ARLINGTON, Texas — Tarleton State Men's Track and Field earned its first-ever conference team championship, winning the 2026 WAC Outdoor Track and Field Championships spanning from Thursday to Saturday at Maverick Stadium.

For the first time in program history in any conference, the Tarleton State Men's Track and Field won a conference title. The men clinched the 2026 WAC title scoring 200 points, beating out runner-up Utah Valley by 23 points. The men are the first of either the men's or women's programs to win an outdoor WAC title. The men join the women as conference champions after the women's squad won the indoor title earlier this season. Men's Track & Field is the seventh Tarleton State program this season to win a WAC tournament or regular season title joining: Baseball, Football, Tennis, Women's Golf, Men's Golf and Women's Indoor Track & Field.

"This championship means a lot because of what both of our teams poured into this season," said head coach Bobby Carter. "I'm incredibly proud of our men for the way they responded, competed, and earned the WAC title with toughness and unity from start to finish. I'm equally proud of our women for battling to a runner-up finish and showing tremendous heart all weekend long. Nothing was handed to either group! They earned every point through hard work, belief, and commitment to one another. We're grateful for this moment, but we also know there's still more ahead for this program."

Along with the men's squad posting their best outdoor team performance as members of the WAC, the women also finished their highest in program history. The women's team scored 176 points, also a new outdoor record and 4.5 points short of an indoor or outdoor team record. The Texans placed behind the women's team champion, Utah Valley who scored 211 points.

Sir Jonathan Sims was named the Men's Field Most Outstanding Performer of the Meet. Sims scored 18 points for the Texans after winning the triple jump on Saturday and placing second in Friday's long jump. He took home his third consecutive WAC triple jump crown, winning the indoor title this year and outdoor title in 2025. This time around, Sims had the lead from the beginning. With his second jump of 15.68 meters, Sims took the lead and never looked back. He added to his best jump with a 15.80-meter leap on his third attempt to maintain his top mark into the finals. Sims posted another 15.68-meter leap on his fourth attempt.

Lauren Roy was named the Women's Track Most Outstanding Performer of the Meet scoring 22.5 points and bringing home three gold medals. Roy took home two individual gold medals and ran the second leg on the gold medal winning 4x100 meter relay. Roy took home the 100-meter crown running an all-conditions personal best of 11.03 seconds. With a win of 5.1 meters per second, it will not count towards an NCAA regional qualifying time, but it is her best race in any conditions. Less than an hour later, she completed the sprint double winning the 200 meters crossing in 22.79 seconds. She improves her season-best time to rank in the top 15 in the NCAA West. The senior started off the day running the second leg of the 4x100 meter relay. She combined with Nellie Wartanian, Amandine Estival and Emma Holmes to cross in 44.48 seconds, winning by over a whole second. 

David Mvundura was tabbed the Men's Track Most Outstanding Performer of the Meet scoring 18.5 points. Mvundura took home gold in the 200 meters clocking in at 20.40 seconds. With a wind of 4.0 meters per second, it was not low enough to be a school record but pushes him to 16th in the NCAA West in the 200. Mvundura also earned a bronze medal in the 100 meters, also running a new all-conditions personal best of 10.07 seconds. The senior ran the second leg of the gold-medal winning 4x100 meter relay teaming up with Cam Hawkins, Jalen Cadet and JayBrion Jones to clock in at 39.89 seconds.

Jalen Cadet was one of the biggest contributors to the men's team title. Cadet scored 23.5 points across six events with five of those coming on Saturday. The senior scored the most points by a single male athlete in the competition. He started the day with a seventh-place finish in the men's high jump clearing the 1.96 meter-bar. In the middle of the high jump competition, Cadet competed on the third leg of the men's 4x100 relay that the Texans won in 39.89 seconds. Immediately following the high jump, he then participated in the javelin throw. He took just three throws launching a 51.89-meter throw on his third attempt to claim seventh place. He then immediately headed back to the track where he finished in fifth in the 100 meters in 10.32 seconds. He then enjoyed nearly an hour break before his fifth and final event of the day. Cadet then placed fifth in the 200 meters clocking in at 21.72 seconds. On Friday, Cadet claimed the long jump title. In total, Cadet earned a pair of gold medals and four Second Team All-WAC honors.

Saturday Track

Malak Rashwan took home the gold in the 100 hurdles, crossing in 13.49 seconds. Rashwan earned her second gold medal of her career after winning the 60-meter hurdles in the indoor campaign. The sophomore blasted out in the front winning by nearly 0.3 seconds. Syenna Lara placed sixth in 14.26 seconds to earn Second Team All-WAC honors.

Ca'terrin Cox burst out to a new personal best of 13.55 seconds to win the 110 hurdles crown. With his new mark, Cox now ranks 19th in the NCAA West. Cox won his second gold medal and fifth overall medal. The senior won the 60 meter hurdles this indoor season. Nathan Franco earned Second Team All-WAC honors placing sixth in 14.74 seconds.

Emma Holmes took home gold in the 400 meters. Holmes clocked in at 53.21 seconds, walking away with it and winning by over two seconds. Holmes pulled away on the final stretch to secure the title in the WAC outdoor debut. Zoe Ray also placed in the 400 for the Texans. Ray crossed in 57.14 seconds to place sixth overall.

With Roy winning the 100 meters, the Texans placed 1-2-3-5. In addition to Roy's gold, Prestina Ochonogor clocked in at 11.14 seconds to win the silver medal. Estival completed the clean sweep for the Texan atop the podium earning the bronze medal in 11.46 seconds. Wartanian also reached the podium placing fifth in 11.57 seconds.

