Track and Field

Five #SummitOTF athletes highlight Day 1 of the NCAA Outdoor Track & Field Championships

EUGENE, Ore. – Five Summit League student-athletes competed on the opening day of the NCAA Outdoor Track & Field Championships on Wednesday. Two earned second-team All-American honors, one advanced to a final event and two completed the first half of the decathlon competition.

Kansas City
Tory Lanham earned second team all-American honors after finishing 14th in the 200 meter dash at his second NCAA Outdoor Track & Field Championship Wednesday evening. The Roo junior ran a 20.45 to finish fifth in his heat.

North Dakota
On the opening day of the 2026 NCAA Outdoor Track & Field Championships, North Dakota's Louis-Lys Fanucchi delivered one of the night's most impressive performances, earning a spot in the men's 3,000-meter steeplechase final Wednesday evening.

Entering the event as the No. 22 seed among 24 competitors across two heats, Fanucchi competed in the second heat and navigated a race filled with lead changes and miscues at the barriers. The Frenchman remained in contention throughout, positioning himself in the middle of the pack before unleashing a powerful finishing kick over the final stretch. He crossed the line sixth in his heat in a personal-best time of 8:26.57.

The mark shattered his previous North Dakota school record and secured the first at-large qualifying spot for Friday's championship race. After the 10 automatic qualifiers were determined, Fanucchi's time stood as the fastest remaining mark in the field.

The battle for the final qualifying positions was razor-thin. The next-best qualifying time also came in at 8:26.57, edging into the final by just .003 seconds, while the first athlete left out of the field clocked an 8:27.99, just 1.42 seconds behind Fanucchi.

North Dakota State
The pair of North Dakota State decathletes competing at the NCAA Outdoor Track & Field Championships concluded the opening day within striking distance of All-America honors.

NDSU senior Zach McGlynn stands in 11th place with 3,960 points through five events. Junior Paul Olson is in 15th with 3,888 points.

McGlynn clocked 11.16 in the 100m dash, and posted marks of 23-01.25 (7.04m) in the long jump, 42-05.50 (12.94m) in the shot put, and 6-08.25 (2.04m) in the high jump. He capped the day by running 50.15 in the 400m.

Olson ran 11.14 in the 100m, and posted marks of 21-08.75 (6.62m) in the long jump, 43-00.25 (13.11m) in the shot put, and 6-7 (2.01m) in the high jump. He clocked 49.33 in the 400m to conclude the first day.

McGlynn and Olson are the first Bison in school history to compete in the decathlon at the NCAA Division I Outdoor Championships.

South Dakota
South Dakota track and field freshman Caelan Harland took advantage of his first trip to an NCAA Championship meet, placing in a tie for 10th in the men's pole vault competition Wednesday evening at Hayward Field in Eugene, Oregon.
 
Harland cleared the opening bar of 17-0 ¾ (5.20m) on his first attempt to get the day started. After clearing the second height of 17-6 ½ (5.35m) on his second attempt, a first jump make at 18-0 ½ (5.50m) put him inside the top seven.

He bowed out of the competition at 18-4 ½ (5.60m), which would've been a personal best for Harland. Nine athletes cleared that bar, but Harland's sequence tied him for 10th overall.
 
Harland becomes the first Coyote men's athlete to earn an all-American honor in his freshman season since Eerik Haamer placed fourth at the NCAA Indoor Championships in 2021. Fellow Coyotes Marleen Mülla and Anna Willis, who compete Thursday at the NCAA Championships, also earned all-American honors as freshman.

#SummitOTF