THE FLATS – The Georgia Tech men’s and women’s track and field team had six athletes named as qualifiers for the 2026 NCAA East First Round in Lexington, Kentucky, as announced on Thursday.
The championships will run from Wednesday, May 27 through Saturday, May 30 from the UK Track & Field Complex. The top-12 athletes from each event will secure qualification to the 2026 NCAA Outdoor National Championships in Eugene, Oregon.
Billy Carlton leads off the squad with a top-15 national time at 8:38.49 in the 3000m steeplechase, standing as the new program record. The junior will return to the first round meet after his debut appearance in 2025. He claimed bronze at this year’s ACC Outdoor Championships and earned All-ACC First Team honors.
High jumper Kendall Ward secured her second consecutive qualification to the first round after her strong end to the campaign. She cleared 1.75m jumps in all three of her final appearances of the regular season and will look to return to Eugene after her national championship appearance last season.
Taylor Wade will appear in his first NCAA competition on the track for the 5000m. He set the program record at 13:40.71 in the 5000 event at the Penn Relays, currently ranked among the top-25 at 22nd. This will mark as his third NCAA postseason appearance after racing in the last two NCAA South Region Cross Country Championships.
Sophomore thrower Tahir Hines will compete in the hammer event after rewriting the record book with his 64.50m hammer throw, setting top-five program marks in every appearance this season. Matt Castronuovo will join Carlton in the steeplechase event with his top-five program time at 8:48.08. Distance runner Lottie Chappell claimed one of the final spots in the women’s 1500m at 4:16.53.
Full Steam Ahead
Full Steam Ahead is a $500 million fundraising initiative to achieve Georgia Tech athletics’ goal of competing for championships at the highest level in the next era of intercollegiate athletics. The initiative will fund transformative projects for Tech athletics, including renovations of Bobby Dodd Stadium at Hyundai Field (the historic home of Georgia Tech football), the Zelnak Basketball Center (the practice and training facility for Tech basketball) and O’Keefe Gymnasium (the venerable home of Yellow Jackets volleyball), as well as additional projects and initiatives to further advance Georgia Tech athletics through program wide-operational support. All members of the Georgia Tech community are invited to visit atfund.org/FullSteamAhead for full details and renderings of the renovation projects, as well as to learn about opportunities to contribute online.
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