DENTON, Texas – Wichita State is set for the American Conference Outdoor Track and Field Championships hosted by North Texas at Norma Knobel Hunt Stadium Thursday through Saturday.
 
Events start at 10:30 a.m. on Thursday, 10 a.m. on Friday, and 1:30 on Saturday, and team champions will crowned after the 4x400-meter relays at 8 p.m. on Saturday.
 
The Wichita State men enter the competition as the projected favorite to win the team title as the Shockers go for their third outdoor team title in five years, but it will be another tight battle with back-to-back champion South Florida, who is coming off an American Conference Indoor Championship win. The Wichita State women will battle for a top-three finish, while Charlotte is the favorite to win its third-straight team title.
 
HISTORICALLY
The Wichita State recorded back-to-back upsets of Houston in the men's team competition at the 2022 and 2023 AAC Outdoor Championships. The Shockers overcame significant deficits in the projections both years. In 2023, the Shocker men won the title without winning a single individual event title, using their depth and balance to score points in 15 of 21 events.
 
At last year's outdoor conference championships, the Shocker men finished runner up with 155 points while South Florida claimed its second straight, and the Wichita State women placed sixth with 68 points while Charlotte won with 123.  The Shocker won five individual men's titles and two women's titles, and Jason Parrish was named the American Conference Outdoor Championship Most Outstanding Performer with his winning time of 49.17 in the 400-meter hurdles.
 
At the 2026 American Conference Indoor Championships, the Shocker men narrowly missed the win as South Florida won the meet 134.5-132, and the Wichita State women took seventh.
 
 
SHOCKERS RANKED IN PODIUM POSITION
Elkana Kipruto – 5,000m – 13:35.77 – No.1
Elkana Kipruto – 10,000m – 28:09.21 – No.1
Kipruto, a sophomore transfer from Stephen F. Austin, is set for his first track and field championship meet with the Shockers after winning the American Conference Cross Country title and going on to earn All-Region and All-American awards. Kipruto broke Wichita State's 5,000-meter program record in the indoor season opener and ran the second-fastest 3,000-meter time in school history at Arkansas. He won the indoor conference 5K and finished fourth in the 3K before opening his outdoor season with a school record-breaking 5,000-meter win at the Raleigh Relays. He went on to break the school record in the 10,000 meters at the Bryan Clay Invitational.
 
Lucy Ndungu – 10,000m – 33:20.55 – No. 1
Ndungu, a redshirt-senior from St. Louis, Mo. returns to the outdoor championship after redshirting last track and field season due to an injury. She was the 2023 American Conference cross country runner-up and went on to be the outdoor conference 5,000 and 10,000 runner-up, qualifying to the NCAA Outdoor Championships and earning honorable mention recognition in the 10,000 meters. Earlier this year, Ndungu finished runner up in the conference 5,000 meters and fifth in the 3,000 meters.
 
Josh Parrish – 110m Hurdles – 13.46 – No. 1
Josh Parrish – Long Jump – 7.85m/25'9.25" – No. 1
Parrish, a junior from Olathe, Kan., has recorded nine podium finishes between indoor and outdoor in four different events over his first two and a half seasons with the Shockers. He is the reigning 110-meter hurdles champion and has finished on the long jump podium in both of his first two seasons. Last season, Parrish qualified to the NCAA Outdoor Championships in the hurdles, long jump and 4x400-meter relay. Earlier this year, Parrish finished runner up in the indoor conference 60-meter hurdles and long jump and was named the American Conference Indoor Championship Most Valuable Performer, scoring 22.5 points. He was also named the American Conference Most Outstanding Performer, running 7.70 in the hurdles prelim.
 
Jason Parrish – 400m Hurdles – 50.22 – No. 1
Parrish, a junior from Olathe, Kan., is coming off a successful sophomore season, in which he was named Second Team All-American in the 400-meter hurdles and earned honorable mention recognition in the 4x400-meter relay. He is a five-time all-conference performer and is the reigning 400-meter hurdles champion. Parrish was named the 2025 American Conference Outdoor Championship Most Outstanding Track Performer, running 49.17 in the 400-meter hurdles.
 
Shellamae Farmer – Pole Vault – 4.13m/13'6.5" – No. 1
Farmer, a sophomore from Hoisington, Kan., leads the conference in the pole vault after clearing 4.13m at the Shocker Open. Farmer finished fourth at this year's indoor championship and placed seventh at last year's outdoor championship.
 
Jelese Alexander – High Jump – 1.83m/6'0" – No. 2
Jelese Alexander – Long Jump – 6.37m/20'10.75" – No. 2
Alexander, a senior from Trinidad and Tobago, enters the competition ranked second in both the high jump and long jump. Alexander placed runner up in the high jump at this year's American Conference Indoor Championships, earning all-conference recognition. She tied Shocker great Destiny Masters for No. 3 all-time in school history in the high jump with her clearance at Arkansas and also broke the Shockers' long jump school record at Arkansas. A Southern Mississippi transfer, Alexander was also named Third Team All-Sun Belt Conference in the high jump in 2025.
 

Kylie Scott – Pole Vault – 4.06m/13'3.75" – No. 2
Scott, a sophomore from St. Louis, Mo., joined the four-meter club at the Ichabod Invitational. As a freshman, she placed fourth at the indoor conference meet and ninth outdoor, and as a sophomore earned all-conference recognition for her third-place performance at the indoor championship.
 
