HARRISONBURG, Va. – The Texas State men and women swept the 2025 Sun Belt Conference Outdoor Track & Field Championships, contested at Sentara Park on the campus of James Madison in Harrisonburg, Va., for the first time in school history.
The Texas State men won the program’s second Sun Belt title with nearly 100 points on the final day of competition to lead the field with 145. Arkansas State finished second with 126 as Louisiana finished third with 114. The Texas State women nearly doubled their score on the final day to earn the program’s fourth outdoor title and repeat as champions with 119 points. Louisiana finished second with 108 points as Southern Miss finished third with 97.
Texas State’s Abigail Parra was named the women’s top meet scorer with 23 points with her performance across the distance races. Arkansas State’s Jacob Pyeatt and App State’s Ethan Lipham were named men’s co-top meet scorers with 20 points as the pair each earned two gold medals.
Over the three day championship, there were 268 personal-best performances with 110 season-best times and marks.
The women’s discus started the final day in Virginia, as Louisiana’s Kimola Hines earned gold in the fifth round with a mark of 49.26m/161-7. The men’s triple jump was decided in the sixth round, as Louisiana’s Jeremy Nelson leapt to the top spot on the podium with a distance of 15.98m/52-5.25. The women’s high jump podium featured a trio of personal-best performances with Alana Simon from Southern Miss earning the gold with a personal-best clearance of 1.77m/5-9.75.
Arkansas State’s Menachem Chen launched himself atop the podium in the men’s discus in the sixth round with a mark of 54.05m/177-4. The women’s triple jump also saw a podium full of personal-best marks as Imani Moore from Georgia Southern earned the gold with a distance of 12.81m/42-0.5.
The final field event of the day did not lack in dramatics as Texas State teammates Aiden Hayes and Kason O’Riley both set personal-best marks, and tied both the Sun Belt and Championship Meet record in the event. A record that had remained untouched since 1994 was challenged as the pair of Bobcats finished first and second clearing 2.25m/7-4.5.
As the championship moved to the track, both the men’s and women’s team races were margined in the single digits. Georgia Southern came out blazing with a new Sun Belt and Championship Meet record time of 43.73 in the women’s 4x100m relay. The Louisiana men captured the title in 39.55, which sits just 0.10 from tying the Meet Record.
Parra claimed the top spot in the women’s 1500m in 4:23.76 as Lipham won his second gold medal of the championships on the men’s side in 3:50.83. The women’s 100m hurdles featured Amanda Kinloch from Coastal Carolina powering through in 13.16 to claim gold. Arkansas State’s Colby Eddowes claimed the top podium spot in the men’s 110m hurdles in 13.51.
The women’s 400m saw a pair of Southern Miss athletes finish atop the podium as Kennedi Sanders won the gold in 53.22. Louisiana’s Lawson Jacobs led a podium filled with personal-best marks for the men’s 400m with a personal-best time of 45.57.
Georgia Southern’s NaJ Watson ran a personal-best 11.30 in the 100m to claim the gold medal. Troy’s Tydreke Thomas entered the championships with a seeded time of 10.13 and ran a 10.14 in the finals to earn gold.
Jaellene Burgess led the 800m from wire to wire in 2:07.41 to finish first as Louisiana’s Joseph Patterson claimed gold in the men’s 800m in 1:50.46. ULM’s Katerina Natsiopoulou earned the gold medal in the women’s 400m hurdles in 59.55. South Alabama’s Kendal White ran a personal-best 50.02 in the men’s 400m hurdles to finish atop the podium.
Georgia Southern swept the women’s 200m podium as Devine Parker ran 23.07 to finish first. Texas State’s Drew Donley won the men’s 200m final with a time of 20.75. Coastal Carolina’s Molly Jones captured a season-best time of 16:52.56 in the women’s 5000m to win gold. Arkansas State’s Pyeatt set a new Championship Meet Record in the men’s 5000m with a time of 13:50.83.
Down to the final relay events, the Southern Miss women’s 4x400m relay team ran a season-best time of 3:36.08 to set a new Championship Meet Record. On the men’s side, Louisiana’s relay team captured the final gold medal with a time of 3:08.65.
The 2025 NCAA outdoor track and field preliminaries will run from May 28-31. The East preliminary will be hosted by the North Florida in Jacksonville, Fla., while the West preliminary will be hosted by the Texas A&M in College Station, Texas. The selection will be announced the week prior to First Round competition on Thursday, May 22.
The top 48 declared student-athletes will be accepted into the preliminary competitions for each individual event. The top 24 declared relay teams will be accepted into the preliminary competitions for each relay event.
Combined events do not attend the preliminary meets. For combined events (Heptathlon and Decathlon), the top 24 declared student-athletes in each event based on their position on the national descending-order list will be accepted directly into the championships.
The NCAA outdoor track and field championships run from June 11-14. Both the men's and women's championships will be run simultaneously at Hayward Field on the campus of the University of Oregon in Eugene, Ore.
2025 Sun Belt Outdoor Track & Field Championships (May 10, 2025)
Men’s Team Scores (Final):
1. Texas State (145)
2. Arkansas State (126)
3. Louisiana (114)
4. South Alabama (108)
5. App State (97)
6. Southern Miss (72)
7. ULM (67)
8. Troy (40)
9. Coastal Carolina (36)
10. Marshall (9)
Women’s Team Scores (Final):
1. Texas State (119)
2. Louisiana (108)
3. Southern Miss (97)
4. Georgia Southern (91)
5. Arkansas State (69)
6. South Alabama (68)
7. Coastal Carolina (63)
8. App State (50)
9. Troy (43)
10. Marshall (36)
T11. ULM (30)
T11. James Madison (30)
13. Georgia State (15)