ASHEVILLE, N.C. – It was another historic day in Asheville for the UBC Thunderbirds with exceptional performances by both the men's and women's teams at the 2026 NAIA National Championships with many exceeding expectations, setting the blue and gold up for a tremendous final day in North Carolina.
Freshman
Nunu Ishaka became the first Thunderbird to become women's triple jump champion while UBC's 4x800 metre women's relay team won gold for a seventh straight time.
The 'Birds scored critical team points in both men's and women's race walk while both 4x400 metre relay teams qualified for Friday's final on what was a day full of success to set up even further potential success on Friday.
Once again the meet was plagued by weather related delays with several thunderstorms in the area. Despite a two-hour wait for many of the T-Birds, they took it in stride and the results on Thursday certainly proved there was no negative impact.
Ishaka entered the national championship competition as the number one ranked triple jumper, but the pressure didn't seem to phase her as she launched for 12.16 metres on her third and final initial series attempt. What stood up as the winning throw earned the T-Birds another 10 team points as the UBC women have now amassed 44 total for a 13 point gap over second place Cumberlands (Kentucky) still with the majority of final events yet to come.
One of the final events of the second day of the championship meet proved to once again be a boon for the T-Birds who successfully defended their 4x800 metre women's crown.
Rachel McDonald,
Haley Martin,
Elysse Fleming and
Sarah MacGillivray clocked in a final time of 8:48.91 for a season best when it mattered most, and a margin of victory of more than six seconds. The relay win is the seventh in a row for UBC dating back to 2018.
Lowell Solmes claimed NAIA silver in the men's 5000 metre race walk with a time of 20:43.58. Gaining eight points for the 'Birds, the sophomore from Vancouver has now made it back-to-back top two finishes at nationals.
Chantelle Dass has earned All-American status for the first time in her collegiate career as the sophomore finished eighth in the women's race walk. Her time of 27:30.48 claimed four team points and an improvement of five places overall compared to her rookie NAIA meet last season.
To the surprise of few, UBC's top ranked steeplechase athletes easily made their way into Friday's respective finals. Defending women's 3000 metre steeple champion,
Elysse Fleming, earned an automatic qualifier into the final running an 11:16.47, third place in her heat.
2025's silver medal winning
Maximilien Filion will have a chance to go for gold Friday with a second place finish in his heat, crossing the line in 9:22.41.
A day after winning the women's long jump title,
Amelia Cha ran a personal best time of 14.02 in the 100 hurdles, but came just shy of qualifying for the final.
Senior
Mackenzie Campbell is back in the 800 metre final to defend her NAIA title on Friday having qualified with a time of 2:10.22.
Gwyn Katics set a personal best in the women's 400 metres with a 55.19 which fell shy of qualifying in what was a terrifically fast set of heats.
Katics,
Mia Cameron,
Alessandra Ionescu-Zanetti and
Haley Martin pushed the T-Birds' women's 4x400 metre relay into Friday, winning their qualifying heat with a time of 3:46.26, the fastest of any of the 21 teams on the track Thursday.
The women's 4x400 will be joined Friday by the men's relay team after
Chase Haagensen,
Nickolas Sebastianelli,
Will Van Schagen, and
James Kerr clocked a season best time of 3:11.59 to clinch the final qualifying berth.
Both the men's and women's teams have plenty of work yet to do, but they are both achieving above their projections to the tune of a combined 43 places above ranking.
Friday's final day of the meet will have the most points at stake with so much yet to be decided. The day begins early with
Bryce White competing in men's pole vault starting at 9:00 a.m. ET while the steeplechase finals will be the first events on the track, starting with the women's race at 2:30 p.m. All events are available
live on the Urban Edge Network.
NAIA NATIONAL CHAMPIONSHIP SCHEDULE AND RESULTS
