Cullowhee, N.C. – The Western Carolina track and field teams open 2026 in new territory this weekend as they take on the UNC Asheville Collegiate Opener at the freshly minted indoor facility at Tryon International in Mills Springs, N.C.
While the Catamounts were originally scheduled to split for the Clemson Invitational, they will instead solely compete at the UNCA-hosted meet this weekend. Events for the Catamounts begin at 10 a.m. on Saturday, Jan. 10, with the women's pole vault and the 3000m run before the meet concludes at 5:15 p.m. with the men's and women's 4x400m relays.
In addition to the host Bulldogs, the Catamounts are one of 12 teams competing in the one-day meet and will share the track with fellow NCAA DI teams High Point and Appalachian State. Student-athletes from Carson Newman, Emmanuel, Livingstone, Lincoln Memorial, Tusculum, Columbia International, Coker, Warren Wilson, and Montreat will also be in attendance.
Saturday's event is the inaugural Collegiate Track and Field meet in Tryon Athletics state-of-the-art Mondo Super X 720 Indoor Track.
Saturday's Meet:
UNC Asheville Collegiate Opener at Tryon International – 10 a.m. - 5:15 p.m.
Live Results: https://tinyurl.com/5a2mstet
Teams (13): Appalachian State, Carson Newman, Coker, Columbia International, Emmanuel, High Point, Lincoln Memorial, Livingstone, Montreat, Tusculum, UNC Asheville, Warren Wilson, Western Carolina
Catamounts to Watch:
Select members of the Catamounts cross country and distance squads are set to make their track & field season debuts in Mill Springs, with Grace Lane and Jessica Connole slated to compete in the women's 3000m and Samuel Corso, Noah Luke, Alexander Ruge, and Bradley White running in the men's event.
WCU is again expected to be well-represented in the short sprints, with 20 Catamounts competing between the 60m – 300m sprints, evenly split across the men's and women's events. Outside of the short sprints, the Catamounts will also compete heavily in the women's horizontal jumps, with four entries in the long and triple jumps each. Gisele Dulnuan-Kersey, Octavia Massena, and multis competitor Kendal Hudson are slated to compete in both events.
Additionally, standout hurdler CJ McFerrin is scheduled to compete in the 60m hurdles, leading a quartet of Catamounts in the event, including multis athletes Dakota Braucher and Ethan Hibberts.
Up Next for The Catamounts:
The Catamounts will return to the Tryon International indoor facility the next two weekends as well, competing in the Tryon International Winter Classic on Jan. 16-17, as well as the ECE "Banked is Best" Invitational on Jan. 30. WCU's first meet away from North Carolina is the Darius Dixon Memorial Invitational, hosted by Liberty in Lynchburg, Va., on Feb. 13-14.
