NCCAA Nationals Day 2
(Wilmore, KY) -- The Eagles finished out the 2026 National Championship meet with five top ten finishes, three of those scoring towards team points for the men's team
Carlie Blevins ran both of her races on Friday, finishing 12th in a fast-paced 5000m run to start the day, and coming less than three second shy of earning points in the 1500 with a 9th place finish and a time of 5:10.49.
Codie Wirges and Cade Cooper both competed in triple jump in the afternoon. Wirges placed 11th overall and second out of DII competition with her best leap coming at 9.62m (31' 6.75"). Cooper placed seventh overall and first in DII standings with a leap of 12.70m (41' 8"). In the event, the 5th-7th places all came within one inch of each other in the incredibly close finish.
Luke Akins and Annika Bauer finished competition for the Eagles with shot put (Akins) and 400m hurdles (Bauer). Akins threw 12.62m (41' 5"), placing top 20 in the event in his first National meet appearance. Annika Bauer took second in her heat and 10th overall, with a PR of 1:10.95. Following all heats of 400m hurdles, the meet committee realized that only nine flights of hurdles had been placed and not the usual ten. After a short discussion between committee and coaches, they determined that final times would stand for the meet purposes.
The Men's team finished third in DII standings and 16th overall, coming three points shy of jumping Crown for second/14th. Cade Cooper and Austin Jordan scored all points for the men, combining for nine points in long jump and two in triple jump. All in all, the Eagles placed top ten in five of their eight events for another great showing at the NCCAA National Meet.
in order to score points towards a team total, an individual must place in the top eight in their event.
Read about the rest of the meet here:
