WINSTON-SALEM, N.C. - The University of Pikeville men's and women's track and field teams competed in the 2026 AAC Indoor Track & Field Conference Championships this weekend.
UPike got the meet started with six representatives in the men's weight throw. In the first flight, Adam Wooton threw a lifetime-best 14.27m throw, and Bradley Henson came in 14th place.
Zeke Hagley highlighted the second men's weight throw flight, winning the event with a season-best 17.71m throw. Hagley became the conference champion in the event with the first-place finish.
Alex Rogers threw 16.14m and came in fourth. Matthew Edwards rounded out the highlights in the weight throw with a ninth-place finish.
Elsewhere in Thursday's men's field events, Zach Mason became the conference champion in the high jump with a leap of 1.95m leap. Mason also came in fifth in the high jump with a mark of 12.74m.
Thursday's women's track events saw Carlie Osborne, Faith Newsom, and Jaida Garrett perform well in the 60m dash. Osborne came in tenth place and set a new school record with a time of 8.14, followed by Newsom with a time of 8.49 and Garrett with a time of 8.75.
Osborne and Newsom also did well in the 400m dash. Osborne, who would be one of three competitors to break the previous championship record, came in third place with a time of 59.63, also a school record and a lifetime best. Newsom ran a 1:03.86.
Joshua Martinez took sixth and set a new school record in the 1,000m with a time of 2:32.26. Martinez shaved eight seconds from his previous record in a very competitive NAIA 1K field. In the 5K, Kelvin Kurgat finished 13th with a time of 16:23.19.
Day one ended with both distance medley relay teams taking tenth place. The women's team of Morgan Tuttle, Gisele Young, Ali Cantrell, and Michelle Kemboi ran 16:48.06. The men's team of Bruce Coleman, Gunter Young, Lucas Gibson, and Rylan Rash ran 12:24.01.
Day two started with the 4x800 men's and women's relay teams coming in eighth and ninth, respectively. Gibson, Carter Hamilton, Coleman, and Rash ran a 9:32.92 while the team of Tuttle, Jasmine Meade, Cantrell, and Kemboi ran a 13:08.41.
After setting the new school record in the 1,000m, Martinez set a new school record and fimished fourth in the 800m dash with a mark of 1:56.01. Shortly after, Martinex would finish sixth in the 600m.
In the women's 600m, program history was made. Osborne became the first conference champion in program history after winning the 600m dash. Osborne ran a lifetime best and school record time of 1:38.64.
Four Bears made finals in the men's shot put. Hagley took second with a mark of 15.16m. Two spots below Hagley was Rogers with a mark of 14.33m. Wooton took eighth after throwing a new personal-best 13.17m and Edwards came in ninth with a mark of 12.90m.
"A program changing meet," said UPike Track and Field Head Coach Anthony Kowalczyk. "We achieved many first as a team, from running our first 4x8 and DMR EVER on the women side, to having points scored from both the field events and track for the men, it was a meet for the ages for the Bears! Could not be any prouder of the squad, looking forward to taking this momentum into the NAIA National Championship and the start of outdoor."
Osborne and Hagley would also win AAC Postseason awards for their performances at the conference championships. Osborne was named AAC Freshman of the Year and Hagley, for the second consecutive year, was named AAC Indoor Field Athlete of the Year.
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