University of Northern Iowa Athletics
University of Northern Iowa
MVC Outdoor Championships
Panther track and field picks up five additional titles to close MVC Outdoor Championships
5/17/2026 5:38:00 PM | Track and Field
UNI finishes second in both men’s and women’s team standings with seven total event champions.
TERRE HAUTE, Ind. — The UNI track and field team closed out the 2026 Missouri Valley Conference (MVC) Outdoor Championships at the Gibson Track and Field Complex on Sunday, picking up five additional event titles to finish the meet with seven total conference championships.
Northern Iowa held off a late surge by host Indiana State to finish second in the team standings with 153 points, 26.5 points behind team champion Illinois State. The Panthers also took second with 167 points, 16.5 points behind Indiana State, while also finishing 59 points ahead of Illinois State.
UNI was also recognized with five specialty awards at the end of the meet including Carter Morton earning Men's MVP and Men's Most Outstanding Field Athlete honors for both the MVC indoor and outdoor seasons after accounting for 24 team points during the weekend. Joey Perry was named the Women's MVP with 34 points scored, while Emma Randecker earned MVC Outdoor Women's Freshman of the Year recognition, an honor she also earned during the 2026 MVC Indoor Championships. David Russell meanwhile was named the men's Elite 18 Award winner for the second time this year, given to the student-athlete with the highest cumulative grade-point average competing in the meet.
HOW IT HAPPENED
Katy Stephens opened Sunday's action with a thrilling women's high jump performance, capturing UNI's first outdoor conference title in the event since 2022 by tying the program's outdoor school record with a leap of 5' 10 ½". Perry finished second with a personal best of 5' 9 ¼" to tie the fifth-best mark in team history, while back-to-back defending MVC indoor high jump champion Josie Moreland took fourth (5' 7").
Northern Iowa secured its third MVC decathlon title in the last five years and fifth in the last eight seasons as Tye Hardin finished with 6,842 points after a win in the javelin throw on Sunday. Colin Buch followed in fifth (5,735 points) and Brody Lovell in sixth (5,724). Katy Hand also took fourth place for the Panthers in the heptathlon (4,609 points).
On the track, Perry notched UNI's second straight MVC outdoor championship in the women's 400-meter hurdles with a winning time of 59.34 seconds. Reigning outdoor champion Carlie Jo Fusco finished in fourth (1:00.97) as Eden Moore took eighth (1:04.01).
The upset of the afternoon came in the men's 200-meter dash with Tinashe Chigudu edging out Illinois State's Enyinnaya Nwagwu by 0.01 seconds to become the Panthers' first outdoor 200-meter champion in four years. Parker Kiewiet meanwhile followed Chigudu in seventh (21.07), while Chigudu also finished fourth in the men's 100 meters (10.25) with Kiewiet taking eighth (10.44).
Randecker posted a new career-best and the second-fastest outdoor time in Panther history with a runner-up finish in the women's 400 meters (53.77) with Jersey Jones taking seventh (55.33), while Zach Fall finished fifth in the men's 400-meter dash (47.76). Perry also placed third in the women's 100-meter hurdles (13.67) after posting UNI's fourth-best mark all-time in Saturday's prelims with Olivia Kramer in seventh (13.92) and Stephens in eighth (14.08). Randecker also took third in the women's 200-meter dash (23.19).
Gabe Funk appeared in his first career MVC final with a fourth-place effort in the men's 400-meter hurdles (53.07) while Bill Mukhtar finished in seventh (55.01). Carter Accola meanwhile earned fifth in the men's 110-meter hurdles (14.18) with Funk placing seventh (14.70). Jessica Kyne also finished seventh for UNI in the women's 100 meters (11.88).
In additional field action, Nolan Dempsey captured third for Northern Iowa in the men's discus (175' 8") with Russell setting a new career-best mark of 174' 9" in fourth and Carson Lienau in seventh (164' 10"). Josie Dunbar finished fifth in the women's triple jump with a new personal best of 39' 10 ½", third-best in Panther history, while Morton and Hardin both tied for fifth in the men's high jump (6' 6 ¾"). Jorie Hanenburg meanwhile finished fifth in the women's shot put (46' 10 ¼"), as Russell also took fifth in the men's competition (58' 7 ¼").
In distance competition, Amelia Hill took home fourth place in the women's 5,000-meter run (17:15.67) with Colin Lillie taking eighth in the men's race (15:00.20). Derek Woods earned fifth for UNI in the men's 800 meters (1:49.71) as Chase Lauman placed eighth in the men's 1,500 meters (3:55.72).
In relay action, the Panther team of Chigudu, Kiewiet, Luke Meyers and Luke Nevitt took second in the men's 4x100-meter relay (39.98) while taking third on the women's side with the squad of Eryianna Singleton, Randecker, Kyne and Kramer (46.26).
Northern Iowa closed the meet out strong on the women's side with Perry, Jones, Wiseman and Randecker winning the 4x400-meter relay in 3:37.13, becoming the first Panthers to win the MVC title in the event since 1994. The UNI men meanwhile took fourth in the 4x400-meter relay, with Zach Fall, Parker Kiewiet, Funk and Chidudu clocking a 3:13.86.
FINAL MEN'S TEAM STANDINGS
- 1st - Illinois State (179.5)
- 2nd - UNI (153)
- 3rd - Indiana State (148.5)
- 4th - Drake (102)
- 5th - Southern Illinois (70)
- 6th - Bradley (63)
- 7th - Belmont (59)
- 8th - UIC (16)
- 9th - Evansville (14)
- 10th - Valparaiso (10)
FINAL WOMEN'S TEAM STANDINGS
- 1st - Indiana State (183.5)
- 2nd - UNI (167)
- 3rd - Illinois State (108)
- 4th - Murray State (97)
- 5th - Bradley (91)
- 6th - Southern Illinois (61)
- T7th - Belmont (35)
- T7th - Drake 35)
- 9th - UIC (17.5)
- T10th - Valparaiso (8)
- T10th - Evansville (8)
UNI's 2026 MVC OUTDOOR EVENT CHAMPIONS
- Katy Stephens - Women's Javelin & Women's High Jump
- Carter Morton - Men's Long Jump
- Tye Hardin - Decathlon
- Joey Perry - Women's 400m Hurdles
- Tinashe Chigudu - Men's 200m
- Women's 4x400m Relay - Perry, Jones, Wiseman, Randecker
UP NEXT
UNI will await the official announcement of qualifiers for the NCAA West Preliminary Meet, expected to be announced on Tuesday, May 19. The NCAA West Preliminary Meet will be held May 27-31 at John McDonnell Field in Fayetteville, Arkansas, while the NCAA Division I Outdoor Track and Field Championships will be held June 10-13 at Hayward Field in Eugene, Oregon.
UNI track and field action can be followed all season long on social media on Facebook (UNI Track and Field), X (@UNITrackFieldXC) and on Instagram (@uni_tf_xc). Schedules and rosters, along with the latest Panther news and information can be found online at UNIpanthers.com.
