WILMINGTON, N.C. – After competing in seven regular-season meets, the UNCW men's and women's track and field teams will travel to Elon, North Carolina, for the 2026 Coastal Athletic Association Outdoor Track and Field Championships from May 15-16.
A total of 47 Seahawks are slated to compete at the championship meet, including 19 on the men's side and 28 on the women's side.
UNCW looks to build on its success from the 2025 CAA Outdoor Track and Field Championships, where the Seahawks captured six individual gold medals.
"This week has been refreshing to see this group come together at the right time of the season", said Head Coach Jeff Klaves. "We will keep competing free and relaxed because this group has laid it on the line week in and week out, and they're championship ready. At this stage of the season, I keep going back to our mission statement of 'be the standard', and this year's senior class, and how this group goes about things, has been nothing but the standard of excellence that we want to have year to year. Obviously, we've got to perform on that day. But the major thing I do know is this group is ready. I look forward to going to battle with them at another CAA championship, and I'm proud to be the leader of this group."
Miles Higgins, a 2025 NCAA qualifier, will look to defend his conference title in the javelin throw after winning the event at last year's championship. Higgins enters the meet ranked third in the CAA in the javelin with a mark of 211 feet, 4 inches, and owns one event victory this season after winning at the Charlotte Invitational.
Recent CAA Men's Track Athlete of the Week Cameron Wright, also a 2025 NCAA qualifier, will compete in the 110-meter hurdles and the 100 meters. Wright is currently ranked third in the conference in both events and has won two 110-meter hurdles titles this season at the Charlotte Invitational and the UNCW Seahawk Invitational.
Sadie Buchanan enters the championship ranked 10th in the CAA in the 100-meter hurdles after posting the sixth-fastest time in program history with a 14.10 mark at the UNCW Seahawk Invitational. Buchanan also ranks fourth in the conference in the 400-meter hurdles after setting a program record at the Raleigh Relays with a time of 59.94 seconds, nearly two seconds faster than the previous record set in 2018.
Three-time NCAA qualifier Donovan Lara will look to claim his second consecutive conference title in the high jump after winning last year's championship with a clearance of 6 feet, 9 3/4 inches.
Ivan Poag closed the regular season with four victories in the triple jump, winning at the UNCW Seahawk Invitational, Myrtle Beach Collegiate Challenge, VertKlasse Meeting and Charlotte Invitational. Poag enters the championship tied for seventh in the CAA in the high jump and ranked third in the triple jump. He also qualified for the 2025 NCAA East First Round.
Carly Gordinier ranks second in the conference in the pole vault after winning the event at the UNCW Seahawk Invitational. At the Duke Invitational, Gordinier recorded the third-best vault in program history with a mark of 12 feet, 10 3/4 inches.
The Seahawks also feature a strong pole vault group in Gordinier, Abby Burleson and Bailey Tart, who each rank among the top 10 in the conference. Burleson is tied for second in the CAA, while Tart is tied for eighth.
Jesse Helton enters the championship ranked among the top five in the CAA in both the shot put and discus. Helton set program records in both events this season, recording a discus throw of 174 feet at the VertKlasse Meeting and a shot-put mark of 57 feet, 1 inch at the UNCW Seahawk Invitational.
