NACOGDOCHES, Texas – The Texas A&M-Corpus Christi track & field team continued its strong run at the 2026 Southland Conference Outdoor Championships in the meet's second day on Friday, adding three more medals to its individual count for the week and setting itself up for an exciting finale.
The Islanders remain near the top of the pack on both the men's and women's sides after two days of competition, sitting in third place in the former and fourth in the latter. If they were to hold, these placings would represent an improvement on their showings from the Indoor Championships back in February, when both teams took home fifth in their respective fields.
Like in the opening day on Thursday, A&M-Corpus Christi first got onto the podium in the throws group, this time coming in the women's shot put courtesy of
Natalia Rankin-Chitar. The New Zealander came into the day ranked at the top of the conference in the event, and she managed to keep her spot on the throne when the lights were brightest, rising to the top of the field with a monster throw of 16.14m on her second attempt and remaining there the rest of the way. With the throw, Rankin-Chitar became the first woman in A&M-Corpus Christi school history to clear the 16-meter mark, and it earned her the first gold medal of her career with the team after just narrowly missing at the Indoor Championships.
On the other side of the same event, the Islanders got onto the podium once again with
Emmanuel Ekuma, who added to his collection with a silver to make it six in the throws group through two days. Already the school record holder in the shot put, Ekuma topped his own high mark on his very first attempt of the day, reaching 17.63m to pass his old best of 17.53m set at last year's Outdoor Championships in Houston. In his four postseason meets with the team, he has now collected six different medals in total, earning a gold in this year's indoor shot put to go along with two silvers and three bronzes.
The other individual triumph on Friday for the Islanders came at the conclusion of the day, with
Neele Heyne earning the gold in the 3000m steeplechase for her first-ever individual collegiate medal. Heyne found herself in a hotly contested race with McNeese's Jeny Barcenas for the majority of her time on the track, but she managed to stave off her only main challenger, crossing the line six seconds ahead with a time of 10:35.03. The result was the culmination of a year of incredible growth for the sophomore, rising all the way from 10
th place out of 12 competitors in the steeplechase at the 2025 Outdoor Championships and shaving more than a full minute off her time of 11:38.48 on that day.
Along with these medals came a pair of qualifications for the chance to earn more on the last day of the meet on Sunday, as
Elizabeth Khatevi and
Dillon Smith both punched their respective tickets to the finals of the 800m. Khatevi was the first to advance, starting out her title defense in the event on the right foot by winning her heat and finishing second overall with a time of 2:08.56. Smith then did the same immediately after, placing fourth overall and earning one of the at-large spots by crossing the line in 1:50.64.
Also on Friday was the conclusion of the women's heptathlon, which saw
Annukka Willstedt complete her two-day gauntlet in 11
th place with 4,288 total points. This went down as the seventh-best finish in school history, securing the former Islanders women's basketball player her place in the record books in her first time ever competing in a multi at the collegiate level.
The Islanders will now look to cap off the Outdoor Championships with a strong finale on Saturday, returning to Homer Bryce Stadium for the last time starting with the women's discus at 11 a.m.
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