WILMORE, Ky. ---The Bethel Women's and Men's Track and Field Teams each finished runner-up at the 2026 NCCAA National Outdoor Track and Field Championships, hosted by Asbury University on May 6-8. 

Lamarr Williams and Tanique Taylor each won Track Athlete of the Meet, Gabrielle Zeilenga earned the 11th best mark in the NAIA for the pole vault (3.80m) to win the event, and Tanique Taylor qualified for the NAIA National Championship with a time of 14.18s to surpass the NAIA B Standard of 14.19s. A full PDF of results can be found on the track and field schedules on bupilots.com.

The NCCAA shared the following highlights: 

Friday (Women's)

To highlight the individual performances, Tanique Taylor of Bethel University earned the 2026 NCCAA Track Athlete of the Meet. The duo of Morgan Wood from College of the Ozarks and Nathaniela King from Wayland Baptist University earned the 2026 NCCAA Co-Field Athletes of the Meet.

The women's 4x100 saw Bethel University earn the national title with a time of 47.75 seconds. The quartet of Jade Ferguson, Tanique Taylor, Nicanta Smith, and Grace Constable would earn the top spot and All-American honors.

Bethel University highlighted the women's 100-meter hurdles with Tanique Taylor recording a new personal best and the 10th best mark in NCCAA history of 14.18 seconds to earn the title.

Just as she did in the prelim, Nicanta Smith would get out of the blocks with ease to earn the individual national title for Bethel University in the 100-meter with a time of 12.32 seconds.

Early strength highlighted the women's shot put, as Bethel University's Alecia Parker would win the event with a 12.88-meter throw on just her second attempt.

Gabrielle Zeilenga of Bethel University would win the women's pole vault as the only athlete to clear 3.65 meters. She would continue to compete and clear 3.80 meters to earn fourth all-time in NCCAA Women's Outdoor Track & Field National Championship history. She would make her next attempt at 3.92 meters but was unable to clear. With her title, and teammate Sophia Sumer finishing second, the Pilots into first place overall in team points for the first time in the event with 93.


Friday (Men's)

The Bethel University 4x100 meter relay team of Mark Brissau, Joshua Harmon, James Gill and Lamarr Williams would not be denied the gold medal, as the Pilot quartet sailed to the event win with a time of 41.00 seconds, beating out the Greenville University quartet of Neko Gibson, Noel Andino, Gavin Baldwin and Tyjaire Kellum, who earned silver with a time of 41.59 seconds.

After taking the prelims yesterday, Bethel's Lamarr Williams took home gold in the 100-meter run for the second year in a row, winning the race with a time of 10.48 seconds, the tenth fastest mark in NCCAA history. Williams took home his second gold medal of the day for Bethel, just missing out on a top-20 NCCAA time in the 200-meter run, winning the race with a time of 21.31 seconds. The sophomore beat out his freshman teammate Gill, who finished in second at 21.55 seconds...

Thursday (Women's)

Women's track events opened in the late afternoon with the 100-meter hurdle prelims. Tanique Taylor of Bethel University earned the top time to qualify for tomorrow's final, tying an NCCAA Outdoor Track & Field National Championship 20th best time of 14.46 seconds. Bethel University and Crown College would earn four of the eight qualifying spots to highlight the action.

In the 100-meter dash prelims Bethel University saw the top finisher again, as Nicanta Smith finished with a new personal best time of 12.20 seconds. Just as they did in the hurdles, Bethel saw two qualifiers in the event with Grace Constable taking fourth with a time of 12.47 seconds.

The 200-meter prelims saw Arion Jefferson of Columbia International University record the fastest time with a personal best of 25.31 seconds. Nicanta Smith of Bethel University would finish third to earn her second qualification of the day, advancing to the finals in both the 100-meter and 200-meter.


Thursday (Men's)

The top three runners in the 100-meter dash prelims rewrote the record books, as Bethel's Lamarr Williams took his heat and had the fastest time of the group with a time of 10.36 seconds, tied for the fourth-fastest time in NCCAA history. Mick Wright from Grace College won his heat with the second-fastest time of 10.47 seconds, the tenth-fastest time in NCCAA history, while Williams' teammate James Gill won his heat with a time of 10.53 seconds, tied for the 20th fastest time in NCCAA Outdoor Track & Field National Championship history. 

Gill continued to etch his name into the top times for Bethel, taking the top time in the prelims of the 200-meter run with a time of 21.22 seconds, the tenth-fastest time in NCCAA history. Phil Stupka of Malone just edged out Lamarr Williams of Bethel for the second spot, as he took his heat with a time of 21.456 seconds, while Williams won his heat with a time of 21.459 seconds.

Jack Jewett continued to hold the lead in the decathlon, opening Thursday morning's action with an impressive showing in the 110-meter hurdles, winning the event by 1.35 seconds with a time of 15.86 seconds to push the Bethel University athlete to 3959 points. Both McCaskill and Jewett went back and forth in the pole vault, clearing 3.95 meters on their second attempts. However, McCaskill was able to clear 3.85 meters on his second try, while Jewett did so on his third attempt, giving McCaskill the win and moving him within 450 points in the overall standings. Jewett's Bethel teammate Christopher Korthuis took third with a clearance of 3.65 meters.

Jewett continued to build on his lead, winning the javelin throw with a toss of 40.80 meters, the lone competitor to throw over 40 meters in the event. Irving finished second with a throw of 38.49 meters, demolishing his old personal best by over four meters, while Korthuis finished third with a throw of 38.15 meters. Jewett took home gold in the event with 5758 points, becoming the first Bethel athlete to win the decathlon since 2022. McCaskill finished second with 5460 points, just beating out Korthuis who earned third with 5455 points.

Wednesday Highlights (Men's)

The decathlon began at 11:30 a.m. ET just as the sun began to come out. Nine total competitors opened competition with the 100-meter dash. Hunter McCaskill of Columbia International University recorded the top time at 11.52 seconds. Bethel University saw both of their competitors come in second and third respectively with a mark of 11.59 seconds from Christopher Korthuis and 11.62 from Jack Jewett.

In the decathlon long jump Bethel University's Jack Jewett highlighted the action, as he got better on each of his three jumps to win the event with a personal best of 6.77 meters. The mark pushed Jewett into first place overall after two events scored with 1488 points.

Jack Jewett would take sixth in the shot put but continue to lead the overall scores with 1925 points through three events.

Bethel University dominated the fourth event of the decathlon high jump. Jack Jewett passed on every height until 1.74 meters, then cleared on his first attempt for his first two heights. Jewett would finish first overall in the event clearing 1.86 meters. Christopher Korthuis was the other Pilot athlete at the top of the event, earning second overall with a new personal best of 1.83 meters. Going into the final event of day one, the Bethel duo sat first and second respectively in the decathlon overall standings with 2604 points and 2466 points.

Assistant Coach Andre Moodie shared, "Both (the) men and women performed well to be in the fight with a good Division II school despite having some injuries in both our squads was a huge testament to our team's mentality. Our coaching staff is very proud of their performances." 

The Bethel Pilots will next compete at the NAIA National Championship, set for May 20-22, 2026 at the Karl Straus Track in Asheville, North Carolina. 

Lamarr Williams, Tanique Taylor, Gabrielle Zeilenga, James Gill, Joshua Harmon, Marcus Smith, and Mark Brissau will each represent Bethel University on the national stage. 

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