TO YOUR MARKS
The Washburn Ichabod track and field teams will send seven student-athletes to the 2026 NCAA Indoor Track and Field Championships this weekend in Virginia Beach, Va.

MEET COVERAGE
Live Results
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IN THE RANKINGS
The Washburn Ichabod men's and women's track and field teams are both ranked in the United States Track and Field and Cross Country Coaches Association's seventh checkpoint rating index of the season. The Ichabod men come in at No. 24 and the women are No. 32.
The Ichabod men were ranked a program-best No. 8 in the first rating index of the season.  In the regional rankings, the men are ranked fifth and the women are ranked fourth.
 
WHO'S GOING
INDIANAPOLIS, Ind. – The Washburn Ichabod men's and women's track and field team will be represented by six total student-athletes at the 2026 NCAA Division II National Championships March 13-14 in Virginia Beach, Va. at the Virginia Beach Sports Center.
On the men's side, the Ichabods will have three entered in the event. Justin Forde (triple jump), Adam Wooldridge (pole vault), and Slade Smith and Jordan Dale (high jump). On the women's side, the Ichabods will have Lexie Fontaine (800m), Alex Hart (high jump) and Naiuri Krein (pentathlon).
Forde in the triple jump is the No. 1-ranked competitor in the event. He set a school record en route to an MIAA individual title last week at the MIAA Indoor Championships with a mark of 16.01m (52-06.50). He will be making his second national meet appearance with his second-place triple jump finish at the 2025 NCAA Outdoor Championships.
Wooldridge is making his third-straight NCAA Championship after qualifying for both the indoor and outdoor championships as a freshman placing seventh at the indoor championship and 17th at the outdoor championship. This season he has the ninth-best mark entering the championships at 5.20m (17-00.75).
Dale is making his program-tying sixth NCAA Championship and his third indoor championship overall. He is ranked 14th entering the NCAA Championship with a mark of 2.12m (6-11.50). He is a five-time NCAA All-American as an Ichabod with two fifth-place national finishes, a seventh-place, an eighth-place and an 11th-place.
Smith is making his first NCAA Championship appearance clearing 2.10m (6-10.75) at the Ichabod Invitational earlier this season.
Krein is the highest seeded Ichabod women's athlete at No. 6 in the pentathlon where she recorded a school-record points tally of 3,934 finishing second in the event. Overall her appearance at the national championships will be her sixth of her Ichabod career and she is a four-time All-American entering the championships.
Fontaine will be seeded 11th in the 800m with a time of 2:08.58 set at the Bearcat Invite on Feb. 6. Fontaine will be making her second NCAA Championship appearance and her second trip to the final indoor meet of the season.
Hart is ranked 14th entering the championships after clearing 1.74m (5-08.50) at the Ichabod Invitational earlier this season. She finished third at the MIAA Championships last week and as a member of the Ichabods she has now qualified for four NCAA Championships earning two All-American honors.
 
LAST TIME OUT FOR THE ICHABODS
PITTSBURG, Kan. — Powered by a conference championship performance from Justin Forde and major scoring efforts in the jumps, multis, and distance events, the Washburn men's track and field team secured a fourth-place team finish with 79 points at the 2026 MIAA Indoor Championships.
Forde delivered one of the meet's marquee performances, winning the MIAA Triple Jump Championship with a massive 16.01m leap — an NCAA provisional and tied for the top mark in Division II this season. Teammate Ransford Nti added to the jump squad's dominance with a sixth-place performance at 14.83m.
The pole vault group added big points as well, with Adam Wooldridge clearing 5.14m to place 3rd, and Logan Schwab scoring in sixth at 5.04m. 
In the throws, Caden Rhamy scored in the shot put with a finals mark of 16.07m finishing eighth.
Distance was another major scoring area. In the 600-yard finals, Jake Muller earned a podium finish (3rd, 1:10.39) also recording a school record, with teammate Brayden Peek adding a point in eighth. The mile crew delivered as well, with Alex Adams placing fifth (4:12.67). In the 3000m, Adrian Lehman scored a point with his eighth-place finish in a time of 8:26.88.
The Ichabods wrapped up competition with a fourth-place finish in the 4x400m relay, stopping the clock in 3:13.87 and hitting the NCAA provisional standard with their squad of Bryce Cochran, Brayden Peek, Tucker Groh and Jake Muller.
WOMEN-PITTSBURG, Kan. — The Washburn women's track and field team delivered its second-consecutive third-place finish at the 2026 MIAA Indoor Championships recording 90 points overall.
Lexie Fontaine highlighted the final day with a dominant showing in the distance events. The senior captured the MIAA title in the mile, running an NCAA provisional time of 4:46.65, setting an MIAA Championship meet record and a Washburn record in the process. She doubled back for an impressive second-place finish in the 800m (2:10.02), scoring 18 points on her own.
Washburn was equally strong in the field events as  Reagan Housley delivered a sixth-place finish in the pole vault at 3.88m. In the throws, Adriel Holloway finished and 6th in the shot put (13.70m).
The Ichabods also showed their depth in the sprints. Ta'Mijha Nichols led the group with a fourth-place finish in the 60m (7.61), backed up by scoring performances from McKenzie Hayse (7th, 7.64) and Isabella Garcia (8th, 7.71). Hayse later added a fifth-place finish in the 200m finals (24.49) while Mellanie Neudinger scored two points with a seventh-place finish in a time of 24.63.
Washburn's relay crews capped the weekend with major points, placing third in the 4x400m relay (3:44.43) as the team of Kennedi Knowles, Isabella Garcia, Naiuri Krein and Kereser Augustin came in just off school-record pace.
 
UP NEXT
Next up for the Ichabods will be the start of the outdoor season schedule to start March 26 at the WashU Distance Carnival and the ESU Spring Open on March 27.