The Kansas State track and field teams wrapped up a historic weekend at the NCAA Outdoor Track and Field Championships at Hayward Field in Eugene, Ore., highlighted by two individual national titles and the men’s team securing its highest finish in nearly three decades.
The Wildcat men put together dominant competition, racking up 30 total points to finish eighth overall. The mark is the most points ever scored by the men’s program at the outdoor national meet, as well as the highest team placement since landing in 10th place in 1998. Arkansas captured the men’s team title with 56 points, followed by Georgia with 49.
Junior Tah Chikomba got things started on the opening day of competition, being crowned with the national title in the men’s long jump. A native of Zimbabwe, Chikomba shattered his own school record with a massive leap of 8.37 meters (27’ 5.5”). The championship mark stands as the furthest outdoor championship jump at the NCAA meet since 2018, missing the all-time African record by just three centimeters. Chikomba is only the second outdoor long jump national champion in K-State history, joining Herb Hoskins, who won the title in 1951.
“Tafadzwa [Tah] Chikomba flat-out got it done,” K-State head coach Travis Geopfert said. “Came in here as the favorite, and that’s one thing, when you navigate success, and he navigated it extremely well. A personal best, broke the school record. … Just proud how he’s handled all of it.”
Sophomore Selva Prabhu kept the momentum going on the final day of men’s events, capturing K-State’s second national crown of the weekend in the triple jump. The Madurai, India, native jumped out to an early lead with a wind-legal mark of 16.94 meters (55’ 6.25”) and held it for the remainder of the event. Prabhu is the program’s second outdoor champion in the triple jump, following Olympic gold medalist Kenny Harrison’s title in 1986.
“He just competed like the champion and the warrior that he is,” Geopfert said. “He went out there early, executed early and won a national title for K-State. So that was a really, really big deal.”
The dual victories marked the first time in program history that two K-State men won individual national titles at the same outdoor championship meet. Geopfert previously accomplished the long jump and triple jump sweep during his coaching tenure at Arkansas in 2023.
Also finding the podium for the men’s jumps was sophomore Uroy Ryan, who took home the bronze medal in the long jump by matching his personal record of 8.04 meters (26’ 4.5”). Senior Emil Uhlin added to the scoring in the decathlon, placing fifth overall with a personal-best 7,976 points. Uhlin’s performance moves him to No. 3 all-time in K-State history and included personal records in the discus throw (46.56 meters) and the 1,500-meter run (4:20.20).
On the women’s side, the Wildcats finished tied for 29th place with eight points. Georgia won the women’s team title with 50 points, while Florida finished as the runner-up with 43. K-State’s three podium finishes on the weekend marked the most for the women’s team since 2019.
Freshman Destini Smith led the women’s squad on the final day, earning a bronze medal in the triple jump. Smith saved her best for last, uncorking a wind-legal season-best leap of 13.79 meters (45’ 3”) on her sixth and final attempt to secure third place. The jump ranks as the second-furthest outdoor mark in school history. With her performance, she became the first Wildcat female freshman to earn First Team All-America honors since heptathlete Nina Schultz in 2017.
“A true freshman came out here from the jump, controlled the crowd, got the crowd rocking and went out there and punched people in the nose right off the start, and then a clutch last effort to secure her third-place finish,” Geopfert said of Smith. “Sometimes there’s a learning curve on a lot of fronts with young athletes, and she feels like a seasoned veteran in how she handles herself on the track, off the track.”
The women’s 4×400-meter relay team capped off the championship track events with an eighth-place finish, crossing the line in 3:29.27 to earn First Team All-America status. The relay featured freshmen Desirae Riehle, Delaney Brinker and Anastasiia Kretova alongside senior Vanessa Mercera. Mercera turned in a historic performance, clocking an auto-timed split of 50.16 seconds to close out her collegiate career. It is the first time a K-State women’s 4×400 team has earned First Team accolades since 2014.
“When you look at that relay, and you have three true freshmen on the relay, just a fantastic job,” Geopfert said. “But the star of that relay tonight was our senior, she ran 50.16, auto timed by the timing company … Vanessa Mercera caps off an unbelievable career, and so proud of her, proud of our seniors.”
Senior transfer Aaliyah Lindsay also secured First Team honors for the women, placing eighth in the long jump with a mark of 6.44 meters (21’ 1.5”).
Several Wildcats added Second Team All-America honors to the team’s weekend haul. Redshirt freshman Dorian Charles finished 10th in the decathlon with a personal-best score of 7,764 points, winning the javelin event with a launch of 66.35 meters. Junior Daniela Wamokpego placed 11th in the triple jump at 13.25 meters, while senior Gary Moore Jr. took 12th in the hammer throw with a personal-record toss of 68.61 meters. Apalos Edwards, finishing 12th, and Aaron Antoine, 15th, both scored Second Team honors in the triple jump, and junior Riley Marx finished 15th in the javelin throw.
The men’s 4×400-meter relay squad of Nen Matlock, Tavon Underwood, Heath Grant and Bongumusa Nkosi added an All-America honorable mention, finishing 17th with a time of 3:04.83. Mercera also earned an honorable mention in the individual 400-meter hurdles, finishing 17th in the semifinals at 57.25 seconds.
Reflecting on the program’s growth, Geopfert noted that a top-10 national finish is a significant milestone, but emphasized that the Wildcats are hungry for more.
“I think your program has arrived to a point from a team perspective that you get that top-10 finish, you’re like, ‘I want more,’ so I appreciate that about this program, and everybody that’s involved in it,” Geopfert said. “Four true freshmen today that received First Team All-American honors. Now, there’s a lot of excitement, and we have a lot of momentum to build heading into next year. It was a great 2026, and so keep it rocking.”
