Southern Miss men’s and women’s track and field teams began the 2026 Sun Belt Conference Outdoor Track & Field Championships on May 14 at Jaguar Track, competing in both preliminary and final events.
The opening day saw the Golden Eagle women tied for seventh place with five points after four final events, while the men also held a three-way tie for seventh place with three points through three scored events. Several athletes set personal bests or advanced to finals in their respective disciplines.
In field events, Qamarion Oatis achieved a personal best in the men’s hammer throw with a mark of 193-6 (58.99m), earning eighth place and one point for Southern Miss. Ryan DeBarber added two more points by finishing seventh in the men’s javelin throw, reaching a distance of 190-11 (58.19m) on his final attempt.
On the track, Corinne Croy ran a personal best time of 37:01.02 in the women’s 10,000 meters to finish fourth overall. In preliminary races, Addison Rainey and Cadence Lapp secured spots in Saturday’s women’s 1,500-meter finals by placing third and fourth respectively in their heats. Javel Fullerton advanced to the men’s 400-meter hurdles finals after recording one of the top times of the day at 50.87 seconds.
Other notable performances included Chrisiyona Quarles setting a new personal best in the women’s 400-meter hurdles and Valentino Rudolph winning his heat in the men’s 200 meters with a time of 20.88 seconds to finish third overall among all competitors.
Competition will continue tomorrow starting at 11 a.m., featuring additional track preliminaries and field event finals throughout the day.
