INDIANAPOLIS – 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.
For each men's individual event contested, including the heptathlon, the top 20 declared student-athletes were accepted into the championships.
Championship schedule of events
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. All three women earned All-Conference honors for the Sea Gulls.
Smith, the Upper Marlboro, Md. native is coming off C2C Track Athlete of the Meet as well 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 qualifcation 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.
"We are very proud to have these individuals represent Salisbury University at the NCAA Indoor Track & Field Championships," head coach
Jim Jones said. "They are peaking at the right time and we hope to come home with some All-Americans or even a National Champion."
Salisbury University is a proud member of NCAA Division III with primary membership in the Coast-to-Coast Athletic Conference, along with affiliate membership in the New Jersey Athletic Conference (football, men's & women's swimming), Coastal Lacrosse Conference (men's lacrosse), State University of New York Athletic Conference (field hockey), and Colonial Women's Golf Conference (women's golf). With over 500 student-athletes in 23 varsity sports, SU is recognized as one of the nation's most competitive intercollegiate athletics programs regardless of division, featuring dedicated coaches and staff that foster excellence on and off the field. The Sea Gulls have won a combined 23 team national championships, 24 individual national championships, and 207 conference championships, and have produced 54 Academic All-Americans.
To Make Tomorrow Yours at Salisbury University, and learn more about Sea Gull Athletics' tradition of excellence, visit
SUSeaGulls.com or follow on social media @SUSeaGulls
