EMPORIA, Kan. – The 2026 NCAA DII Outdoor Track & Field Championships kicked off on Thursday afternoon at Welch Stadium on the campus of Emporia State.

Concordia sophomore Cam Mata earned All-America Second Team honors in the long jump for the second time overall and the first time in the outdoor season. He placed 16^th in the field of 22 competitors, recording a distance of 23' 0.75" (7.03 meters). Mata is the first Golden Bear to earn both indoor and outdoor All-America honors in the same season since Arika Harbo in 2022-23. On the men's side, he is the first since Jakob Tordsen in 2021-22.

Junior Mehlayna Straub competed in the first of two days in the heptathlon, landing in sixth place out of the 16 competitors with four of the seven events in the books. She compiled a total of 3187 points on day one, finishing fourth in the 100-meter hurdles, fifth in the 200-meter dash, eighth in the shot put, and 12^th in the high jump. She set a new personal record in the shot put with a distance of 39' 9.75" (12.13 meters).

Straub will wrap up the heptathlon tomorrow with the long jump (10:30 a.m.), javelin throw (12 p.m.), and 800-meter run (1:30 p.m.).