The East Tennessee State University men’s and women’s track and field teams will compete at the 2026 Southern Conference Outdoor Championships beginning May 11 and continuing through May 12 in Cullowhee, North Carolina. The event marks the second consecutive meet for ETSU in Cullowhee after participating in the Catamount Classic on April 24.
The championships will open with the decathlon at 9:30 a.m. on Monday, followed by field events starting with the men’s hammer throw finals at 12:30 p.m., and track preliminaries beginning at 4:00 p.m. with the women’s 1500-meter race. The venue for all events is the Catamount Athletic Complex.
On the women’s side, ETSU features a standout sophomore sprinter who holds the conference’s fastest times this season in the 100m, 200m, and 400m sprints. She also set an ETSU record in the 400m with a time of 53.76 seconds at Wake Forest Invitational on April 16, and is currently reigning SoCon outdoor champion in both the 200m and 400m sprints. Additional medal contenders include a freshman ranked second in the conference for the women’s 400m hurdles (1:02.75), while another freshman ranks fourth (1:03.26). In distance events, a sophomore leads ETSU’s contingent by ranking third in SoCon’s steeplechase (10:28.79) — also an ETSU school record — and seventh in the conference’s women’s 5000-meter run (16:51.66).
For field events, two athletes are positioned as potential medalists; one ranks fifth in discus and sixth in hammer throw while another freshman stands fifth after setting her season best mark of 48.04 meters during her last appearance at Cullowhee.
Among men’s competitors, a junior returns to shot put competition after missing most of this season due to injury; he previously won silver at last year’s championship with a personal best that would currently rank third among SoCon athletes this year (15.98 meters). Another junior leads SoCon long jump rankings following his performance at Catamount Classic (7.34 meters), while also placing within top seven for both sprint distances.
Other notable entries include two sophomores ranked fourth and fifth respectively for pole vault; another athlete is fourth overall this season for men’s outdoor conference competition over eight hundred meters (1:51.22); Nathan Hillis holds second place among steeplechasers; another athlete sits third among hurdlers; finally Willets, Smith, Deery, and Overly make up ETSU’s relay team holding third-best time so far within their division.
Winning gold medals does not automatically qualify student-athletes or relay teams for NCAA postseason competitions—qualification requires meeting regional performance standards based on seasonal bests across individual or relay disciplines.
