The No. 9-ranked Ashland University women and No. 18-ranked AU men got the 2026 Great Midwest Athletic Conference indoor track and field Championships off to a good start – and ended the day with a rip-roaring finish.
Five Eagle championship efforts individually and in relays – two to start the finals and three consecutively at the end of the day – have the women in second with 56 team points, behind just Hillsdale (60), and the men in second place with 52 points, trailing only Tiffin (59.5).
Ashland finished 1-2 in the women's weight throw, as junior
Molly Winner fended off teammate and classmate
Leslie Pollock to win a conference title.
After Pollock on her last attempt launched an improved provisional distance of 20.82 meters/68-feet-3¾ for the 2026 NCAA Division II Championships in Virginia Beach, Va., on March 13-14, Winner followed with the winning heave of 20.97 meters/68-feet-9¾ – a new meet record.
"It was really exciting," Winner said. "Being able to compete with Leslie…obviously, at practice, we're going back and forth, and to finally do it at a meet and have fun with it was a lot of fun.
"She gave me that final push. I'm so happy that she PRed, but I've got to fight for it, right? I can't just let her have it. But obviously, I would have been happy with either end of the result."
In the men's pole vault, graduate
Brayden Jackson improved upon his previous provo mark, and set a new meet standard, in winning at 5.33 meters/17-feet-5¾.
"It felt great. I'm just really grateful to go out there and perform and be able to compete," said Jackson, who started collegiately as an Eagle before transferring to NCAA Division I Kentucky, then came back. "It's been different for sure, a different experience. So far, it's turned nothing short of amazing. Thanking God that I've been given that opportunity."
Late on Friday, Ashland picked up three more gold medals. The men's distance medley relay quartet of sophomore
Wes Taylor, senior
Joe Wahl, and juniors
Colton Thress and
Zach Vales won in 9:52.97; the women's DMR of senior
Emilie Lemon, sophomore
Olivia Saylor, and seniors
Jade Avance and
Hope Sievert, won with an improved provo time of 11:33.60; and junior
Hailey Rios took first in the women's long jump with an improved provo of 5.89 meters/19-feet-4.
There were many Eagle point-scorers on Friday:
SECOND PLACE
- Junior Kara Fields, women's pentathlon, 3,502 points (new provo)
- Freshman Connor Petrus, men's long jump, 7.28 meters/23-feet-10¾ (new provo)
THIRD PLACE
FOURTH PLACE
FIFTH PLACE
SIXTH PLACE
SEVENTH PLACE
- Sophomore Miranda Stone, women's weight throw, 18.04 meters/59-feet-2¼
- Sophomore Carter Smith, men's pole vault, 4.73 meters/15-feet-6¼
- Sophomore Ayden Bidwell, men's weight throw, 18.65 meters/61-feet-2¼
EIGHTH PLACE
Provo marks weren't just confined to Friday's finals. Preliminary efforts with new or improved nationals marks came from:
- Junior Dominick Brister, men's 60 dash, 6.76 seconds (new); men's 200 dash, 21.51 seconds (new)
- Freshman Leila Evans, women's 60 dash, 7.61 seconds (new); women's 200 dash, 24.67 seconds (new)
- Freshman Vivian Walter, women's 60 hurdles, 8.68 seconds (improved)
- Freshman Jon Lutz, men's 60 hurdles, 7.80 seconds (improved)
- Sophomore Ty Allen, men's 60 hurdles, 7.94 seconds (improved)
- Junior Malachi Collier, men's 60 hurdles, 8.15 seconds (new)
- Saylor, women's 400 dash, 56.38 seconds (new)
- Rios, women's 60 dash, 7.56 seconds (improved)
- Sophomore Medgine Wojton, women's 60 dash, 7.61 seconds (new)
COMING UP
The second and final day of the Championships on Saturday (Feb. 28).