JayBrion Jones claimed the silver medal in the men's 100-meter dash. Jones was just a thousandth of a second behind Utah Valley's Gavin Stafford for the WAC title. Jones crossed in 10.01 seconds, but with a 5.1 meters per second wind that won't register as a school record or regional mark. In addition to Mvundura earning the bronze in 10.07 seconds, do-it-everything man Cadet placed fifth.

Roy won the 200 meters to be one of five Texans in the top six. Holmes followed Roy to earn the silver in 23.18 seconds. With her new season-best, Holmes now ranks 42nd in the NCAA West. Estival earned the bronze medal in 23.53 seconds. Also reaching the podium, Rashwan placed fifth in 24.18 seconds and Wartanian finished in sixth overall in 24.55 seconds.

Mvundura took home the 200 meters gold medal. Mukute earned his first WAC medal securing bronze in 21.06 seconds. Also reaching the podium, Hawkins placed fifth in 21.42 seconds and Cadet finished in sixth in 21.72 seconds.

Cam Hawkins took home the silver medal in the men's 400-meter dash. Hawkins clocked in at 46.97 seconds. With the mark, he sets a new personal best and broke the 47 second barrier for the first time. He now moves into third all-time in program history in the event. Ray Ochoa placed fourth with the new eighth best time in program history clocking in at 47.61 seconds. Tanatswa Mukute placed eighth crossing in 48.85 seconds to reach the podium.

Jordan Ferguson claimed silver in the 400-meter hurdles. Ferguson ran the sixth-best time in program history clocking in at 52.50 seconds. Braylon Hoffman claimed the bronze medal racing in 52.61 seconds tying for seventh in program history with a new personal best. Omar Mahmoud finished in fifth in 52.70 seconds, improving his eighth best time in program history.

Anisa Odom set a new personal record crossing in 1:01.54 to place fourth overall. Odom used a strong final 200 meters to hold off several competitors. With Odom's new mark, she now ranks fifth in school history in the 400 hurdles.

Christian Simmons placed sixth in the men's 800 meters. After entering the finals as the eighth-ranked runner, Simmons clocked in at 1:52.7 to finish in sixth overall.

Saturday Field

Jacob Thomas grabbed his second consecutive WAC pole vault crown after earning the honor at the indoor championships earlier this season. Thomas needed to clear just two heights to become the WAC Champion. He entered the competition at the 4.96 mark and need each of his three attempts to advance on his final vault. He then cleared the 5.06-meter bar on his second try to secure the WAC title. With the title in hand, he then moved the bar to 5.27 meters for a shot to break the school record, but he was unable to convert on any of his final three attempts.

Aston Kollatschny may have been one of the best surprises for the Texans this weekend. Kollatschny entered the pole vault as the ninth best vaulter in the field this season, before he earned a bronze medal with a highest clearance of 4.86 meters. After entering the competition as one of just two vaulters to start at the opening height, he cleared six bars and crept himself into the top three in the event. He did not record a miss on each of his first four attempts. He then only needed two attempts on each the 4.76 meter and 4.86-meter heights. With the leap, he moved into eighth best on the program top 10 performance list. Rhett Williams also scored for the Texans in eighth with a best clearance of 4.56 meters.

Jayana Phillips won the triple jump title as a freshman with a best leap of 12.33 meters. Phillips opened with a leap of 12.23 meters to take the lead after the first round of jumps. She improved her leading jump by a tenth of a meter on her second jump. She never looked back and kept the lead throughout the competition with her final three leaps all coming over 12 meters. 

Sofia DeGroot placed second in the women's triple jump with a best mark of 12.26 meters coming on her fifth attempt. With the silver medal performance, DeGroot notched her sixth WAC medal of her career and her third silver. Each of her four counted jumps were all over 12 meters. In addition to DeGroot and Phillips, two more Texans placed in the top eight. Ashonti Idlebird placed seventh with a best mark of 11.67 meters and Sakina Umar Awam finished in eighth with an 11.25-meter leap.

The Texans went 1-2 in the men's high jump. Davi Torres won his second-straight WAC high jump crown after winning the indoor title earlier this year. The junior won his fourth high jump middle and his second total gold in addition to a silver and bronze medal. Torres cleared seven bars, including each of the first four on his first attempt. After clearing the 2.14-meter bar and improving himself to the 27th best mark in the NCAA West, he narrowly missed his final three attempts at 2.17 meters. 

Colton Andress placed second in the men's high jump matching his personal best of 2.11 meters. He cleared each of his first two bars on his first attempt and then cleared the 2.11-meter bar on his first attempt as well. He maintains his season-best and currently ranks 47th in the NCAA West in the high jump.

Including Sims, the Texans notched three in the top five of the men's triple jump. Johnathon Rodgers claimed third place with a best leap of 15.51 meters on his final attempt. Rodgers entered the finals in third before a 15.45-meter leap pushed him into second place. Davi Torres placed fifth overall with a best jump of 14.78 seconds. Torres' set a new personal best on each of his first two attempts of the competition.

Vanessa Rolan earned Second Team All-WAC with a fifth-place performance in the women's high jump. Rolan cleared each of her first three bars on the first try. She was unable to get over at the 1.65-meter mark and was one of five who's best clearance was 1.65 meters, but the only without a miss before that mark.

Tarleton State Track and Field will continue their postseason at the NCAA West First Rounds. Unlike most other sports, teams do not qualify for the NCAA Championships, meaning conference champion teams or individuals do not receive an automatic bid. The top 48 individuals with the best mark in each event will earn a spot at the NCAA West First Rounds. The Texans are expected to send many athletes to compete in Fayetteville, Ark. on May 28-31.