The Wildcats track and field team is starting off its 2026 campaign up in Lubbock at Texas Tech’s Corky Classic meet on Friday with the aim of building on the start of their indoor season back in December.

At the McFerrin 12-Degree Invitational in College Station, early-season success was evident across a young roster that has been rebuilt just a year and a half into a new coaching change with the hiring of head coach Miles Smith.

Some of the biggest highlights of the meet came from the men’s squad’s first-place finishes. Vincent Luffey, sophomore distance runner from Aledo, set the bar high, claiming the men’s mile title in a personal-best 4:12.16.

Also, a major pickup in Rhet Punt, senior thrower from Tallinn, Estonia, who was the National Junior College Athletic Association national champion, continued to shine in his ACU debut, winning the weight throw with a dominant mark of 62-10.25.

“I thought it was fruitful,” Smith said. “We have a very young team. I think they learned a lot. And we learned a lot about how our kids compete.”

According to Smith, the future is bright for the Wildcats as young leaders like Mariana Van Dyk, a sophomore thrower from Houston, continue to emerge, placing fifth in the weight throw and recording a personal-best 14.46 last meet.

“Last year, I was kind of a deer in the headlights,” Van Dyk said. “Now it is fun. Everything is just a process. We’re all here for the same thing, and we get to compete as peers.”

Smith tooted the same horn ahead of a meet that includes elite teams like Texas Tech, Baylor, SMU and others, expressing that the meet allows the team an opportunity to keep improving.

“We have to stay process-oriented,” Smith said. “Our main goal this year is getting 1% better every day.”

But the Wildcats process will get tested again this weekend as they visit the home of Big Country legend Wes Kittley, who helped establish the Wildcats’ championship history.

“For us, it’s remembering where we’ve come,” Smith said. “Kittley got his start here, and he built ACU into the championship program that it was. And it’s one of the best places that you can run in the country. We don’t have to travel far to get really good competition.”

The meet will take place Friday through Saturday for the Wildcats’ first of three trips to Lubbock this indoor season. And the key message from Van Dyk to the team ahead of the challenging stretch is simple – remain rooted in God.

“Yes, we’re here to compete and perform,” Van Dyk said. “But we cannot have your identity in it. We have to focus our identity on Christ. If we skip the first step, it’s not going to go well.”