The track and field team finished fourth in both the men’s and women’s team standings at the 2026 Western Athletic Conference Indoor Track and Field Championships. The men scored 86 points and the women 82. Utah Valley won the men’s title with 197.5 points, and Tarleton State won the women’s with 180.5.

ACU recorded 12 podium appearances and four event titles.

Canaan Fairley won the men’s heptathlon with a personal-best 5,532 points, the second-best total in program history. Rhet Punt won the men’s weight throw at 68-8, breaking a 29-year school record previously held by Glenn Griffin. Nele Huth placed second in the women’s pentathlon with 3,941 points, a school record. Mariana Van Dyk won the women’s shot put at 47-2.5.

“For Rhet Punt to smash the school weight throw record and claim gold in his first championship was awesome,” Head Coach Miles Smith said. “To see Mariana Van Dyk mature from a non-scorer to the WAC shot put champion in one year is a testament to how hard we’ve been working to develop our athletes.”

The men’s distance medley relay, Benjamin Castro, Ryan McMeen, Evan Martin, and Vincent Luffey, placed second in 9:57.23, the fastest time in ACU’s Division I era. Miguel Hall placed second in the 60-meter hurdles in 7.95. Andruw Villa placed second in the 5,000 meters in 14:25.77 and seventh in the 3,000 in 8:26.18. Durrell Collins Jr. took third in the 200 meters in 21.19.

On the women’s side, Emma Santoro placed second in the 400 meters in 54.58 and anchored the 4×400 relay team of Madelyn McFadden, Gracee Whiteaker, Anna Vyn, and Santoro, which also placed second in 3:45.98. Natalie Poe placed second in the high jump at 5-5.25 and third in the pentathlon with 3,712 points. Anna Vyn placed fourth in the 800 meters in 2:12.35.

“Sending seniors off like Canaan Fairley and Natalie Poe with titles and hardware is what it’s all about,” Smith said. “The future is bright.”

Nineteen of ACU’s 26 women’s participants were freshmen or sophomores. Both second-place relay teams were composed entirely of freshmen and sophomores.

ACU closes the indoor season and returns to competition March 20-21 at the Wes Kittley Invitational at Elmer Gray Stadium.