BIRMINGHAM, Ala. - Serena McNeilly and Chloe Hein of Centre captured a team third place overall at the 2026 NCAA Indoor Track and Field Championships off of huge performances.
Day One
It all began in the women's long jump on Friday as Hein sat in third after her first jump of the day. It did not take her long to find her footing as her second jump she posted a mark of 6.25m to take the lead and keep it. Hein was the only athlete in the field to post a mark of more than twenty feet. Her mark set a new NCAA championship meet record and she is still the reigning NCAA Division III record holder.
McNeilly competed in the pentathlon on day one and sat in 13th place after the 60m hurdles, but she dominated the high jump at 1.79m to rack up 966 points to take the lead. She later went on to capture the top mark in the long jump at 5.17m for 732 more points. When the final event of the pentathlon came, the 800m, McNeilly buckled in to secure a national title in the event with 3,782 points. Both earned first team All-America for their national championship wins.
Hein also captured second team All-America honors after competing in the 60m hurdles on Friday with a time of 7.64 to finish 12th overall.
After day one, Centre Women sat in first place as a team with 25 points.
On the men's side for Centre Beau Brown picked the best possible time to run his best indoor 200m as he posted a time 21.55 to finish 11th overall, earning him an All-American Second Team nod by way of a top 16 overall finish.
From Trinity, Annabelle Lanik took on the long jump on Friday taking third overall for first team All-America honors after leaping to a mark of 5.88m which placed two in the top three for the Southern Athletic Association.
Olivia Freeman of Rhodes women's track and field competed in the 60m. Her time of 7.60 was one spot shy of finals with a 9th place finish, but good enough to earn her second team All-American honors on the year.
Day Two
Centre junior
Serena McNeilly, fresh off a national title in the women's pentathlon yesterday, capped off one of the greatest individual performances in Centre track & field history by winning another national championship in the high jump on day two of the 2026 NCAA Indoor Championships on Saturday.
McNeilly was the only athlete in the field to complete the first five clears of the competition without fouling. The sixth clear was 5-9.25 (1.76m) and McNeilly was the only person to clear that bar, securing her second national championship of the weekend. McNeilly eventually cleared 5-10.5 (1.79m) to tie the program record she set yesterday during the pentathlon and secure her spot among the all-time greats.
Later in the meet, McNeilly and long jump national champion
Chloe Hein each competed in the triple jump and both earned All-America status once again. McNeilly set a new Centre women's track & field record on her final jump of the day as she posted a mark of 40-4.25 (12.30m), good for a national runner-up finish. Hein posted a mark of 37-10.5 (11.54m) to finish 14th overall and get an All-America Second Team nod.
The two Colonels performance was good enough to earn them third overall as a team, with just two people, as two other teams surpassed them in the final running events.
Cree Ross of Centre and Bocar Diagana took on the triple jump for the men. Ross took fourth overall in the event with his mark of 14.90m to earn first team All-America while Diagana was named to the second team All-America with his mark of 13.69m for 16th overall.
Oglethorpe sophomore
Keri Edwards made Stormy Petrel history by becoming the women's track & field team's first ever all-American when she placed 12th in the triple jump withd a mark of 11.56 meters which placed her on the NCAA all-America second team.
From Berry, Onoyeme Egure caputred first team All-America honors with an eighth place finish in the shot put. Egure made history for the Vikings, advancing to the finals where she finished 8th with a 13.46 to become the Vikings first Women's DIII Indoor First Team All-American in Track and Field.
Lukas Nowlin was the final SAA athlete to compete as he took on the men's high jump. The Southwestern athlete made history on Saturday afternoon, becoming the first Pirate to earn All-American status in Indoor Track. Nowlin placed fifth in the High Jump. The junior cleared his school record height of 2.06 meters, which brought the competitors pool from 20 athletes to 11. Then, Nowlin reset his own school record in his final attempt on the 2.09 meters jump. The jump secured a First Team All-American podium finish as the pool of jumpers dwindled down to five athletes who cleared 2.09 meters.
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