KANSAS CITY, Mo. — The National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics (NAIA) shared its accepted qualifiers for the upcoming 2026 NAIA Men's and Women's Outdoor Track & Field Championships on Wednesday afternoon. According to the release, seven Cavaliers will compete across a total of nine events next week in Asheville, N.C.
 
On the men's side, four Cavs are lined up to run in four track events. Nathan Cremin enters the 800m with the NAIA's top-seeded time, while Ryan Stade possesses the fastest 5000m and third-quickest 10k seeded efforts heading into the national meet. Meanwhile, both Brock Lauer and Hugo Petat-Hemono plan to participate in the 3000m steeplechase. The former owns the fifth-best seeded showing, and the latter ranks sixth among the 31-entrant field.
 
Emma Barnes, Heather Murphy and Macy Parks also anticipate a busy stretch of days on the women's side. Representing Montreat in multis and field events, Barnes starts the NAIA Championships with the heptathlon before finishing the week with the javelin. The senior ranks fourth and 11^th in the heptathlon and the javelin, respectively.
 
Back on the track, Murphy also pulls double duty by running in a pair of long-distance races. The Portarlington, Ireland native enters the 10k with the association's top-seeded time, as well as the second-best 5000m performance. Parks landed a spot in the 1500m field with the 15^th-quickest time among the 20 selected entries.
 
For a complete list of men's national qualifiers, click here. To view the full list of women's national qualifiers, click here.
 
The 2026 NAIA Men's and Women's Outdoor Track & Field Championships are scheduled for May 20-22 at Karl Straus Track on the campus of UNC Asheville in Asheville, N.C.