NACOGDOCHES, Texas – The Texas A&M-Corpus Christi track & field team started off the 2026 Southland Conference Outdoor Championships in grand fashion on Thursday, sending six athletes to the podium and taking home two individual victories while seeing three more qualify for finals on Saturday in what was an excellent first impression for the week.
On the team side of things, the Islanders found themselves atop the standings on the men's side after the first day of competition, tallying 35 points to sit just ahead of second-place Stephen F. Austin. The women also rank near the top of the pack as well, currently occupying second place with 27 points to come in just behind the 34.5 held by SFA.
"I am proud of this team," Islanders head coach
Bryan Jackson said. There is no such thing as the perfect day, but that had to be close! I told the team that I am sure at some point we are going to face adversity, but no matter what we face, we fight for every scoring place together!"
Both of A&M-Corpus Christi's gold medals on the day came from the throws group, starting with the very first event of the week with
Breyunna Dowell in the women's hammer throw. After moving to the top of the pack on her third throw of the day, Dowell secured the title with a personal-best mark on her fifth, unleashing a toss of 59.11m that broke her own school record of 58.35m that she set back on April 12 of last year at the 44 Farms Team Invitational in College Station. This marked Dowell's first time earning a gold medal at a conference championship meet as a member of the program, doing so after taking home silver in the same event last year as well as in the weight throw at the 2025 Indoor Championships.
The other gold for the Islanders came in even more spectacular fashion, with
Chase Hight doing the honors in the men's javelin. Entering his final attempt of the event in second place by nearly two meters, Hight uncorked what ended up being the clinching throw, reaching a mark of 65.73m that elicited raucous cheers from his teammates upon being announced to the crowd in attendance. This was the second-best throw in Islanders program history, and it locked up the gold in what was Hight's first postseason meet with the team.
Beyond just these two triumphs, the throws group also got onto the podium two more times before the day was over. First,
Samson Black secured the bronze medal in his Outdoor Championships debut, with the freshman narrowly reaching the finals before then making a massive jump into the top three with a school-record throw of 58.18m on his fourth attempt of the day. Later,
Jordan Bowling earned a bronze of his own in the men's javelin, coming in just behind Hight with a mark of 61.94m to give A&M-Corpus Christi multiple athletes in the same top three for the first time on the week.
Not to be outshone, the distance group also secured top three finishes in the only two running events to go final on Thursday, with those being both sides of the 10000m. First up were the women, where
Alicia Finnis earned silver by crossing the line in 35:48.17. Not only was this a new personal best for Finnis, but it also helped her improve upon her placement from her first Outdoor Championships last year, where she earned bronze in the same event with a time of 36:29.25. Immediately following this, it was
Mathayo Bundotich getting on the podium for the men, securing the bronze after finishing in 31:16.20. Like Finnis, this also marked an improvement for Bundotich, as he just narrowly missed the podium in fourth place in the event in 2025.
To wrap things up, A&M-Corpus Christi also managed to send a trio of athletes through to the finals of the women's 1500m on Saturday during Thursday's qualifiers. The highest placer of these was
Elizabeth Khatevi, who won Heat 3 and finished second overall with a time of 4:32.14. Next up was
Embla Hreimsdottir in third place in Heat 2 and sixth overall at 4:34.88, and right behind her,
Phylis Kibet came in seventh overall and third in Heat 1 with a time of 4:35.18.
The Islanders will now try to replicate their performance from the opener in the second day of the Outdoor Championships on Friday, returning to Homer Bryce Stadium to get going once again at 10 a.m.
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