2026 NCAA Indoor Track & Field Championships Preview

THE RUNDOWN

Four members of the Salisbury University men's & women's track and field team will perform on the sport's biggest stage after qualifying for the upcoming 2026 NCAA Division III Indoor Championships. Kai Smith (60/200 meters), Gavin Shaffer (60-meter hurdles), Marlyse Haack (triple jump), and Mia Hill (long jump) have punched their tickets to compete among the nation's best athletes on March 13-14 at the Birmingham Crossplex in Birmingham, Ala.

Men's 60 Meter Hurdles (Shaffer) - Prelims: Friday, Mar. 13 (1:45 p.m.) | Finals: Saturday, Mar. 14 (10:40 a.m.)

Men's 60/200 Meters (Smith) - Prelims: Friday, Mar. 13 (2:15 p.m.) (60-Meters) | Finals: Saturday, Mar. 14 (11:10 a.m.) ( 60-Meters) | Prelims: Friday, Mar. 13 (4:30 p.m.) (200-Meters) | Finals: Saturday, Mar. 14 (5:25 p.m.) ( 200-Meters) 

Women's Long Jump (Hill) - Friday, Mar. 13 (3:30 p.m.) 

Women's Triple Jump (Haack) - Saturday, Mar. 14 (2 p.m.) 

Smith, the Upper Marlboro, Md. native is coming off C2C Track Athlete of the Meet and tallied gold in the 60-meter dash with a time of 6.78, earning First-Team All-C2C. He also went on to earn Gold in the 200-meter with a time of 21.68. He smoked the school record in the 60-meter prelims with a time of 6.70, which tallied as a C2C meet record. That time placed him 3rd in the country. He also won a pair of events in record time at the Staten Island-based Big Apple Invitational, breaking the tape in the 60-meter dash (6.74) and the 200-meter dash (21.18). Smith became just the second-ever Sea Gull to be named National Athlete of the Week during the indoor season and the first since 11-time national champion Luke Campbell won it on Feb. 2, 2016. Smith will be joined by Shaffer once again in the NCAA Indoor Championships as the two also competed last year. Shaffer, the Timonium, Md. native, earned his qualification also at the Big Apple Invitation with a time of 8.08 in the 60-meter hurdles. Both earned Second-Team All-American honors last season. As well as earning Coast-to-Coast All-Conference honors, these two were named USTFCCCA All-Region for the Mid-Atlantic Region yesterday. 

Hill, the senior Tabernacle, N.J. toppled her own school record in the long jump at 5.68 meters (18-07.75), which placed her fourth at the All-Atlantic Region Track & Field Conference Meet inside The Nike Track & Field Center at The Armory, Fort Washington Avenue this past weekend to qualify. Haack, the senior from Waretown, N.J., also earned her qualification at the All-Atlantic Region Track & Field Conference Meet with a first place finish and a school record jump of 11.95 meters (39-02.50) in the triple jump, which placed her 8th in the country for Division III. As well as earning Coast-to-Coast All-Conference honors, these two were named USTFCCCA All-Region for the Mid-Atlantic Region yesterday. 

NATIONALS BY THE NUMBERS

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Salisbury has won national championships in 18 track and field events, with Corey Beebe (400H) and Brandon Fugett (SP) taking home the first two in 2009.

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Luke Campbell won 11 national championships - accounting for 61.1 percent of the Sea Gulls' haul - across his four seasons in maroon and gold from 2013-16. The future Olympian won SU's two most recent national titles, taking gold in the 100-meter hurdles and 400-meter hurdles at the 2016 Outdoor Championships.

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Salisbury has produced 80 track and field All-Americans in program history, starting with Steve Pitt (110H) and Jeff Polk (100m, 200m) in 1975. The Sea Gull men have produced 65 All-Americans, most recently Gavin Shaffer (Indoor - 60-meter hurdles) Kai Smith (Indoor - 200-meter dash), and Logan Kelsch (Outdoor - Discus) in 2025. Kyleigh Dumas ('20 indoor PV) is the 15th and most recent Sea Gull woman to obtain All-America status.