COMPLETE RESULTS

VIRGINIA BEACH, Va. – Aria Hawkins became the latest Lee University athlete to earn a national championship Saturday afternoon at the 2026 NCAA Division II Indoor Track & Field Championships. The event was co-hosted by Norfolk State University and Visit Virginia Beach at the Virginia Beach Sports Center.

Hawkins entered the weekend as the No. 3 seed in the 3000-meter run with a qualifying time of 9:15.31. The senior started the race in fifth place for the first 600 meters before dropping to seventh at the 800-meter where she was about one second behind the leader.

She remained between sixth and seventh position over the next 600 meters and jumped into the top four at the 1600 meter mark. Hawkins remained fourth until the 2200-meter time check where she jumped into second behind Ava O'Connor of Adams State. With under 200 meters remaining, Hawkins made her move to pass O'Connor and claim the championship with a time of 9:18.46. O'Connor was close behind at 9:19.24.

Earlier on Saturday, Maddox Mayfield finished seventh in the 400-meter dash after crossing the finish line at 54.35 seconds. Blessing Akintoye of West Texas A&M was the event winner with a time of 52.87 seconds.

Brynn Depinet opened the final day competing in the pole vault. She was unsuccessful in her three attempts at 3.77 meters and finished with no height.

The Lady Flames accumulated 15 points to tie for 13^th in the team standings. Hawkins tallied 10 points with her championship and Mayfield added two more with her placement in the 400. The two were half of the DMR team that contributed three more points on Friday.

The Flames' DMR scored two points on Friday with a seventh-place finish and tied for 45^th in the team standings.

The Lee teams return to action on March 20 as they open the outdoor season at home in the Lee University Invitational. The meet is scheduled for March 20-21 at Ray Conn Sports Complex.


DAY ONE RECAP
Liz Lannom began the day for Lee in the preliminary round of the 60-meter hurdles. The top two finishers in each heat and the next two top times earned a spot in Saturday's final. Lannom placed fourth in Heat No. 2 with a time of 8.446 seconds and finished in ninth as the first runner outside the qualifying spots. The last qualifier by time was Ashanti Harvey of Minnesota State at 8.405 seconds. Lannom was seeded ninth with a time of 8.40.

Maddox Mayfield entered nationals as the last qualifier in the 400-meter dash with a time of 54.74 seconds. Following Friday's preliminary, Mayfield secured the final spot in the final with a time of 54.09 seconds after finishing fourth in her heat.

Edimo Ninteretse improved one spot from his qualifying standing. He was seeded 13^th with a time of 13:53.31 and placed 12^th after completing the 5000-meter run at 14:05.57. Luca Poppe of Wingate was the winner at 13:47.22.

The men's distance medley relay team of Stephen Clark, Aiden Shaw, William Adkins and Pierre Chauveau placed seventh with a combined time of 9:45.84. The Flames entered as the 11^th seed with a qualifying time of 9:44.24. Pittsburg State claimed the relay win after crossing the finish line at 9:39.95.

Katie Beam, Mayfield, Kaylen Owen and Aria Hawkins teamed up to place sixth in the distance medley relay with a time of 11:33.63. They entered the day as the fifth seed (11:28.93). CSU-Pueblo was the race winner with an NCAA DII and meet record of 11:08.20.