Jabari Armstrong – 110m Hurdles – 13.79 – No. 3
Wichita State freshman Jabari Armstrong is following in his uncle Shannon Armstrong's footsteps. Shannon Armstrong was a 60-meter hurdles All-American in 2004 and set Wichita State records in the 200 meters and 60-meter hurdles before the Parrish twins broke both records earlier this season. Jabari Armstrong has steadily improved his time throughout the outdoor season, running the No. 6 time in school history to finish second at the Shocker Open last time out.
 
Chairo Ogbebor – 100m – 10.17 – No. 3
Ogbebor, a sophomore from Halton Hills, Ontario, Canada, returns for his second season with the Shockers after winning the American Conference outdoor long jump title and qualifying to the NCAA Outdoor West Prelims as a freshman. Earlier this year, at the Coach Wilson Invitational, he broke Wichita State's indoor 60-meter dash program record, running 6.65 to win the final. At the American Conference Indoor Championships, Ogbebor was the 60-meter dash runner up and placed 11^th in the long jump. To begin the outdoor season, Ogbebor ran 10.17 to break Wichita State's school record in the 100 meters at the ESU Spring Open and matched that time wind legal last time out at the Shocker Open.
 
Kaleb Tesmer – High Jump – 2.11m/6'11" – No. 3
Tesmer, a sophomore from Olathe, Kan., is this year's American Conference indoor high jump champion and placed sixth at last year's outdoor championship.
 
Darius Graham – High Jump – 2.09m/6'10.25" – No. 3
Graham, a sophomore from Poplar Bluff, Mo., cleared seven feet in at his high school state meet and holds a collegiate best of 2.08m/6'9.75". He placed ninth at last year's outdoor championship and sixth at the indoor championship earlier this year.
 
Travon Williams – Long Jump – 7.67m/25'2" – No. 3
Williams, a sophomore from Leander, Texas, placed fourth in the long jump at last year's American Conference Outdoor Championship.


Beau Kerschen – Hammer – 59.17m/194'1" – No. 3
Kerschen, a senior from Andale, Kan., placed sixth at last year's outdoor championship in the hammer. He threw a personal best last time out at the Shocker Open and is coming off a seventh place weight throw performance at the American Indoor Championship.
 
ROAD TO EUGENE
The 2026 NCAA Division I Outdoor Championships will take place June 10-14 in Eugene, Ore. at Hayward Field. This year for the west region, the road to Eugene goes through Fayetteville, Ark., where the top 48 individual athletes and the top 24 relays in the region will compete at the NCAA West Preliminaries (NCAA First Round) May 27-30 for a spot at the NCAA Outdoor Championships. The top 12 in each event advance to the championship. Combined event athletes (heptathlon and decathlon) do not attend the First Rounds, but instead, the top 24 athletes overall advance directly to the NCAA Championships in Eugene.
 
AMERICAN CONFERENCE LEADERS
MEN
Elkana Kipruto – 5,000m
Elkana Kipruto – 10,000m
Josh Parrish – 110H
Jason Parrish – 400H
Josh Parrish – Long Jump
 
WOMEN
Lucy Ndungu – 10,000m
Kylie Scott, Shellamae Farmer – Pole Vault
 
SHOCKERS IN THE NCAA WEST TOP 48
MEN
100m – Chairo Ogbebor – 10.17 – No. 18
5,000m – Elkana Kipruto – 13:35.77 – No. 34
10,000m – Elkana Kipruto – 28:09.21 – No. 18
110H – Josh Parrish – 13.46 – No. 8
110H – Jabari Armstrong – 13.79 – No. 29
110H – Tyler Carroll – 13.87 – No. 36
400H – Jason Parrish – 50.41 – No. 13
High Jump – Kaleb Tesmer – 2.11m/6'11" – No. 34
Long Jump – Josh Parrish – 7.85m/25'9.25" – No. 8
Long Jump – Travon Williams – 7.67m/25'2" – No. 23
Javelin – Blake McCormick – 63.41m/208'0" – No. 48
 
WOMEN
10,000m – Lucy Ndungu – 33:20.55 – No. 30
High Jump – Jelese Alexander – 1.83m/6'0" – No. 10
Pole Vault – Kylie Scott – 4.06m/13'3.75" – No. 46
Pole Vault – Shellamae Farmer – 4.06m/13'3.75" – No. 46
Long Jump – Jelese Alexander – 6.37m/20'10.75" – No. 17
 
AMERICAN CONFERENCE MEN'S PRESEASON COACHES' POLL

1.	South Florida (7)	78
2.	Wichita State (2)	72
3.	Charlotte (1)	69
4.	North Texas	48
5.	Tulsa	47
6.	Rice	40
7.	Tulane	32
8.	UTSA	26
9.	Memphis	21
10.	East Carolina	17

 
 
AMERICAN CONFERENCE WOMEN'S PRESEASON COACHES' POLL

1.	Charlotte (5)	137
2.	North Texas (7)	135
3.	Rice (1)	117
4.	Tulane	102
5.	UTSA	92
6.	South Florida	85
	Wichita State	85
8.	East Carolina	82
9.	Memphis	54
	Tulsa	54
11.	Temple	28
12.	Florida Atlantic	25
13.	UAB	18

 
RELAYS IN THE NCAA WEST TOP 24
N/A
 
MULTIS IN THE NCAA TOP 24
N/A
 
USTFCCCA EVENT SQUAD RANKINGS (TOP 10)
Men's Long Jump – No. 3
Men's 110m Hurdles – No. 2
Men's 400m Hurdles – No. 9