MYRTLE BEACH, SC – The Francis Marion University men's and women's track & field programs will compete at the 2026 Conference Carolinas Championships from April 23-25 at the Doug Shaw Memorial Stadium in Myrtle Beach, S.C. The meet gets underway at 3 p.m. on Thursday, before the track events start at 6 p.m.

Admission for the event will be $12 per day or $26 for an all-tournament pass. Tickets must be purchased through Conference Carolinas' partnership with HomeTown Ticketing.

A combined 22 athletes (12 men, 10 women) will compete across 21 events at the three-day league championship, with a majority of the Patriots participating on Friday and Saturday.

The FMU women's squad is looking to carry over a strong performance during the indoor campaign after placing sixth overall at the conference championships.

Senior Rileigh Lacy, a local product of Darlington High School, enters the pole vault with the top mark in the conference (3.36m) and will compete to retain her individual conference title after winning the event in 2025.

A native of Darlington, S.C., sophomore Aukeyonna Sims makes her second trip to the outdoor championships, boasting the second-best marks in the long jump (5.75m) and high jump (1.65m). She reached the podium in 2025 in the high jump with a third-place finish.

The trio of junior Catherine Green, sophomore Jazmine McDonald-Craft, and freshman Skyy Ruben will look to make noise in the throws events this year. McDonald-Craft is the reigning individual champion in the discus. She holds third-best marks in the discus (43.06m) and shot put (12.37m) entering the league event. Green ranks fourth in the discus (42.68m) while Ruben sits fifth overall (37.92m). In the shot put, Green holds the seventh-best distance (11.78m) in the Conference Carolinas, and Ruben ranks 10th (11.22m).

On the men's side, graduate student Ryan Hunter enters as the reigning champion in the javelin after claiming the crown in 2025. He ranks second in the Conference Carolinas in the event at 67.04 meters, which also sits 15th nationally in NCAA Division II.

Sophomore Rashawn Byrd will compete in the triple jump and holds the sixth-best distance in the league (14.24m).

Additionally in the javelin, freshman Blake Hamilton ranks inside the top-10 overall entering his first conference championship with a mark of 50.13 meters.

Sophomore Davin Staley is set to compete in the 400 meters and sits ninth overall with a time of 48.60 seconds.