Wheeling, W. Va. - The Indoor Track & Field team finished out the season at the 2026 Mountain East Conference (MEC) Indoor Track & Field Championships with a young team in tow. The Cardinals would finish 10th in the field as a team, but took home individual All-MEC honors to round out the season. Freshman jumper Autumn King was the Cardinal's All-MEC honoree, taking home Honorable Mention All-MEC in the Women's High Jump, placing third on the podium.
King joined the Track & Field team after finishing the season with the Wheeling Volleyball team and immediately made her presence felt with the Cardinal Track & Field program. She would jump a height of 1.45 meters or higher in each of her three events this season, saving her best performance last at the conference championships. She would compete in the Women's High Jump, entering the field at 1.50 meters, and cleared the height on her first try. Up next, the bar was raided to 1.55 meters and, after failing on the first attempt, she cleared the bar on jump number two, and advanced to the 1.60 meter height. She was one of seven athletes to compete at the height,
On her first attempt, King was unable to get over the bar, and made adjustments heading into her second jump. She was nearly able to clear the bar, but clipped it at the top to send her to her third and final jump. This time, she was able to contort her body over the bar and cleared the 1.60 meter mark to make it to the event's top three. She would move on to the 1.63 meter mark with Charleston's Adrienne Truman and Point Park's Dunya Van den Tooren and, although she didn't clear the mark, it was a strong showing for the freshman. She finished with a new PR in the event, beating her previous mark by .02 meters, clearing the five-foot mark for the second time on the season. She looks to use the momentum and continue her strong performance into the outdoor season.
With Autumn King's All-MEC award, the Wheeling University Athletic Department now has 47 student-athletes who have earned All-Conference honors through the fall and winter sports seasons. King earned her first such award, and gives the Cardinals at least one podium finisher at the conference championship event for the second season in a row, after former Cardinal Keala McCurry took home First Team All-MEC honors last season. The last Cardinal program to be honored was Wheeling Men's Basketball, who had three honorees on the postseason list.
Autumn King and the Wheeling University Track & Field team return to action during outdoor season as they look to build off their indoor success.
