Wheeling, W. Va. – The 2026 Mountain East Conference (MEC) Outdoor Track & Field Championships was a successful three day stretch for the Wheeling University Women's Outdoor Track & Field team. The Cardinals put three athletes on the podium throughout the afternoon, and doubled their point total from a season ago on their way to an eighth place finish in the team standings. Those three athletes would each earn All-MEC honors, with graduate student Jenna Smith earning First Team All-MEC honors, freshman Fenne Sienaert taking Second Team All-MEC honors, and freshman Autumn Kerchner earning Honorable Mention All-MEC to round out the day .
Leading the way was Smith, who took home the first All-MEC honors of her career in the Women's Pole Vault. After her season with Acrobatics & Tumbling finished up, she rejoined the Track & Field team for the final two invitationals of the year. She would skip the first few heights, entering the competition at 2.85 meters and got over the bar on her first try. It took her all three tries to get over the 3.00 meter mark and she was one of two athletes to advance to 3.15 meters. She made it on the second try, claiming her the conference championship, and raising the bar to the 3.30 meter mark and, despite failing to clear the bar, she would be able to take home her first career All-MEC honor. It was just 0.11 meters below her previous season high and brought to an end a strong season for the graduate student.
Fenne Sienaert also took home the first All-MEC honor of her career after running in the Women's Heptathlon. She would take second overall and broke the school record with 4563 points at the event, breaking the previous record by nearly 300 points. Across the seven events, she would pick up three first place finishes, taking the top spot in the High Jump (1.56 M), Javelin Throw (38.27 M), and the Shot Put (9.94 M). Two of those first place finishes would come on the first day of competition, as she set herself up for success heading into day two. Along with her work in the combined events, she would also compete in the Women's Open High Jump and the Open Javelin, as she put together a big week on the field.
The final All-MEC honor would go to Autumn Kerchner, who made a splash in her first season, earning her first career All-MEC honor. Like Sienaert, Kerchner would also compete in multiple events during the week, taking on discus, high jump, and javelin. She would put together her top performance in the discus, where she took third to earn Honorable Mention All-MEC honors. She would throw a distance of 41.09 meters, hitting the mark on her second throw and advancing to the finals. She would just miss the podium in the High Jump, taking fifth overall with a height of 1.60 meters, and rounded out the week with a sixth place finish in javelin with a distance of 34.42 meters. Kerchner and Sienaert have been two of the team's stand out freshman during their first seasons, and look to lead the Caridnals into the future.
With the announcement of the Women's Track & Field All-MEC honorees, the Wheeling University Athletic Department now has 68 student-athletes having taken home All-Conference honors during the 2025-2026 season. After having just one honoree both last outdoor season and during indoor season, the Cardinals finished with three honorees this year to more than double their output from a season ago. The last team to be honored was the Men's Track & field team, who had three honorees of their own.
The Wheeling University Women's Track & Field team begins their last chance schedule, with meet announcements coming next week.
