Day 1 of the 2026 NAIA Women’s Indoor Track & Field Championships Recap

GAINESVILLE, Fla. [RESULTS] – The first day of the 2026 NAIA Women’s Indoor Track and Field Championship opened with the multi events and continued with several field event finals at the Alachua County Sports & Events Center.

Women’s Pentathlon Highlights:

• JayOnna Perry of Ottawa (Kan.) won the first event of the day, the 60m hurdles, with a time of 8.60 (995 points).
• Haley Bellamy of Central Methodist (Mo.) and Abby Clark of Montana Tech tied for first in the high jump, each clearing 1.68m (5’6″) to earn 830 points. Bellamy also claimed the long jump with a mark of 5.90m (19′ 4.25″) for 819 points.
• Lindsey Strutz of Aquinas (Mich.) won the shot put with a throw of 12.60m (41′ 4.25″), earning 701 points.
• Shannon O’Neil of Central Methodist (Mo.) won the final event of the day, the 800m run, with a time of 2:25.29. O’Neil sat in fifth place heading into the final lap before passing four athletes on the final turn to take the win.
• Bellamy finished atop the leaderboard with 3,917 points after winning the high jump and long jump while placing fourth in the 60m hurdles, fifth in the shot put, and fourth in the 800m run.

Women’s Pole Vault Final:

• Emma Stewart of Siena Heights (Mich.) claimed the NAIA Championship in the women’s pole vault. Gabrielle Zeilenga of Bethel (Ind.) and Emerson Vanscoy of Midway (Ky.) tied for second place.
• All three athletes cleared a height of 13′ 3.5″ (4.05m), with Stewart securing the outright championship on fewer failed attempts throughout the competition. Zeilenga and Vanscoy each recorded personal bests.

Women’s Triple Jump Final:

• A national champion was also determined in the women’s triple jump as Faith Brennan of Dickinson State (N.D.) recorded a career-best mark of 12.35m (40′ 6.25″).
• April Phillips of Evangel (Mo.) finished second with a personal-best mark of 12.06m (39′ 6.75″).

The events that held preliminary races today were the women’s 4x800m relay, 4x400m relay, and the distance medley relay.

With three events scored through the championship, Central Methodist leads the women’s team standings with 19 points. Midway follows with 13 points, while Dickinson State and Siena Heights are tied for third with 10 points each.

Competition at the 2026 NAIA Women’s Indoor Track and Field Championship continues Friday, March 6 at 10:45 a.m. ET with the 3,000m race walk final.