, Brian Fackert the 800m and 1,500m Runs, and Lamar Gordon the Shot Put and Discus Throws. Men winning an individual event for a second time in their KCAC career were Benjamin Ipock (Evangel) in the 400m Hurdles, Brice in the Pole Vault, and Gordon in the Discus Throw.
Meet marks ranking among the NAIA’s top 10 for 2026 were Ridge (#4) and Morgan Lilly (Evangel - #7) in the 100m Dash, Ridge (#2) and Roy'Janae Brown (Ottawa - #7) in the 200m Dash, Perry (#5) in 400m Dash and (tied for #3) in the 100m Hurdles, Miller (tied for #4) in the High Jump, Phillips (tied for #7) in the Triple Jump, and Ottawa’s women (#10) in the 4x100m Relay. On the men’s side, Linton (#5) in 200m Dash, Tyler Holmes (Saint Mary - tied for #10) in the Long Jump, Gordon (#5) in the Shot Put and (#6) in the Discus, along with Koltyn Kaniper (Tabor - #6) in the Javelin would qualify for top 10 NAIA rankings.
At the conclusion of the meet, JayOnna Perry (Ottawa) was named the women’s Overall Athlete of the Meet for a fourth time, a first in conference outdoor meet history. Perry also won the Women's Track Athlete of the Meet award, while there was a tie for the Women's Field Athlete of the Meet award between Cara Shultz of McPherson and April Phillips of Evangel. On the men's side, Lamar Gordon (McPherson) took home the men’s Overall Athlete of the Meet award and the men's Field Athlete of the Meet award, while teammate Marcellus Linton was named the Men's Track Athlete of the Meet.
Complete meet results can be seen here.
FINAL TEAM SCORES
WOMEN
1. Saint Mary - 179
2. Friends - 166
3. Evangel - 149.5
4. Kansas Wesleyan - 107
5. Ottawa - 84
T6. Tabor - 37
T6. McPherson - 37
8. Bethel - 24
9. Sterling 12.5
10. York - 11
T11. Bethany - 2
T11. Southwestern - 2
MEN
1. Friends - 175
2. Saint Mary - 154.5
3. Evangel - 141.5
4. Kansas Wesleyan - 103
5. McPherson - 73
6. Ottawa - 53.5
7. Sterling - 31
8. Bethany - 28
9. Tabor - 24
10. Oklahoma Wesleyan - 16
11. Bethel - 8
12. York - 6.5
13. Southwestern - 5
INDIVIDUAL AWARDS
KCAC Women’s Outdoor Track & Field Athlete of the Meet: JayOnna Perry (Ottawa) [4th straight]
KCAC Women’s Track Athlete of the Meet: JayOnna Perry (Ottawa)
KCAC Women’s Co-Field Athletes of the Meet: Cara Shultz (McPherson) & April Phillips (Evangel)
KCAC Women’s Outdoor Track & Field Coach of the Year: Alstin Benton (Saint Mary)
KCAC Women’s Outdoor Track & Field Assistant Coach of the Year: K’Ron Sherald (Friends)
KCAC Men’s Outdoor Track & Field Athlete of the Meet: Lamar Gordon (McPherson)
KCAC Men’s Track Athlete of the Meet: Marcellus Linton (McPherson)
KCAC Men’s Field Athlete of the Meet: Lamar Gordon (McPherson)
KCAC Men’s Outdoor Track & Field Coach of the Year: Henry Brun (Friends)
KCAC Men’s Outdoor Track & Field Assistant Coach of the Year: Nolan Ryan (Saint Mary)
MEET RECORDS SET
Women (Six Record-Breaking Performances in Five Events)
- 100m Dash
- Tiyna Ridge (Friends) 11.37
- Old Record: 11.80, Gretchen Raney (Saint Mary) 2023
- 200m Dash
- Tiyna Ridge (Friends) 23.66
- Old Record: 23.92, Corrssia Perry (Sterling) 2022
- 100m Hurdles
- JayOnna Perry (Ottawa) 13.75
- Old Record: 14.19p, Gabriela Millan (Friends) 2026
- Gabriela Millan (Friends) 14.19p
- Old Record: 14.22, Keiana Newman (Friends) 2023
- Hammer Throw
- Abby Green (Friends) 53.94m/176’11
- Old Record: 52.92m/173’7, Bryanna Music (Ottawa) 2016
- 4x100m Relay
- Ottawa 46.24
- Old Record: 46.65, Ottawa 2025
Men (Two Record-Breaking Performances)
- 4x100m Relay
- Friends 41.10
- Old Record: 41.13, Ottawa 2024
- Pole Vault
- Dylan Brice (Bethany) 5.10m/16’8.75
- Old Record: 5.05m/16’6.75, Art Hop (McPherson) 2016
INDIVIDUAL EVENT WINNERS
WOMEN
- 3 - JayOnna Perry (Ottawa)
- 400m Dash
- 100m Hurdles MR [3rd straight]
- 400m Hurdles [4th straight]
- 2 - Tiyna Ridge (Friends)
- 100m Dash [2nd straight] MR
- 200m Dash MR
- 2 - Josie Tyrrell (Saint Mary)
- 5,000m Run [2nd straight],
- 10,000m Run
- Fien Molenberg (Friends) 800m Run
- Carly Holadia (Saint Mary) 1,500m Run [2nd straight]
- Abigail White (Saint Mary) 3k Steeplechase
- Delaney Miller (Evangel) High Jump [2nd straight]
- Abby Beets (Friends) Pole Vault [2nd – 2023/2026]
- Aneesa Sheppard (Friends) Long Jump
- April Phillips (Friends) Triple Jump [2nd – 2023/2026]
- Cara Shultz (McPherson) Shot Put
- Katy Soucek (York) Discus Throw
- Abby Green (Friends) Hammer Throw MR [4th straight]
- Keeley Barnard (Saint Mary) Javelin Throw
- Ottawa 4x100m Relay MR [2nd straight]
- Friends 4x400m Relay
- Kansas Wesleyan 4x800m Relay
MEN
- 2 - Marcellus Linton (McPherson)
- 2 - Brian Fackert (McPherson)
- 2 - Lamar Gordon (McPherson)
- Daniel Castello (Friends) 400m Dash
- Ethan Montgomery (Evangel) 5,000m Run
- Jake Cruz (Kansas Wesleyan) 10,000m Run
- Omarion Udell (Saint Mary) 110m Hurdles
- Benjamin Ipock (Evangel) 400m Hurdles [2nd straight]
- Prince Ntozo (SaintMary) 3k Steeplechase
- Gage Burk (Bethany) High Jump
- Dylan Brice (Bethany) Pole Vault MR [2nd straight]
- Tyler Holmes (Saint Mary) Long Jump
- Daniel Blount (Ottawa) Triple Jump
- Julian Winters (Friends) Hammer Throw
- Koltyn Kaniper (Tabor) Javelin Throw
- Friends 4x100m Relay MR [2nd straight]
- Saint Mary 4x400m Relay
- Friends 4x800m Relay
—KCAC—