Archer & Downey on the podium going 1-2 at NWC Meet in TJ

Steve Gibbons

Track & Field Ready to Redefine Expectations in 2026

By Mark Albanese, Director of Sports Communication

The Pacific Lutheran University men’s and women’s track & field teams find themselves in vastly different spots heading into the 2026 season. The Lute women return four of their five All-Conference performers from a season ago and will be banking on a veteran squad to move up the team standings at the Northwest Conference Championships while the men will be a young squad that graduated five of their eight All-Conference performers, including two student-athletes that combined for three NWC titles last spring.

Last year, the Lute men placed fourth at the NWC Championships, scoring 106 points and finishing just five points shy of a third place showing. The women meanwhile placed sixth as a team with 68 points and was just three points shy of fourth place.

For the men, they must replace some big shoes including Ryan Stracke who won conference titles in both the 5,000-meters and 10,000-meters and was fourth in the 1,500-meters. Also gone is Kai Sorensen who was the NWC Champion in the 800-meters along with Darius Chaffin who was an NCAA qualifier and runner-up in the javelin at the NWC meet.

On the women’s side, the Lutes return a pair of NWC Champions and several more key performers from a team that nearly snagged fourth place in 2025. Kyleigh Archer returns after winning the NWC title in the triple jump and earned All-West Region honors. Also back is Madison Downey who was the 2024 NWC Champion in the triple jump and was runner-up last spring.

We don’t ever really talk about expectations of what place at conference or anything like that. But for us as a staff, building off of last year and not losing too many people, there’s high expectations for the women just with the talent in the group.

I think we’re a more balanced squad this year, which is exciting. The culture within that group and energy has been really good. There’s a lot of really competitive kids, the first-years are super competitive, which is nice. So I’m expecting them to not be over awed as first-years out on the track and getting after it.

said Head Coach Trey Henderson who begins his ninth year with the program and fourth as the head coach.

2026 PLU Women's Roster

A two-sport star, Kyleigh Archer is back on the runway after winning another NWC title with the women’s soccer team. The Spokane, Washington native spearheads a veteran jumps group after winning the conference title last season. Archer barely missed the cut for the NCAA Championships after leaping 38 feet 4 ¼ inches at the GFU Final Qualifier meet in mid-May. It was a personal best jump that sits as the third best jump in school history and the best since 1994.

Also returning is 2024 NWC Triple Jump Champion Madison Downey. Runner-up last year, Downey also earned All-Conference honors in the triple jump with a third place finish in addition to placing ninth in both the pole vault and high jump. Downey’s personal best triple jump leap of 37’ 8 ½” currently stands as the fifth best mark in school history.

Kyleigh Archer winning the triple jump at the 2025 NWC Championships

Kyleigh and Madison both have been conference champions. Kyleigh made huge strides last season and being someone that was on the cusp of making it to nationals, our expectations of her are always high and she has those expectations for herself which is awesome. Same thing with Madison. This is our event group with the most experience and has consistently performed at conference, and that’s a group we’ve leaned on since they came in as first-years. Kyleigh and Madison set that standard early.

Pole vaulter Ki Neir returns after a third place finish at the meet. Neir cleared 11’ 1 ¾” last season at the indoor Husky Classic, a performance that sits third all-time in program history.

“Ki is someone who got better as the season went on, and has been great so far in our training. We have expectations that she will take another big step forward and has a high ceiling."

In the sprints, the Lutes will rely on the leadership of captain D’Yhana Clemons while relying on a lot of newcomers to fill out the event group. Last year, Clemons finished 10th in the 100-meters at the conference meet and helped the 4x100-meter relay team to a fifth place showing.

Overall, the talent level that came in, not only for the first years to help us but their ability to help D’Yhana continue to grow and have a competitive environment every day that she’s training with, which is what you need. The faster that group is depth wise, the faster they develop and are able to push each other. And we’ve been seeing that in practices, Coach Blake has done a phenomenal job of getting those first years into the development cycle early but also empowering D’Yhana as a leader of that group and continuing to push them.

Joining the Lutes and looking to make their mark in the sprints will be a trio of local talent in Souky Waters from Milton, Lexie McGurk from Puyallup, and Kira Marshall from Federal Way. Waters and Marshall were teammates at Federal Way High School

“Souky is somebody that is really talented and had a really good high school career. Had to overcome some adversity with injuries and she looked really healthy this fall. So I think she’s somebody that we have to be patient with to let her get healthy but has a ton of talent and is somebody I think will be a factor in the conference. And has that mentality and work ethic that we were looking for in the recruiting process."

Waters ran a 12.76 last spring for the Eagles, a time that would have qualified for the finals at the 2025 NWC Championships in the 100-meters.

All the first-years have improved every single week and are people who will be a factor for us. Kira is someone who will not only do sprints but help us in jumps and has the ability to contribute in multiple events.

For the distance crew, the Lutes will be young but gained considerable experience in the fall during the cross country season.

“We have a lot of youth (with the distance crew). It’s young and I think that group has good size but there’s a youthful ‘were ready to take it all on’ and I think that’s exciting for us. We’re going to be patient with their development, they’ve had the experience of a cross country season, and they’re excited to compete and put themselves out there in different events.”

