Kent State University
MAC Outdoor Championships
Kent State Ready for MAC Outdoor Track & Field Championships
5/13/2026 9:09:00 AM | Men's Track & Field, Women's Track & Field
Kent State will compete at the 2026 Mid-American Conference Outdoor Track and Field Championships at Ball State University's Briner Sports Complex. Competition will begin on Thursday at 10 a.m. and conclude on Saturday around 3 p.m.
Each day of competition will be streamed on ESPN+.
PREVIEWING THE MEN
The Golden Flashes seek their first outdoor title since 2022 and have placed second each of the past three seasons.
The Flashes expect to score big in short sprints and relays, with Jacob Stanley (100m dash) and Sean Callahan Jr. (200m dash) entering as the top seed in their events. Callahan Jr., Ryan Gruss and Chaz Sakala are also in the top five for the 100m, while Zavion Mattox joins Gruss and Sakala in the top five for the 200m.
Kent State's record-setting 4x100-meter relay team is favored, and the 4x400-meter relay team ranks third.
Beau Harkelroad and Baidy Ba round out the team's expected gold contenders in running events. Harkelroad owns the fastest 400-meter hurdles time in the MAC and Ba ranks second in the 5,000-meter run.
A pair of Flashes seek to repeat as individual winners in field events. Amare Hall ranks 26th on the national performance list in the long jump, the best ranking of any Kent State student-athlete, and Payton Shippee sits second in the conference in the javelin throw.
Jack Dillen and Linkon Tyrrell have posted the two top decathlon scores in the conference this season.
PREVIEWING THE WOMEN
The Flashes will attempt to win both indoor and outdoor championships in the same year for the fifth time in program history and first time since 2014.
Kristen Jay seeks back-to-back javelin titles and is one of three Flashes who enter as the favorite in their event. Record-setting performances have Ainhoa Reparaz Sanchez (100m dash) and Amryn Chilton (200m dash) ranked first in the short sprints.
Kent State has six additional top five rankings in running events, led by Gabrielle Hammonds' No. 2 spot in the 100-meter hurdles. The 4x100m and 4x400m relay teams are ranked second and third, respectively.
Four multis athletes are primed for a big meet. Matilde Carboncini and Alexa Nestor are in the top three in the heptathlon. Additionally, Nestor ranks third in the long jump and Matilde Morbin is third in the javelin.
Lanee Hall ranks second in the triple jump and sits 49th in the nation.
NEXT UP FOR KENT STATE
Kent State athletes who rank in the top 48 in the region will compete at the NCAA East Preliminary in Lexington, Kentucky from May 27-30.
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