ARLINGTON — Tarleton State Track and Field crowned its first individual champion on Thursday in day one of the 2026 WAC Track and Field Championships at Maverick Stadium.
Tayler Wessely took home the Texans’ first title of the WAC Championships. The senior took home the crown in the women’s hammer throw owning the top two throws in the event. On her first throw of the competition, she took the lead and never looked back. She set a new personal best and school record on her fifth toss with a 63.25-meter throw. Last season, Wessely earned a second-place finish in the hammer throw with a best throw of 54.57 meters.
We had a strong start to the WAC Championships today,” said head coach Bobby Carter. “Having a conference champion in the women’s hammer to start the day was great to see. Also, it was great seeing a lot of our athletes punching their ticket to the finals in the other events. However, we’re not finished. We came here for three days, not one. The mission continues to stay the same: Compete hard, stay together, and finish the job. Let’s keep building!”
In the first event of the day, Sage Barmettler claimed a sixth-place finish in the women’s pole vault. Barmettler cleared her first height of 3.45 meters. After three close attempts at 3.60 meters, she earned a Second Team All-WAC honor.
In the team competition, the women are in fourth after the first day. With only four of the 21 events scored, the Texans have 13 points. Utah Valley and UT Arlington are at the top of the team competition with 49 and 48 points, respectively. On the men’s side, the Texan men have not scored, but only two of the 21 events have been scored. In the early stages, Utah Valley is in the lead with 21 points.
In the evening session, 14 athletes punched their tickets to Saturday’s finals. Eight athletes in total advance out of the prelims into the finals in each individual event. In the women’s 200 meters, the Texans punched six tickets to the finals. The top four times in the prelims all came from the Purple and White. Victoria Cameron won her hear and owned the top time, crossing in 22.93 seconds. Lauren Roy also won her heat, clocking in at 23.05 seconds. Emma Holmes posted the third best time in the 200 meters crossing in 23.18 seconds to also win her heat. Amandine Estival was the first time qualifier finishing in second in her heat in 23.62 seconds. Nellie Wartanian and Malak Rashwan also posted qualifying times crossing in 23.85 seconds and 24.08 seconds, respectively.
In the men’s 200 meters, five athletes earned a spot in the finals. Cam Hawkins posted the second fastest time in the prelims clocking in at 20.82 seconds. Jalen Cadet was right behind him in 20.86 seconds to post the third best time of the preliminaries. David Mvundura won his heat and finished in 20.93 seconds to own the sixth-fastest time. Tanatswa Mukute clocked in at 21.11 seconds to finish in seventh.
In both the men’s and women’s 400-meter hurdles, the Texans punched four total tickets. In the men’s hurdles, Jordan Ferguson, Braylon Hoffman and Omar Mahmoud each posted qualifying times. Ferguson owned the second fastest mark clocking in at 53.15 seconds to win his heat. Hoffman ran a season best of 53.28 seconds to post the third-fastest time. Mahmoud rounded out the qualifiers with a 53.83 second performance.
The Texans will continue the 2026 WAC Outdoor Track and Field Championships in Day 2 on Friday. Tarleton State will have athletes competing in six finals on Friday. The first final of the day will be the women’s long jump. The Purple and White will have eight athletes competing with Prestina Ochonogor entering the competition with the best mark in the WAC this season. In the men’s long jump, five Texans will be competing. Sir Jonathan Sims and Cadet each own the top two marks in the WAC this year. Mason Hill will be competing for Tarleton State in the men’s shot put and Tayler Wessely will be competing on the women’s side. Kaitlyn Gale who placed second in the 3000-steeplechase last year, is set to compete with Ava Potts on Friday night in the steeplechase. AJ Alfaro, Jerryth Buckingham and Tyler Hedgepeth will compete on the men’s side.
Follow @tarletontrackxc on Instagram and X for the latest updates, highlights and content. Friday’s track events will be streamed on ESPN+ starting at 4 pm. Live results are available via NTX Timing.
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