GRANTHAM, Pa. - Eastern Men's Track and Field capped off a strong first two days at the 2026 Outdoor MAC Track and Field Championships with three medals, eight individuals and one relay team qualifying for the finals on Saturday, and 42 points. The Eagles sit in third place after the first two days of competition.
On Thursday, the Eagles claimed their first medal of the weekend in the 4x800 Meter Relay.
Tyler Long,
Robert Walton,
Joshua Knox-Wagner, and
Ryle Mellinger finished the race in 7:50.28, the third-fastest time in program history, to give Eastern eight points.
Donovan Skinner gave the Eagles three more points with a sixth place finish and 5,190 points in the Decathlon.
Mellinger continued his tremendous year with a gold medal in the 3000m Steeplechase, finishing in 9:32.57.
Astin Daniel claimed another point in the event with a strong finish, placing eighth with a time of 10:01.13.
Elijah McCullough went on to claim Second-Team All-MAC Honors in the Long Jump with a distance of 6.86m, giving Eastern another eight points.
Back on the track, Eastern had three athletes qualify for the 110m Hurdles.
Ian Hopkins,
Keyon Jones, and
Fritz Clement each punched their tickets to the finals with times of 14.74, 14.77, and 15.81, respectively. Jones also qualified for the 400 Meter Hurdles final, along with
ShaMar Davis, who won the prelim in a time of 56.08.
Jahari Brown and
Jason Bateman both qualified for 100 Meter and 200 Meter finals. Brown placed sixth in the 100 prelims in 10.96 and third in the 200 prelims at 22.15. Bateman finished seventh in the 100 at 10.98 and seventh in the 200 with a time of 22.45. First-year
Christian Scales claimed his spot in the 400 Meters final with a time of 49.89, a new PR, while
Robert Walton advanced to the finals of the 800 Meter with a sixth place finish and a time of 1:55.55.
Eastern's 4x100 Meter Relay team also qualified for the final round on Saturday. The team of Bateman, Brown,
Josiah Cureton, and
Brock Brunson broke their own school record with a time of 41.41, placing first in the preliminary round.
Finally, Eastern claimed nine points in the High Jump.
Josh Harris claimed fourth at 1.93m, Jones finished fifth, also at 1.93m, and
Lawrence Day finished in sixth at 1.87m.
Eastern will conclude the 2026 MAC Outdoor Track and Field Championships tomorrow. Field events begin at 11 am and track events will begin at 12 noon.
