WILMORE, Ky. – Sterling College Track and Field made some noise at the 2026 NCCAA Outdoor Track and Field Championship with four Warriors claiming the title of national champion in their individual events. The athletes include Belle Barnett in the women’s high jump, Charles Jones in the men’s long jump and men’s triple jump, Blake Robertson in the men’s discus throw and Cedric Wilson in the men’s high jump. As a team, the men finished fifth with 71 team points while the women finished 13th with 22 points.
For the men, Sterling dominated the jumps with Charles Jones defending his title in both the triple jump and the long jump. He won the triple jump with a mark of 14.00m (45-11.25) and won the long jump with a mark of 7.16m (23-6). Kevin Jones also competed in the long jump where he finished 17th with a mark of 5.88m (19-3.5).
Cedric Wilson won the high jump, clearing a new personal best of 2.03m (6-7.75) to win the event. C. Jones was right behind him finishing also clearing 2.03m (6-7.75) with a new personal best, but finished second due to misses at previous heights.
Blake Robertson was huge for the Warriors in the throws. Winning the discus with a throw of 46.52m (152-7). He also scored points in the hammer throw with a heave of 52.04m (170-9) to finish second and a fourth-place finish in the shot put with a mark of 14.96m (49-1).
Calen Wente also scored points for Sterling in the discus throw where he finished fifth with a personal best throw of 43.55m (142-10). Also competing in the discus were Keaton Miller and Brayden Kermode who finished 17th and 20th with marks of 37.11m (121-9) and 34.44m (113-0), respectively. In the hammer throw, Kermode was one place outside of scoring, finishing ninth with a personal best throw of 42.52m (139-6) while Wente finished 14th with a heave of 38.06m (124-10). Miller competed in the shot put where he finished 18th with a mark of 12.69m (41-7.75).
Rounding out the field events was James Dickerman who finished 11th in the javelin throw with a mark of 47.46m (155-8).
On the track, Wilson was able to score points in the 110m high hurdles with a fourth-place finish and a time of 15.60. He was one place out of point contention in the 400m hurdles, running a personal best time of 58.61.
Also scoring points for the Warriors on the track was Camryn Gantt who ran a personal best time of 34:40.25 to finish eighth in the 10,000m run. Closing out the meet for the men’s team was the 4x400m relay comprised of David Sullivan, Jacob Tonne, Wesley Brantley and Ian Chrisler. The team ran a time of 3:43.87 to finish 11th.
For the women, Belle Barnett claimed the title of national champion in the women’s high jump where she won the event with a clearance of 1.62m (5-3.75).
Aliya McClanahan also proved to be a big point scorer with third-place finishes in both the javelin and the discus. She had a personal best throw of 36.96m (121-3) in the javelin and a mark of 40.40m (132-6) in the discus.
Also competing in the throws was Briana Croisant. She represented the Lady Warriors in the hammer throw finishing 11th with a heave of 35.64m (116-11).
Rounding out the competition for the women was Claire Miller, the sole Lady Warrior on the track. She ran the 5,000m run and finished 19th with a time of 21:32.11.
Sterling will close out the year at the 2026 NAIA Outdoor Track and Field Championship hosted in Asheville, N.C. on Wednesday-Friday, May 20-22.
Be sure to check for news and updates on Sterling Warrior Athletics on Facebook (/SCWarriors), Twitter (@SterlingCSports), and Instagram (sterlingcsports), as well as the hashtag #SwordsUp. Watch the Warriors’ live home events on the Sterling College Sports Network.
