The Wartburg Track and Field indoor season has come to a close for the Knights after competing in the 2026 NCAA Indoor Track & Field Championship in Birmingham, Alabama on March 13 and 14.
On the final day of the championship, the men’s team finished in 9th place with 17 points, and the women’s team finished 15th with 13 points.
Throughout this season, Wartburg athletes continued to strive for excellence and delivered record breaking performances across multiple events. The Knights became the 2026 American Rivers Conference (A-R-C) Champions with individual performances for the record books.
Junior Anthony Weaver Jr. set a new triple jump school record at 14.7 meters, breaking a record that stood since 2007, while sophomore AJ Wright broke his own 60-meter dash school record with a time of 6.74 seconds and won the A-R-C title in the men’s 60-meter dash.
On the women’s side for the Knights, senior Haley Meyer broke the 1,000-meter school record held since 2014 with a time of 2:55.24 while also earning an A-R-C title in the 800-meter run. Junior Grace Braden broke the Pentathlon school record with a point total of 3669 and won the conference title in that event. Senior JoJo Tyynismaa finished the season with a new school record time of 7.55 seconds in the women’s 60-meter run, and won conference in the 60-meter dash, 60-meter hurdles, and 200-meter dash.
Distance events were another one of the Knights’ strengths this season, with junior Isaiah Hammerand getting a new time of 14:07.41 in the men’s 5,000-meter run, as well as earning a conference title in the 3,000-meter run. Senior Tyler Schermerhorn broke the school record of the men’s 3,000-meter time with 8:12.34, and senior Lance Sobaski broke the men’s school mile record with a time of 4:05.15
Other notable conference champions were sophomore Elliot Bond in men’s long jump and senior Olivia Tollari in women’s long jump. In the men’s 200-meter dash was junior Jimmy Weispfenning and in the men’s 800-meter dash was junior Hutton Edney. Finally, in the women’s 5,000-meter run, sophomore Lydia Maas took home a title.
At the end of the conference season for the Knights, both the men’s and women’s team took home the Indoor Track and Field A-R-C Indoor Champions trophies, as well as head coach Marcus Newsom earning A-R-C Coach of the Year and USTFCCCA Indoor Women’s Midwest Region Head Coach of the Year.
After competing in the 2026 NCAA Indoor Track & Field Championships, many different athletes earned top finishes in their respective events. In running events, Sobaski finished in 7th place and Hammerand finished in 10th place in the men’s 3000-meter run.
In the men’s 800-meter run, Edney earned a top three finish, and Tynnismaa finished in 7th place in the women’s 60-meter hurdles and 8th place in the women’s 60-meter dash. In the relay category at nationals, the men’s 4×400 meter relay placed 6th, and the women’s 4×400 meter relay finished 7th.
Hammerand mentions how this season represented a good reminder of this team’s development throughout the year.
“We really took that big step this year, so I’m excited to see what that turns into these next seasons,” Hammerand says.
When talking about the teams’ success this season, Hammerand credits their focus on preparation on and off the track.
“We place a bigger emphasis than most teams on things like sleep, recovery, nutrition, stuff like that,” Hammerand mentions.
Hammerand also points out how spending so much time together as a team really helps the group get better.
“People see the men’s cross team are a bunch of goofs and put off by it,” Hammerand says. “And we’re different, but it also allows us to grow with each other, build off of each other, and get better.”
For Hammerand and the team, success at the conference level has become the standard.
“Winning the conference title, but I wouldn’t really say that’s a goal, it’s just kind of like who we are and what we do,” Hammerand mentions.
On the women’s side of the team, Tyynismaa emphasizes how team chemistry and support plays a role into what they do.
“We had a lot of people younger step into a lot of good leadership roles and everything,” Tyynismaa mentions. “We have kind of a smaller upperclassmen group, so those freshmen are put into bigger roles, but they all are able to handle it very well.”
Tynnismaa also mentions the team growing close this season, and how that has been a factor when competing at the highest level.
“It’s definitely, I feel like, the closest group that I’ve been with for my four years,” Tyynismaa says.
Coach Newsom, A-R-C Coach of the Year, also plays a role when helping this team get better, Tynnismaa touches on.
“He’s really focused on getting us to achieve our goals,” Tyynismaa mentions. “He really structures our program to make sure we are peaking at the right times.”
With strong team chemistry as well as record-setting performances, the Knights now look to shift their focus toward the outdoor season. Both the men’s and women’s next outdoor meet will take place in St. Louis, Missouri on March 26 and March 27, and the meet schedule can be accessed on the Wartburg Athletics website.
