Clark Steeplechase Champion with Coaches
Hailey Simco

Men's Track and Field Tom Chatfield

Clark Wins 3000-Meter Steeplechase Championship

RESULTS

EMPORIA, Kan. – Stephen Clark became Lee University's most recent national champion with a first-place finish in the 3000-meter steeplechase Friday evening at the 2026 NCAA Division II Outdoor Track & Field Championships. With the title, he also became the first male athlete in program history to win a national championship during the outdoor season.

The Championships are being held at the Zola Whitten Track in Francis G. Welch Stadium on the campus of Emporia State University.

The Flames have one more chance to add on to their point total, while the Lady Flames have four more opportunities to tally points on Saturday.

 
Team Standings:
  • With the 10 points scored by Clark in the steeplechase, the Flames complete the second of three days of competition tied for 11th with Lake Erie College. The Lady Flames are yet to record any team points.
 
Event Finals:
  • In the only event final of the day for Lee, Clark completed the 3000-meter steeplechase in 8:50.14 to claim the individual Championship by 0.39 seconds over Max Bonenberger of Colorado School of Mines. He led for the first three laps before dropping to fourth position following the fourth and fifth laps. Clark was in third place with two laps to go and was second by 0.33 seconds with one lap remaining. The final lap was his fastest of the race at 1:07.49.
 
Event Preliminaries:
  • Liz Lannom placed eighth in Heat No. 2 of the 100-meter hurdles with a time of 14.36 seconds. Her time was 20th overall and she did not advance to Saturday's final.
  • The men's 4x400-meter relay team of Eli Cobble, Cooper Giddens, Liam Runkle and Gage Whited posted a ninth-place time of 3:08.49 before eventually being disqualified for stepping on the line. The ninth-place finish would not have been good enough to advance to the event final.
 
Upcoming Schedule:
  • Saturday, May 23
    • 4:55 p.m. – Men's 1500m (Finals)
      • Pierre Chauveau
    • 5:05 p.m. – Women's 1500m (Finals)
      • Aria Hawkins
    • 5:45 p.m. – Women's 400m (Finals)
      • Maddox Mayfield
    • 7:55 p.m. – Women's 5000m (Finals)
      • Maria Mitchell
      • Aria Hawkins

Last lap of Clark's 3000m Steeplechase Championship:
 


Stephen Clark post-race interview:

 
 
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