CEDAR RAPIDS, Iowa – Benedictine Women's Track earned second place over the weekend at the 2026 Heart of America Athletic Conference Outdoor Track & Field Championships, hosted by Mount Mercy University.
As day two of the meet moved through the various events, the meet became a two-team race between the Raven Women and Central Methodist University. CMU earned the Championship scoring 237.5 points while Benedictine placed second with 198.83 points. The Eagles and the Ravens were the only two schools to break 100 team points as Park placed third with 84 points.
There was a tie for top point scorer for the Women's Championships with Benedictine's Mary Lorang and Park's Rosjai Curtis each scoring 28 points individually.
Lorang won the discus, javelin and placed second in the hammer. Her throw in the javelin not only won her the event, but set a new facility record. In addition to the facility record, her throw of 47.53 meters is now the top mark in the NAIA.
In addition to Lorang's two individual event championships, the Raven Women won 5 additional event championships, one relay and earned 27 overall All-Heart selections. To earn all-conference honors, athletes must finish inside the top six in their event. First, second and third-place results equal first-team, second-team and third-team all-conference while fourth, fifth and sixth-place results equal honorable mention honors.
Maria Connealy (heptathlon), Cecilia Campos (800m, 1,500m), Elizabeth Skendzel (5,000m), Leah Kuhn (3,000m race walk) and the 4x800m relay team of Annie Wilken, Michelle Zarybnicky, Cecilia Campos, Anna Campbell earned event championships. The 4x800 relay set a new Heart record in the event while Campos set a new Heart record in the 800m. Aaron's 10,000 time and Kuhn's 3,000m race walk time set a new facility record for the events.
The following list of athletes are those who earned all-conference honors or who scored points in the meet:
Maria Connealy - heptathlon - first place
Kailyssa Caudle - heptathlon - fourth place
Sophie Nassiri - heptathlon - eighth place
Brynna Gormley - 200m - seventh place; 400m - sixth place
Cecilia Campos - 800m - first place (Heart Record); 1,500m - first place
Anna Campbell - 800m - sixth place; 1,500m - fourth place
Elizabeth Skendzel - 1,500m - second place; 5,000m - first place
Catherine Starrs - 1,500m - fifth place; 3,000m steeplechase - seventh place
Siena Michael - 1,500m - seventh place
Helen Ullrich - 3,000m steeplechase - second place (facility record); 5,000m - fourth place
Catherine Aaron - 5,000m - second place; 10,000m - first place (facility record)
Emilie Nelson - 5,000m - fifth place; 10,000m - third place
Alexa Lamb - 5,000m - sixth place; 10,000m - sixth place
Leah Kuhn - 5,000m race walk - first place (facility record)
Mary Lorang - discus - first place; hammer - second place; javelin - first place (facility record)
Madison Helten - high jump - seventh place; long jump - eighth place; triple jump - fifth place
Evelyn Brandt - pole vault - sixth place
Haley Protz - pole vault - eighth place
Carolyne Argana - shot put - seventh place
4x800m relay (Annie Wilken, Michelle Zarybnicky, Cecilia Campos, Anna Campbell) - first place (Heart Record)
4x100m relay (Maria Connealy, Brynna Gormley, Antonia Smith, Adelyn Bauer) - third place
4x400m relay (Brynna Gormley, Antonia Smith, Anna Campbell, Cecilia Campos) - second place
The Coach of the Year as well as Track and Field Athletes of the Year will be announced later today through the Heart website and social media channels.
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