Gainesville, Fla. - The Central Methodist women's track and field team delivered the best national finish in program history over the weekend, placing third at the 2026 NAIA Indoor Track and Field Championships over the weekend at the Alachua County Events Center in Gainesville.
The Eagles totaled 33 points in the team standings while producing nine All-America performances, highlighted by a national championship from senior Haley Bellamy.
Bellamy captured the national title in the women's pentathlon, scoring 3,917 points to lead a dominant showing in the event for Central Methodist. The native of St. Louis, Missouri set both a facility and school record in the five-event gauntlet, while also breaking the school record in the long jump (5.90 meters).
The Eagles placed three athletes inside the top five of the five-event competition, accounting for 19 team points. Senior Shannon O'Neil finished fourth with a personal best 3,607 points, while junior Annemarie Koerner placed fifth with a new personal best 3,595 points. The event gave CMU a trio of All-Americans on day one.
Additionally, Bellamy competed in multiple individual events during the meet, placing 10th in the long jump with a mark of 5.69 meters and adding a 13th-place finish in the high jump. Koerner added a 20th-place finish in the long jump as well.
Freshman Akeelah Knox added another standout performance for the Eagles, earning All-America honors with a national runner-up finish in the 60-meter hurdles. Knox clocked 8.44 seconds in the final to secure eight team points and set a new school record.
CMU also collected valuable points on the track in several other events. Senior Allena Rowland earned All-America honors in the 400 meters, advancing to the final with a time of 55.85 seconds in the preliminaries before placing seventh overall in 56.45.
The Eagles' 4x400-meter relay squad of Diane Ondobo, Rowland, Aroa Carballo, and Bailey Arceneaux also reached the podium, placing fifth in 3:46.25 and setting a new school record.
Several other Eagles represented Central on the national stage throughout the meet. Senior Zakiya Porter competed in both the 60-meter and 200-meter dash preliminaries, recording times of 7.67 and 24.67, respectively.
Freshman Knox and sophomore Maria Sahagun also competed in the 200-meter preliminaries, while sophomore Tafaol Mohamed joined O'Neil in the 60-meter hurdles preliminary round.
In the middle-distance events, Ondobo and Arceneaux competed in the 600-meter preliminaries before later contributing to the Eagles' All-America relay performance.
Senior Joana Vakasobuduru rounded out Central Methodist's competitors in the pentathlon, finishing 13th overall.
Behind the national title from Bellamy and a deep collection of All-America performances, Central Methodist finished with nine total All-Americans in four different events, marking a historic weekend for the Eagles on the national stage.
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