FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. (Mar. 14, 2026) – Northern Arizona’s Colin Sahlman cemented his legacy in Northern Arizona University and Big Sky Conference history this weekend, as he secured an individual national championship and was part of a national championship winning relay team at the 2026 NCAA Division I Indoor Track & Field National Championships.
With a time of 19:19. 95, Northern Arizona’s men’s distance medley relay team comprised of Rheinhardt Harrison, Josiah Johnson, Tor Hotung-Davidsen and Sahlman made Big Sky Conference history on Friday evening as the first relay team representing the league to win a national championship on the men’s indoor circuit. They edged out Arkansas, Virginia Tech, Michigan and Washington, who all rounded out the top-five.
Sahlman followed that up on Saturday with another national championship in the men’s 3,000-meter that was surrounded by controversy. Initially, it appeared that Sahlman would be the national runner-up, but following a review of the race New Mexico’s was disqualified from the competition, which resulted in Sahlman claiming the gold medal.
With this result, Sahlman joins both Nico Young (3K and 5K in 2024) and Abdihamid Nur (3K and 5K in 2022) as Lumberjacks to complete a double at the NCAA Indoor National Championships.
Hotung-Davidsen also competed in the men’s mile, where he secured a 15
th place finish for the Lumberjacks to earn Second Team All-American honors. He finished the race in a time of 3:59.87.
With 20 team points, Northern Arizona finished seventh as a team at the meet.
On the women’s side, Northern Arizona’s Hayley Burns claimed a pair of All-American titles in Fayetteville, competing in a pair of events herself. She claimed First Team All-American honors in the women’s mile with a seventh place finish, and Second Team honors in the women’s 3,000-meter with a 12
th place finish.
The Bobcats of Montana State claimed a pair of Second Team All-American honors in women’s field events. On Friday, Hailey Coey finished in 11
th place in the women’s long jump with a mark of 6.24m (20-5¾) to secure Second Team status. On Saturday, Sydney Brewster placed 12
th in the women’s shot put with a toss of 16.96m (55-7¾) to join her teammate on the All-American Second Team.
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