Indoor Track & Field

Clemson’s Chepngetich, Florida State’s Walker Lead ACC at 2026 NCAA Indoor Track & Field Championships

CHARLOTTE, N.C. (theACC.com) – Clemson’s Gladys Chepngetich and Florida State’s Shenese Walker claimed an individual national championship to highlight the Atlantic Coast Conference’s performances at the 2026 NCAA Indoor Track & Field National Championships.
 
One day removed from setting the ACC record in the women’s 60-meters, Walker won the NCAA Indoor Championship in the event. Walker broke her own ACC record on Friday night, winning the semifinals in a time of 7.07, before posting a time of 7.08 seconds to be crowned a national champion.

On Saturday, Walker became just the second Florida State athlete to win a national title in the event and the first since Tonya Carter in 2000. The Jamaica native’s victory also marks Florida State’s 24th individual national champion of all-time and the program’s first since Kimberly Williams in 2011.
 
Chepngetich won the NCAA individual championship in the women’s indoor 800-meter run, clocking a time of 2:01.56. Chepngetich became the second Clemson athlete to ever win the event, joining Natoya Goule in 2015. Stanford’s Juliette Whittaker, the 2024 NCAA champion in the event, finished as the silver medalist with a time of 2:01.99.
 
ACC records fell throughout the weekend. On Friday, Stanford’s Alyssa Jones broke her own ACC record in the women’s long jump with a mark of 6.70 meters. Virginia’s Jeremiah Nubbe also rewrote the record books on Friday, posting a record-breaking mark of 24.29 meters in the men’s weight throw, finishing as the national runner-up. To close out Saturday’s action, the Duke women’s 4x400-meter relay team turned in a record-breaking time of 3:29.56.
 
Louisville’s KJ Byrd set the NCAA record for the pole vault mark in the heptathlon. The Cardinals standout cleared a mark of 5.57 meters in the event on his way to logging 6132 total points, earning the silver medal.
 
The Clemson women finished as the ACC’s top team, logging 20 points and finishing tied for 10th place. On the men’s side, Virginia led all ACC teams, totaling 18 points and finishing tied for 12th place.