McMeen, Relay Teams Lead ACU on Day 3 of WAC Championship

Ryan McMeen runs at the 2026 WAC Outdoor Championships on Thursday, May 14, 2026.

Photo by: Western Athletic Conference

McMeen, Relay Teams Lead ACU on Day 3 of WAC Championship

5/16/2026 9:59:00 PM | Track & Field

By: Don Garrett

ARLINGTON, Texas - Ryan McMeen topped off his first outdoor season running for the Wildcats with a flourish as he won the 400 hurdles in a time of 51.59, and the ACU men's and women's teams swept the 4x400 relays on the third and final day of the WAC Outdoor Track and Field Championships on Saturday.

The women won the 4x400 relay with a relay of 3 freshman (Morgan Morris, Anna Vyn, Madelyn McFadden) and a sophomore (Emma Santoro) in a season best time of 3:45.33. In the last event of the meet, the ACU men won the 4x400 relay, composed of Ryan McMeen, Nickens Lemba, Abraham Olufemi-Dada, and Durrell Collins, won the event with a time of 3:10.35, the best time for ACU since 2019.

In the women's team race, ACU finished in 4th with 99 points. Utah Valley won the team race, with Tarleton State in 2nd and UTA in 3rd. For the men's team race, ACU finished in 4th place, with Tarleton State in 1st, and UTA and Utah Valley finishing out the top 3. UTA and Tarleton State will join ACU in helping form the new all-sports United Athletic Conference in the next school.

In the field events, ACU had another solid day – of the 8 field events contested on the final day, ACU scored points in 6 of the events:

Women's discus – 5. Ciara Tilley – 154-7/47.13m with fellow freshman Ella Cockrum just out of the points in 9th place with a throw of 148-3/42.15m
Men's triple jump – 2. Arthur Jenkins – 50-11.5/15.53m; 6. Donovan Ramirez – 48-0.75/14.65m
Women's high jump – 4. Nele Huth – 5-5/1.65m; 8. Kaia Anderson – 5-3.75/1.62m
Men's discus -5. Justin Smithey – 168-2/51.27m; 7. Matthew Udemba – 159-0/48.26m
Women's triple jump – 3. Neriah Williams – 39-3/11.96; 4th Jaeden Thomas – 39-0.5/11.96m (another freshman Mackenzie Flaugher in 9th jumping 36-10.5/11.24m)
Men's high jump – 5. Canaan Fairley – 6-6.25/1.99m

On the track, ACU also saw success in numerous events. In addition to Ryan McMeen and the men's and women's 4x400 relay winning their events, there were also numerous athletes who scored in their respective events:

Women's 4x100 relay – runner-up with a time of 45.65 and with a relay composed of 3 freshmen (Lauren Foxworth, Kee'Lani Whitlock, Darinasia Taylor) and a transfer junior, Chianel Asoburuenwu
Men's 4x100 relay – third place in a time of 41.09, a relay made up of Abraham Olufemi-Dada, Ethan Krause, Durrell Collins, and Miguel Hall.
Women's 100 hurdles – 7. Hana Banks – 14.38
Men's 110 hurdles – 3. Miguel Hall – 13.91
Men's 1500 – Vincent Luffey – 3:51.56
Women's 400 – 3. Emma Santoro – 55.64; 7. Morgan Morris – 57.27
Men's 400 – 5. Nickens Lemba – 48.20
Women's 100 – 4. Chianel Asoburuenwu – 11.46 (only .003 out of 3rd), Kee'Lani Whitlock – 11.68; Lauren Foxworth – 11.74
Men's 100 – 6. Abraham Olufemi-Dada – 10.37
Women's 800 – 8. Anna Vyn – 2:16.15
Women's 200 – 4. Chianel Asoburuenwu – 23.60

Later in the week, the Wildcats will find out who from the team will be participated in the NCAA Division I First Round meet in Fayetteville, Ark.

Coach Miles Smith on the WAC Championship: "I'm really pleased with how our team battled to the end. Day 3 was eventful. We had some great things happen, and we also learned some tough lessons. What better way to cap a championship off than three event champions and sweeping the 4x400's. We became a team today.

I'm so proud of the work we put in on Days 1 and 2 to have so many scoring opportunities. Our WAC veterans like Canaan, Miguel and Natalie really powered us through. And our freshmen, sophomores and transfers really showed up and gave us a glimpse into future and I'm liking what i'm seeing.

We had too many clutch performances to name. Obviously, Ryan becoming the 400H champion was a treat and testament to his hard work. Having three women score in the 100m is something we haven't seen in a while. Our freshman triple jump squad was lights out, and our young throws squad was reliable as always. I want to highlight the way Mariana and Ciara stepped up this weekend. The middle-distance and distance squads really fought HARD for those points in a conference that specializes in their events. This team is going to be good.

We're definitely not satisfied but I can't downplay the amount of growth that happened over the weekend. This is the last WAC Championship ever and we're proud to literally have the last WAC Track and Field Champions ever (4x400's)."