The 2026 NCAA Division I Indoor Track and Field Championships will take place March 13-14 at the Randal Tyson Track Center in Fayetteville, Arkansas. Several universities, including UNI, Boise State, NDSU, USC and Texas A&M, are sending athletes to compete in various events. Coverage will be available on ESPN+ starting at 11 a.m. CT each day.
The championships mark the conclusion of the indoor track and field season for Division I programs. UNI redshirt senior Carter Morton is seeded fourth in the 16-man heptathlon field after setting a UNI and Missouri Valley Conference record of 6,054 points at the Jimmy Grant Alumni Invitational. A Jefferson, Iowa native, Morton earned First Team All-American honors by finishing fifth in the heptathlon at the 2025 NCAA Indoor Championships. At the recent MVC Indoor Championships in Indianapolis, he won the heptathlon, long jump and high jump titles while placing second in the pole vault, contributing 38 points to UNI's second consecutive team title and earning Most Valuable Athlete and Most Outstanding Field Athlete honors.
The heptathlon schedule begins Friday with the 60-meter dash at 11 a.m. CT, followed by long jump, shot put and high jump. Saturday features the 60-meter hurdles, pole vault and 1,000-meter run, concluding at 4 p.m. CT. Morton's competitors include Peyton Bair of Oregon, Kenneth Byrd of Louisville and Luuk Pelkmans of Illinois as the top seeds, along with Zach McGlynn of North Dakota State, Landon Helms of Boise State and others.
Boise State senior Landon Helms, a former Emmett High School standout, qualified with a program and Mountain West Championships record of 5,964 points, ranking eighth nationally. He is the first Boise State athlete to reach the indoor nationals since 2023 and the second ever in the heptathlon event. Helms was named All-Conference following his performance. Teammate Kaiya Robertson qualified in the women's mile with the sixth-fastest time this season.
USC is sending 12 athletes across nine events, while Texas A&M and NDSU also conclude their indoor campaigns at the meet. North Dakota State senior Zach McGlynn will join the heptathlon competition.