ALLENDALE, Mich. – The NCAA Division II Men's and Women's Track and Field Committee has announced the participants for the 2026 NCAA Division II Men's and Women's Outdoor Track and Field Championships yesterday via press release on ncaa.com. Forty five athletes, 16 women and 29 men, will compete for Grand Valley State at the three-day championships. The meet will be held at Welch Stadium in Emporia, Kansas from Thursday, May 21 through Saturday, May 23.
Complete List of Qualifiers
Student-athletes qualified for the championships by reaching a provisional standard established for each event. For each individual event contested, the top 22 declared student-athletes were accepted into the competition, the top 16 declared relay teams, one per institution, were accepted.
Laker track and field enters the championships as the No. 1 ranked men's and No. 5 ranked women's teams in NCAA DII,
as announced by the U.S. Track & Field and Cross Country Coaches Association (USTFCCCA) earlier this week. GVSU also leads the nation with a total of 28 entries to the Championships (individual and relay event entries).
Grand Valley State is one of two institutions, the other being Pittsburg State, that has all four relay squads, the men's and women's 4x100m and 4x400m, competing at the national championships. In the 4x100m relay, the Laker ladies are seeded third at a program-record 44.73, while the men rank 15th at 40.04. The 4x400m has the men seeded seventh at 3:08.31 and the women 13th with an entry time of 3:40.65.
Lakers are seeded in the top 10 in 22 individual events,14 men's and eight women's, while XX of those athletes occupy the top five.
Marcus Gelpi is seeded second in high jump (2.19m);
Brooke Bowers (pole vault, 4.26m),
Koby Fraaza (5000m, 13:40.61),
Flynn Pumpa (3000m steeplechase, 8:43.63) and
Michael Griffey (hammer throw, 69.28m) rank third; Fraaza (10000m, 28:52.63) and
Sebastian Tesch (hammer throw, 68.33) are seeded fourth and
Abigail VanderKooi (10000m, 34:08.50) and
Owen Westerkamp (3000m steeplechase, 8:46.22) rank fifth.
No. 1/5 Grand Valley State track and field begins competition at the 2026 NCAA Division II Men's and Women's Outdoor Track and Field Championships on Thursday, May 21. Championships continue Friday and Saturday at Welch Stadium in Emporia, Kansas. More information regarding the championships may be found at
ncaa.com and will be posted to gvsulakers.com in the coming days.
