After 2025’s installment of the Missouri Valley Conference Indoor Track and Field Championships saw the UNI men win the team title and the women take third, both groups expected to repeat their placements in this year’s edition of the championships. A pre-meet poll voted on by MVC head coaches projected the Panther men to replicate their 2025 championship performance, with the women again posting a strong outing in third.
The championships opened Sunday, March 1, with a series of heptathlon, pentathlon and field events, all of which the Panthers excelled in. In the men’s heptathlon, Carter Morton repeated as MVC champion with a total score of 5,570 points. The former All-American looks to improve on his fifth-place finish from the 2025 NCAA Indoor Championships in two weeks, where he will compete in the 2026 national meet. Teammate Tye Hardin also produced a commendable showing in his 5,169-point, third-place performance.
In the pentathlon, Joey Perry became the third straight Panther to claim the conference indoor title, winning with 3,856 points. Perry used second-place finishes in the shot put, long jump and 800 meters to secure the victory by more than 200 points. Katy Hand also took fifth for UNI with 3,373 points.
Morton also took second in the men’s pole vault with a best leap of 5.20 meters. Freshman Jacob Yoerger grabbed fourth with a 4.90-meter leap, with Carter Pheifer coming in sixth with an identical vault. For the women, Erica Miner earned runner-up honors by clearing 3.98 meters. Sydney Scott also placed sixth with a best attempt of 3.78 meters.
Morton again walked away with a conference title in the men’s long jump, flying 7.57 meters. Fellow senior Parker Kiewiet came second with a 7.53-meter leap, and Hardin rounded things out in fourth by jumping 7.22 meters. Josey Dunbar and Maleah Walker finished third and sixth on the women’s side, respectively. Dunbar leaped 5.93 meters, while Walker marked 5.72 meters.
Josie Morland repeated as the MVC women’s high jump champion, becoming the only athlete to clear 1.72 meters. She joined Morton on the men’s side for a Panther sweep in the event. Morton cleared 2.11 meters in his third individual MVC victory of the championships.
A trio of UNI weight throwers placed in succession on both the men’s and women’s sides. For the men, Justin Olson, David Russell and Carson Lienau took third, fourth and fifth places, respectively. Olson launched the 35-pound weight 20.02 meters, with Russell following at 19.75 meters and Lienau at 19.01 meters. For the women, Brylie Lorence, Lauren Kounkel and Lexy Foster finished ninth, 10th and 11th, respectively. Lorence led the way with a 17.31-meter heave of the 20-pound weight, followed by Kounkel at 16.76 meters. Foster was not far behind with a 16.69-meter effort.
Moving to the track, the distance crew saw success in both the women’s and men’s 5,000 meters. Millie Hill took third in the women’s field with a time of 16:44.60. Freshman teammate Meghan Wheatley placed seventh in 17:04.78, with Melody Ochana backing her up in eighth at 17:12.16. Collin Lille ran 14:32.08 for the men, which landed him in eighth place.
The distance medley relay units concluded the first day of the championships by racing the unconventional, indoor-only event. The relay features a 1,200-meter starting leg, followed by a 400-meter, 800-meter and anchor 1,600-meter leg. Northern Iowa took third in the men’s field in 9:59.77, with the women finishing fifth in 12:04.53.
Monday’s segment of the competition also opened in the field, where Breanna Hackman took third in the women’s shot put with a throw of 14.61 meters. Lorence doubled back from the weight throw with a sixth-place, 13.86-meter effort. For the men, Lienau and Russell claimed first and second, one day after their weight throw performances. Lienau won the title with an 18.50-meter toss, with Russell posting a best mark of 18.39 meters.
Kaylee Woolery was the lone Panther in the women’s mile, where she advanced from Sunday’s preliminary rounds to earn eighth place in Monday’s final. She ran 4:55.82.
Sticking to the track, Carter Accola finished fifth in the men’s 60-meter hurdles in 8.11 seconds. Teammate Ashton Hogrefe was sixth in 8.39 seconds. Olivia Kramer ran 8.89 seconds, which was good for eighth place on the women’s side.
Two trios of Panther athletes took the track for the 400-meter final, but freshman Emma Randecker stole the show. Randecker ran 54.64 seconds for a victory in the women’s field, with Jersey Jones taking fifth in 55.97 seconds and Darci Wiseman claiming seventh in 56.42 seconds. Kiewiet returned from the long jump to run 47.49 seconds for third on the men’s side, with teammate Zach Fall just a step and place behind at 47.55 seconds. Jordan Townsley rounded things out for UNI over the long sprint with a 48.08-second, seventh-place outing in his first MVC championships.
Kramer doubled back from the 60-meter hurdles to take seventh in the 60-meter dash. She sprinted 7.79 seconds. Tinashe Chigudu ran 6.75 seconds in the same event for the men, finishing third for Northern Iowa.
Sarah Feddersen and Derek Woods represented the UNI mid-distance group in the 800 meters, with Feddersen claiming seventh on the women’s side. The freshman ran 2:14.74 in a tight field. Similarly, Woods earned fourth in a pack where less than a second separated the champion and Woods. He covered the distance in 1:51.26.
Randecker followed up her 400-meter victory with a third-place finish in the 200 meters, clocking 23.90 seconds. Chigudu and Kiewiet also returned for the men. Chigudu sprinted 21.14 seconds for fourth, and Kiewiet 21.56 seconds for sixth.
The same group of Panther distance runners laced up their spikes for Monday’s 3,000 meters after Sunday’s 5,000 meters. Hill produced another stellar outing for the women, taking fifth in 9:40.59. Wheatley was 14th in 10:01.59, and Ochana claimed 18th in 10:09.67. On the men’s side, Lille finished 14th with a time of 8:21.89.
The 4×400-meter relay concluded the championships Monday afternoon. The UNI men took second, as the tandem of Fall, Chigudu, Woods and Kiewiet finished in 3:11.19.
Ultimately, the MVC coaches’ predictions proved correct. The Northern Iowa men repeated as team champions with 157.5 points, narrowly beating Illinois State, which scored 151.5. The women comfortably took third place with 100 points, topping fourth-place Bradley, which earned 84.
Morton will compete at the 2026 NCAA Indoor Track and Field National Championships, scheduled for Friday, March 13, and Saturday, March 14. Morton ranks fourth in the nation’s heptathlon standings, earning him a spot among the 16 qualifying competitors for the season’s pinnacle meet.
