LA CROSSE, WI - Lukas Nowlin of Southwestern had the highest SAA Men's finish while many others collected All-American Honors at the 2026 NCAA Outdoor Track & Field Championships.
 
Nowlin recorded a second-place finish in the High Jump at the NCAA DIII Outdoor National Championships on Friday. Southwestern has never recorded a higher individual finish at a national event in the history of Southwestern Athletics under the DIII era. On Friday, Nowlin broke ground from a program and University level. 

The junior surpassed expectations once again, coming inches away from being crowned a National Champion in the event after being seeded sixth. Entering Friday's competition, Nowlin sat at sixth in the nation with a jump of 2.10-Meters a few weeks ago. 

After five clears, the field of the best 22 athletes in the country was down to three athletes. Nowlin gave it three valiant efforts, but was not able to surpass 2.15-Meters as only one athlete was able to clear the distance from Rowan University who took the title. However, Nowlin was perfect through the 2.12-Meter distance which earned a podium second-place finish and First Team All-American honors.

For Centre, Cree Ross had the highest finish with a third-place podium in the long jump. Ross hit a personal best mark on his first jump of the day, vaulting into fourth place with a mark of 24-6.5 (7.48m). On his final attempt of the afternoon, Ross once again achieved a PR, this time jumping 24-9 (7.54m) to move into third place and receive First Team All-American honors.

Ross also took First Team All-American honors with a seventh place finish in the triple jump with a mark of 49-5.75 (15.08m) to vault into the top eight.

Jackson Heim was named Second Team All-American after an 11th place finish in the 400m with a time of 47.35.

Bocar Diagana from Trinity finished 17th in the triple jump for Second Team All-American honors with a leap of 14.34m.
 
The final SAA competitor was Zeno Goss of Oglethorpe who took 17th in the 800m after he ran 1:51.95.