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Charlotte Track & Field Breaks Records At The 2026 American Conference Indoor Championships

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The Charlotte 49ers Track & Field team wrapped up the 2026 American Conference Indoor Championships in a big way on Saturday, with three school records falling among six podium finishes as Charlotte’s women placed second among 13 teams with 82 points and the men placed third among nine schools with 104 points at the Birmingham Crossplex. 

ALL-CONFERENCE FINISHERS ON DAY TWO
The 4x400m relay teams for the Niners were the big winners on Saturday, with the men’s team of Michael Rice Jr., Jordan Polk-Webb, Chase Harrison, and Tal Hamel willing Charlotte’s third gold of the meet with a new school record time of 3:07.74, the second time that a new men’s 4x400m program record has been set this indoor season. Rice Jr. would come out of the weekend having been a part of two gold medal relay squads as a freshman after also featuring for the DMR for the Niners on Friday evening.

Not to be outdone, the women’s 4x400m relay unit of Alinah Sarratt, Jada Lloyd, Ella Escobar, and Noel Evans also combined for a new program record after clocking in at 3:37.36, taking silver after eclipsing the previous Charlotte record from 2023 by :05 seconds. The men’s mark ranks 31st in Division I this season, while the women’s comes in at No. 35. 

Earlier in the day, Joshua Horstmann shattered the program’s indoor heptathlon record with 5443 points, setting new PRs in six of seven events over both days in Birmingham to earn silver on Saturday. 

Other silver finishers on Saturday included Zak Freeland and Jahnaul Ritzie in the mile and men’s shot put, respectively. Freeland clocked in at 4:03.70, while Ritzie tossed a new PR of 59’11.00″ (18.26m) in Birmingham that ranks fourth all-time in the Charlotte indoor record book. 

Before taking part in the 4x400m relay, Escobar earned bronze in the women’s 60m final after clocking a PR of 7.42 for the first of her two trips to the podium on Saturday. Teammate Nia Grose missed on the top three but was just behind Escobar, at 7.45 for a PR herself.

OTHER RESULTS ON SATURDAY
Maddon Muhammad narrowly missed out on joining Freeland on the podium in the mile, coming in at fourth with a time of 4:04.09; Moritz Kleesiek also earned points for the Niners in sixth after clocking in at 4:04.63. Muhammad earned more points for the Green and White later in the 3000m, posting the new fifth best time in program history at 8:04.82 to place fifth on the day as well. 

Keely Bradle set new PRs on Saturday, first in the 3000m with a time of 9:28.58 to move into No. 6 all-time and then in the 5000m, where she crossed the finish at 16:43.47 to take the No. 7 spot in the record book. Bradle finished fourth and sixth respectively in the two events, scoring points for the Niners in both. 

Cameran Ladd (9:44.84), Mia Bateson (9:48.11), Sophia Semo (9:55.83), Lily Nasta (9:56.70), and Emily Myers (9:57.52) all set new PRs in the women’s 3000m. In the 5000m, Anna Wells (17:02.49, 10th all-time), Bateson (17:09.88), Nasta (17:37.62), and Myers (17:41.21) all came away with new fastest times. 

For the men, Connor Tyrrell (10th, 14:48.20) and Caleb Roesch (14:43.58) both came away with new PRs in the 5000m on Saturday. 

Over at throws, Junior Payton-Kimble nearly joined Ritzie on the podium after coming in at 56’08.00 (17.27m) in the shot put, earning points with a fifth-place finished. The trio of Chin-Loy Raymond (51’03.50″, fourth), Kayla Davis-Edwards (50’08.00, fifth), and Sarah Pullium (50’03.50″, sixth) all earned points for the Niners, Davis-Edwards improving on her fourth-best all-time mark and Pullim moving into fifth with a new PR. 

Ian Mas and Andrew Mallo scored points for the men in the 800m final, Mas clocking in with the new No. 3 time in program history at 1:50.37 and Mallo taking fifth after crossing the finish with a time of 1:51.22. Behind Horstmann in the heptathlon, Lance Everhart scored points for Charlotte by placing fifth with 4730 points after PRs in two events.

Noel Evans (53.77) and Makhiyah Pittman (8.43) both finished fourth in the 400m and 60H respectively on Saturday and rose to fourth in the respective all-time ranks at Charlotte with their new best times, just missing the cut on the podium but scoring the Niners key points down the stretch.
 
FINAL MEN’S TEAM SCORES

  1. South Florida – 134.5
  2. Wichita State – 132
  3. Charlotte – 104

FINAL WOMEN’S TEAM SCORES

  1. North Texas – 90
  2. Charlotte – 82
  3. Rice – 77

UP NEXT
Depending on the results elsewhere, Charlotte will wait to see if there is a chance to qualify athletes for the 2026 NCAA Indoor Championships, held on Friday, Mar. 13 and Saturday, Mar. 14 in Fayetteville, Ark.

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