LEXINGTON, VA. -- Furman won three events Friday to open the 2026 Southern Conference Indoor Track and Field Championship, which is being held this weekend at the Corps Physical Training Facility in Lexington, Va.

The Paladin women continued their dominance in the distance medley relay, winning the event for the tenth-straight year.  Sophomores Jais Ward, Delaney Vickers, and Claire Cook joined senior Camryn Wennersten to set a new conference championship record with a time of 11:20.41, breaking the old record of 11:25.60, which was set by Furman in 2023, and winning the event by almost 40 seconds.  

Freshman Tessa Walter was named to the SoCon All-Freshman Team after winning the 3,000m with a time of 9:44.20.  Sophomores Zoie Lamanna and Katie Sobieraj finished in fifth (9:57.24) and sixth (10:13.19) place, respectively, while sophomore Joiner Evans turned in a time of 10:16.49 for eighth place.  

The Paladin men captured the first six spots in the 3,000m.  Junior Brayden Seymour won the event with a time of 8:08.88, while graduate student Albert Velikonja was second at 8:09.82.  Junior Chris Knight took third place at 8:10.35, followed by senior Colton Kempney in fourth at 8:14.40.  Graduate student Evan Guzman finished fifth (8:15.10), followed by Luke Taylor (8:17.34) in sixth place. 

For the second year in a row, six Paladins advanced to Sunday's 800m finals.  Graduate student Bryn Woodall posted the second-best qualifying time at 1:52.49, while freshman Jack Wallace was third at 1:52.83.  Sophomore Alex Friedli qualified in eighth with a time of 1:55.39.  On the women's side, Cook qualified in third place with a time of 2:15.05, followed by freshman Annie Miller in fourth at 2:15.19.  Vickers qualified in fifth place with a time of 2:15.23.

All four Furman women advanced in the mile on Friday.  Wennersten led all runners at 5:04.79, while Miller qualified in second place with a time of 5:04.90.  Ward qualified fourth with a time of 5:05.43, followed by freshman Kate Bannigan in fifth place with a time of 5:05.91.  

After the first day of competition, Samford leads the men's meet with 59 points.  The Paladins sit in second with 44 points, followed by Western Carolina in third with 40 points.  On the women's side, Samford scored 71 points on day one to take the lead over Wofford, who is in second place with 51 points.  Western Carolina is currently third with 46 points, while Furman is in fourth place with 28 points.

The final day of competition will begin Saturday morning at 10 a.m. with the men's triple jump.  Running events start at 11:45 a.m. with the men's 5,000m.  Furman will compete in the men's and women's 800m, mile, 5,000m, and 4x400m relay on Saturday.  The Paladin men are looking to win their tenth-straight title in the mile, while the women are looking for their tenth-straight championship in the 5,000m. 

SoCon Indoor Track and Field Championships - Day 1 Complete Furman Results
Women's Results 
60m Prelims
14th Sierra Bower 11.55

800m Prelims
3rd Claire Cook 2:15.05Q
4th Annie Miller 2:15.19Q
5th Delaney Vickers 2:15.23Q
14th Tara Watkins 2:20.88
16th Anna Graves 2:21.46
17th Clair Garrett 2:22.65

Mile Prelims
1st Camryn Wennersten 5:04.79Q
2nd Annie Miller 5:04.90Q
4th Jais Ward 5:05.43Q
5th Kate Bannigan 5:05.91q

3,000m
1st Tessa Walter 9:44.20
5th Zoie Lamanna 9:57.24
6th Katie Sobieraj 10:13.19
8th Joiner Evans 10:16.49

Distance Medley Relay
1st Ward, Vickers, 11:20.41
Cook, Wennersten

Men's Results 
200m Prelims
13th Owen Delaney 23.31
15th Luke Milman 23.68

400m Prelims
10th Leland Bishop 50.04

800m Prelims
2nd Bryn Woodall 1:52.49Q
3rd Jack Wallace 1:52.83Q
8th Alex Friedli 1:55.39Q

3,000m 
1st Brayden Seymour 8:08.88
2nd Albert Velikonja 8:09.82
3rd Chris Knight 8:10.35
4th Colton Kempney 8:14.40
5th Evan Guzman 8:15.10
6th Luke Taylor 8:17.34

Distance Medley Relay
2nd Youngblood, Bishop, 10:06.33
Wallace, Tonnos

Team Scores
Men (5 of 17 events completed)
1 Samford 59
2 Furman 44
3 Western Carolina 40
4 VMI 27
5 Wofford 13
6 UNCG 7
7 Citadel 4

Women (6 of 17 events completed)
1 Samford 71
2 Wofford 51
3 Western Carolina 46
4 Furman 28
5 ETSU 17
6 VMI 11
7 Chattanooga 6
8 Citadel 2
8 UNCG 2

Women's All-Freshman – Day 1
3,000m
Tessa Walter, Furman