OUTDOOR NATIONALS: Day One Recap

ROCK HILL, S.C. (TheSAC.com) – South Atlantic Conference student-athletes opened competition at the 2026 NCAA Division II Outdoor Track & Field Championships on Thursday with multiple national final qualifications and strong preliminary performances.

The South Atlantic Conference was highlighted by a dominant showing from Tusculum in the women's sprint events.

Tusculum's women's 4x100-meter relay team of Qitarah Castlin, Shanice Cox, Kori Moore and Jahzara Hart posted the fastest time in the preliminary round, clocking a 44.15 to win its heat and automatically qualify for the national championship final.

Castlin and Hart also advanced to the women's 100-meter final for the Pioneers. Castlin ran 11.52 to finish second in her heat, while Hart won her heat in 11.54 to earn an automatic qualifying position.

Wingate University junior Ally Holmberg and sophomore Joaquin Campos earned First Team All-American honors at the NCAA Division II Outdoor Track & Field Championships on Thursday.

Holmberg finished fifth in the women's long jump thanks to her personal-best leap of 6.10 meters. The mark broke her previous school record of 6.05 meters established at High Point's VertKlasse Meeting in April. Holmberg saved her best for last, hitting her podium-clinching jump on her third and final first-round attempt.

Campos shaved almost 14 seconds off his previous-best 10,000-meter race with a time of 29:32.82. He finished fifth in the 21-man field as the only underclassman to earn a spot on the podium. Campos' previous-best 10,000-meter time was 29:46.10 at NC State's Raleigh Relays in late March.

Wingate had three student-athletes qualify for the 1,500-meter championship finals. In the men's preliminaries, sophomore Mohamed Dahmouch and junior David Holman advanced. Dahmouch posted a time of 3:49.17, while Holman followed closely behind at 3:49.80. In the women's prelims, junior Evie Brooks won her heat with a time of 4:24.35 to punch her ticket to the finals.

Carson-Newman made its mark with two sprinters and a relay team advancing to Saturday's finals. Thursday evening featured a fast start as the Eagles' 4x100-meter relay team of Taylor Madison, Favour Ekpekpe, Amine Kasmi and Rylan Jordan set the pace with a time of 39.50 seconds. The Eagles won their heat to earn an automatic qualifying spot, posting the fastest preliminary time by 0.25 seconds.

Jordan and Kasmi carried their momentum into the 100-meter preliminary rounds.

Sophomore Rylan Jordan won his heat and recorded the fastest qualifying time at 10.31 seconds to earn his spot in Saturday's final. Kasmi narrowly missed an automatic qualifying spot by 0.02 seconds in his heat, but his time ranked seventh overall to advance to the finals.

Anderson track & field junior Kennedy Roush earned Second Team All-American honors with a 10th-place finish in the women's 10,000 meters Thursday evening at the NCAA Division II Outdoor Track & Field Championships in Emporia, Kansas.

Her performance secured the program's first-ever All-America honor and marked another milestone in a historic season for the Trojans.

Lenoir-Rhyne Tobechukwu Nwokocha competed in the long jump finals, securing a ninth-place finish with a mark of 7.26 meters. Sharonda Priester qualified for the finals of the 400-meter hurdles with a fourth-place finish in qualifying, clocking a time of 58.28 seconds. Newberry freshman Cassidy Bouchard also competed in the 400-meter hurdles, but did not advance after finishing 11th with a time of 1:00.01.

Catawba graduate student Victor Smith earned a spot in the 100-meter dash final to highlight Catawba's opening day. Seth Caudill (1500m) and Madi Clay (10k) each placed 15th for Catawba. 

The NCAA Division II Outdoor Track & Field Championships continue Friday with additional preliminary and championship events in Emporia, Kansas.