Wheeling, W. Va. - When Head Track & Field and Cross Country coach Greg Schmitt took over the program in the summer, he was tasked with bringing in fresh new talent to revamp the Wheeling Track & Field program. After having a youthful Women's Cross Country team, the youth movement continues as the team heads into the 2025-2026 Indoor Track & Field schedule, with a roster consisting of eight athletes in either their freshman or sophomore seasons out of 12 total on the roster. The young athletes look to grow in their respective events, as the Cardinals fight to be back on top of the Mountain East Conference (MEC) competitive field come late February.
The 2024-2025 Indoor Season would see the Cardinals be challenged with several NCAA DI invitationals on the schedule. As they have in recent years, they began their run at the YSU Ice Breaker, setting a base line for the team to build off for the rest of the season. As they hit the 2025 portion of the schedule, things began to ramp up, with the team heading to six meets over a seven week span, leading up to the 2025 MEC Indoor Track & Field Championships. Entering the championship event, the team had five players ranked in the top 10 in the conference in their specific events, with the pole vault crew holding the top two spots in their event. As a team, the Cardinals ended up finishing ninth out of the 10 teams in the field, but were able to put one athlete on the podium to round out the indoor portion of their season.
The Cardinals have an overall young roster, but each group has their list of veterans that will take charge this season. On the track, it will be junior Madison Conrad leading the way after serving as the Cardinal's top runner during the Cross Country season. While she did not compete last indoor season, during her freshman year, she ran primarily as a distance/mid-distance runner for the Colonials. She competed primarily in the 800 and 1500 Meter Runs, with her top performances coming in two separate invitationals. She set her 800 PR of 2:29.36 at the Bob Shannon Invitational on February 3rd of that year and set her 1500 PR of 5:01.77 at the Benson/Hodge Memorial Invitational during that outdoor season. She was the Cardinal's leading runner throughout the Cross Country season and looks to translate that success onto the track.
In the field, it will be seniors Mariah Pelkey and Amber Yoho leading the way with the throwers. Pelkey has been the longest tenured thrower on the Track team, and is coming off a career year in the circle. She would compete in both the weight throw and the shot put during indoor season, setting a new PR in the weight throw event. It would come in the team's season-opener at Youngstown State, where she threw a distance of 11.20 meters to finish 10th in the event. Yoho would compete primarily in the shot put during the indoor season, and had her season-best performance at the YSU Mid-Major, where she threw a distance of 8.84 meters. The duo will look to be a leader for the throwing events as they lead the field athletes.
Along with the returners, the Cardinals are also welcoming in new faces that look to make their mark on the program. Included in the group is freshman Fenne Sienaert, who will compete in the multi for the Cardinals throughout the year. Sienaert comes to the Cardinals from Sint-Katherina-Lombeek, Belgium, where she excelled in several different events across the track & field stage. She took first place in her regional championship in Javelin as well as first place overall in the combined event. In the field events, freshman Autumn Kerchner will look to make her presence known after a successful career at Keyser High School. Kerchner held the school record in both the High Jump and Discus at Keyser and looks to translate that success to the college game.
The 2025-2026 schedule will once again see the team taking on a range of talent from across all levels of the NCAA. The season kicks off with a split week, with the multis heading to the Oiler Open and the rest heading to the Youngstown State Ice Breaker. Both will serve as benchmark events for the Cardinals before they jump headfirst into the indoor schedule. The second half begins with the Muskie Meet #1 and sees the Cardinals compete in four events over a five-week stretch. They end January with trips to Kent State and Youngstown State, before ending the regular season at the SPIRE Indoor Collegiate Games on February 14th. The indoor season comes to an end on February 22nd when the MEC Indoor Track & Field Championships head to Marshall University in Huntington, West Virginia.
The 2025-2026 Indoor Track & Field team kicks off the 2025-2026 season on Thursday, December 4th, when they compete at the Oiler Open, beginning at 1 PM.
