Asheville, North Carolina - The Central Methodist women's track and field program capped a historic weekend at the 2026 NAIA Outdoor Track & Field National Championships with a top-10 finish and nine NAIA All-America honors in Asheville, North Carolina.

The Eagles tied for seventh place nationally with 25 team points, marking the program's second top-10 national finish in the last three seasons.

Senior standout Haley Bellamy led the charge with an exceptional showing in the heptathlon, earning NAIA All-America recognition with a runner-up finish after totaling a school record 5,176 points. Bellamy opened the competition by placing second in the 100-meter hurdles in 14.39 before winning the high jump with a personal-best clearance of 1.72m. She added a sixth-place finish in the shot put with a throw of 11.72m and won the long jump at 5.72m. Bellamy closed the heptathlon by winning the 800 meters in a personal-best 2:21.42. She also competed in the open high jump, clearing 1.62m to place 13th nationally.

Junior Annemarie Koerner earned NAIA All-America honors in the heptathlon with a fifth-place finish and 4,944 total points. Koerner placed sixth in the 100-meter hurdles with a personal-best 14.77 and followed with a personal-best 25.82 in the 200 meters. She cleared 1.57m in the high jump, threw 9.92m in the shot put, and placed third in the long jump at 5.43m. Koerner also recorded a throw of 34.41m in the javelin before closing the competition with a personal-best 2:22.21 in the 800 meters.

Senior Joana Vakasobuduru turned in a strong heptathlon performance with 4,805 points. Vakasobuduru posted a personal-best 15.00 in the 100-meter hurdles, ran 25.69 in the 200 meters, and cleared 1.48m in the high jump. She placed second in both the heptathlon shot put (12.01m) and javelin (42.20m) while adding a long jump mark of 5.04m and a personal-best 2:37.79 in the 800 meters. Vakasobuduru also competed in the open javelin, placing 28th with a throw of 38.13m.

In the women's 400-meter hurdles, senior Shannon O'Neil earned NAIA All-America honors with a sixth-place finish after clocking a personal-best 59.18 in the finals and a new school record. O'Neil advanced through preliminaries with a qualifying time of 58.98, the seventh-fastest mark in the NAIA this season.

Allena Rowland also garnered All-America status in the 400-meter hurdles, placing eighth in the national final in 1:01.46 after qualifying with a personal-best 59.62 in preliminaries.

Sophomore Aroa Carballo narrowly missed qualifying for the 400-meter hurdles final, placing 10th overall in preliminaries with a personal-best 1:00.49. Freshman Hannah Reed added a 20th-place finish in the event with a time of 1:01.97.

On the sprint side, senior Zakiya Porter advanced to the semifinals of the women's 100 meters after placing seventh overall in preliminaries with a time of 11.82.

Freshman Akeelah Knox delivered a standout national-meet debut, placing 11th in the 100-meter hurdles preliminaries with a time of 14.02 and 10th in the 200-meter preliminaries in 24.21, narrowly missing qualification in both events.

Sophomore Zaria Jones placed 13th in the 100-meter hurdles preliminaries with a time of 14.09, while sophomore Tafaol Mohamed finished 23rd in 14.28.

Sophomore Bailey Arceneaux competed in both the 200 and 400 meters, placing 27th in the 200-meter preliminaries with a time of 24.96 and ninth in the 400-meter preliminaries in 55.00, just missing a spot in the national final.

Freshman Deborah Martinez placed 17th in the 400-meter preliminaries with a time of 56.45, while senior Diane Ondobo finished 23rd in 58.33.

The Eagles also earned NAIA All-America honors in the women's 4x100-meter relay as the quartet of Porter, Knox, Maria Sahagun, and Zyaire Robinson placed fourth nationally in 46.18 to score five points. The relay team advanced through preliminaries with a season-best 45.61, the fourth-fastest mark in the NAIA this season and a new school record.

Central Methodist also qualified the women's 4x400-meter relay team consisting of Martinez, Rowland, Knox, and Arceneaux. The Eagles were disqualified in preliminaries due to an exchange-zone violation.

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