NEW ORLEANS – Nine Sun Belt Conference student-athletes received U.S. Track & Field and Cross Country Coaches Association (USTFCCCA) All-America honors for their efforts at the 2026 NCAA Division I Outdoor Track & Field Championships that concluded in Eugene, Ore. over the weekend.
 
First Team All-America status is awarded to finishers 1-8 (individual events and relays) in each event at the NCAA Division I Outdoor Track & Field Championships. All finalists in an eight-person final automatically earn First Team All-America status, regardless of place and participation in the final round of the event in question. Second Team All-America status is awarded to finishers 9-16 (individual events) and 9-16 (relays) in each event at the NCAA Division I Outdoor Track & Field Championships.
 
Seven male competitors and a duo of women earned the honor, headlined by Texas State’s Elisabet Runarsdottir, who claimed her second national title in the women’s hammer throw in three years.
 
Runarsdottir launched a personal-best 73.19m/240-1 on her third attempt to take the lead in the event. The final attempt from Minnesota’s Anthonett Nabwe came up .05 meters shy as Runarsdottir gave the Sun Belt its fourth national champion in four years.
 
App State’s Matthew Gray cleared 5.60m/18-4.5 on his first attempt to finish fifth in the men’s pole vault for First Team All-America honors. Texas State’s Lara Roberts also earned First Team All-America honors in the women’s hammer throw with a season-best mark of 69.05/226-6 on her second attempt.
 
Arkansas State’s Menachem Chen finished 13th in the men’s shot put with a mark of 18.72m/61-5 on his final attempt to earn Second Team All-America recognition. South Alabama’s Reuben Booyson finished just outside the top ten at No. 11 in the men’s javelin with a personal-best throw of 73.10m/239-10 on his third attempt to also earn Second Team honors. Tyler Nichols from Southern Miss earned Second Team recognition in the men’s long jump on his second attempt with a mark of 7.52m/24-8.25.
 
Texas State’s Easton Hammond placed 16th in the men’s decathlon with 7,360 points to earn Second Team honors as teammates Aiden Hayes and Ja’Shaun Lloyd followed suite with Second Team All-America honors. Hayes cleared the first two heights on his first attempt to place tied for nineth in the event as Lloyd finished 15th overall in the men’s 110m hurdles with a time of 13.449 in the first heat.
 
2026 Sun Belt Conference NCAA Outdoor Track & Field All-America
First Team – Lara Roberts, Texas State – Women’s Hammer Throw
First Team – Elisabet Runarsdottir, Texas State – Women’s Hammer Throw *National Champion*
First Team – Matthew Gray, App State – Men’s Pole Vault
Second Team – Menachem Chen, Arkansas State – Men’s Shot Put
Second Team – Reuben Booysen, South Alabama – Men’s Javelin Throw
Second Team – Tyler Nichols, Southern Miss – Men’s Long Jump
Second Team – Easton Hammond, Texas State – Men’s Decathlon
Second Team – Aiden Hayes, Texas State – Men’s High Jump
Second Team – Ja’Shaun Lloyd, Texas State – Men’s 110M Hurdles