Lady Koala Track and Field Finishes 2nd at AACs; Win 3 more Individual Titles

BLACK MOUNTAIN, N.C. - The Columbia College women's track field team finished in second place at the 2026 AAC Outdoor Championships on Saturday at Montreat College in NC.

Columbia, the defending outdoor champs, totaled 137 points to finish 2nd, 18 points behind team champion Milligan. Brenau finished third with 134 and Montreat fourth with 123. The Lady Koalas also finished 2nd to Milligan in the Indoor AAC Championships as well back in February.

The Koalas added four conference titles in the event to go along with the Hammer Throw title by Doreshia McAllister on Thursday. Winning titles on Saturday were freshman sprinter Dara Gray in the 100 and 200 meter races while Makayla Blango also won the Triple Jump. The women's 4x100 meter relay team also won their event on Friday as well. 

Blango got things going well for the Koalas Saturday morning winning the triple jump in 11.56 meters (nearly 38 ft) for a season-best jump and the #15 mark in the NAIA while freshman Chenoa Haygood was 3rd in 11.42 meters for her best mark and the #24 NAIA mark. The duo combined for 16 team points.

D. Gray won the 100 meters in 11.9 seconds for the 21st-best time in the country on Friday while sophomore Jayla Graham finished 3rd in 12.14 seconds and just missed tying for 2nd by .01. Sophomore Faith Eugene then finished 6th in 12.5 seconds.

The 4x400 meter relay team then placed 2nd on Saturday losing a heartbreaking race by .01 seconds to Montreat college as both teams ran times of 4:01.95. The relay team featured 1) Tylashia Alston, 2) Faith Eugene, 3) Shakayla Burroughs, and 4) Sharetta Jones with Alston running the best time of 56 seconds. It was a season-best time for the Ladies and 33rd-best in the country.

In winning the 200 meters on Saturday, Gray ran a time of 25.08 seconds while Graham again finished third in 25.6 seconds and Eugene coming in 7th in 26.1 seconds. Ty Alston also placed 12th in 26.26 seconds while S. Jones was 16th in 26.5 seconds.

Leading CC in the 400 meters was T. Alston again finishing 6th in one minute flat while S. Jones virtually tied her for 6th in 1:00.16 as well. They combined for 5 team points in that event. In the 1500 meter race on Friday afternoon, senior Juliana Gonzalez finished 10th of 14 in 5:06 while sophomore Avarose Buccino finished 5th in the 3000m Steeplechase on Saturday morninf in 12:41 for four team points and a personal-best time. Freshman Alissa McCann also finished 10th in the steeplechase in 13:40 in her event debut.

In the 5K Racewalk on Friday evening, CC was led by a runner-up finish from Jennyfer Vigueras in 36:09 for her personal-best time while freshman Annsley Howle was 3rd in 40:22 and Amelia Nifong was 7th in 42 minutes as the trio combined for 16 team points.

Junior Qu'Sondra Wideman then finished 10th in the Discus Throw on Saturday morning with a mark of 33.8 meters (111 ft) while sophomore Zulma Carcamo was 15th at a mark of 31.37 meters (102 ft).

The Koala track and field team will now start preparing for the NAIA national meet from May 20-22 in Asheville, NC on UNC-Asheville's campus with at least Doreshia McAllister set to compete in the Hammer throw.

The Women's team broke 11 school records this year combined between indoor and outdoor seasons.