Sal Mattivi led the way with a 30th place finish at the conference cross country meet held at PLU. In year two at PLU, Mattivi had a great start to the track season last spring but was derailed by injuries.

Jessalyn Robles placed 15th at the 800-meters last season and was the fourth Lute finisher this fall at the NWC cross country meet. Newcomers from the cross country season that showed plenty of promise include Maddie Mitchell and Mariel Robles.

Both Coach Francis and myself are really excited about is the distance team’s attitude. The mentality for the freshman that came in and even the returners like Sophia Czar who has been a great leader for us. But there’s youth and energy in that group that I think it will serve the rest of the team really well. It’s a group we’re excited to watch develop and grow.

Another event group that has plenty of experience is the throwers, led by team captain Sandra Valmonte. A College Sports Communicators Academic All-District selection last spring, Valmonte placed sixth in the hammer throw at the NWC Championships. It marked the second straight year the Everett, Washington native scored points in the hammer at the league meet.

Also back is Samayia White who competed in both the hammer and shot put at the conference championships last spring.

“They’ve been through it all. Sandra is a senior now and has been a contributor for us in the hammer every single year. Samayia took that big step to be somebody that was in the top end of conference last year. Those are the two particularly that you look at that continue to grow and have the experience.”

The Lutes also expect big things from Tajanai Huff who as a first-year last spring was 10th in the discus at the NWC Championships.

“Tajanai in shot and disc is somebody that I expect to continue to get better and take another jump. She got that experience as a first year and for all of them its learning the routine of being a thrower and what it takes to continue to evolve and develop.”

A jack of all trades with the ability to a little bit of everything, the Lutes are excited to see what Abi Caprye can do in 2026. Caprye finished sixth in the 100-meter hurdles at the NWC Championships while finishing fifth as a member of the 4x100-meter relay and fifth in the high jump.

“I think Abi is somebody who took a huge step last season especially in the hurdles and has continued to do that. She’s pole vaulting for us and shown a ton of potential there and has grown a ton as a competitor.”

Fellow hurdler Addisen Herring returns after being an All-Conference selection last spring. The Port Orchard, Washington native made her Lute debut with a bang, placing third in the 100-meter hurdles and eighth in the 400-meter hurdles. Herring also ran legs on both relays at the conference meet.

All in all, we have high expectations but we also need to be patient to develop at the rate they need to but we’re going to lean on our leaders who have been through the fire and have done it at a high level and understand what our expectations and standards are.

2026 Men's Team Roster

For the men’s team, the graduation of so many top performers has created a big of unknown for the coaching staff but also excitement to see who will step up and perform this season.

Luckily for the Lutes, they still retain some key performers from a season ago, including All-Conference selections Bridger Hanis, Seth Kramer, and Micah Ragaza-Bourassa.

They all have really good experiences and will need to lead a younger team and a team that might not have as much experience as we had last year but I think that’s exciting for us because we don’t know exactly what to expect. That’s a cool place to be and for us coaches for us it’s about the continued development and making sure we’re doing a good job as a coaching staff.

The potential is there and it’s exciting to see how that plays out over the season. But again, when you replace a ton of experience, other people are going to have to step up and take leadership roles.

Leading a strong jumps group is Seth Kramer who was runner-up in the long jump at the NWC Championships with a personal best leap of 22’ 6 ½”. Kramer also helped on the relays, running a leg of the 4x400-meter relay at the league meet.

Also back is Bridger Hanis who was third in the high jump at the NWC Championships along with junior Tyger Willingham who competed at the 2024 conference meet but was injured for much of the 2025 campaign.

“Tyger a knee injury last year but he’s back and healthy and has been chomping at the bit to compete and is super competitive. You add him into the mix with Bridger and Seth and that group in particular have been in this program a long time and have done it at the conference level.

Tyger made it to conference as a freshman, so he’s had that experience. Those are the people you know they understand what it takes.

And adding in the freshman, especially the number of pole vaulters we have, and that youth paired up with that experience is a nice combination.”

In the pole vault, the Lutes added four first-years with three of them already having competed back in December at the Spokane Invitational. Duvall, Washington’s Peter Essex leads the way so far after clearing 12’ 9 ½” at the December meet.

Anchoring the sprints will be Kaimana Satterfield. Just a sophomore, the Honolulu, Hawaii native raced in nine meets last season.

Coming over from the football team is Tacoma native Jack Erickson. This past fall the speedy wide receiver appeared in six games for the Lutes. Erickson is one of several football players that will dot the track & field roster this season, a partnership that has served Head Coach Trey Henderson well. It’s also an experience he can relate to after being a football and track & field athlete as a student at the University of Southern California.

Even though he’s just a sophomore, Kaimana is the leader of the group and what’s been exciting with them is that relationship with football and the level of intensity the football guys bring to our training. I think it has benefitted the entire team not just the sprints group.

The distance crew skews on the young side for the men, looking to fill the giant shoes that graduated and produced three conference titles last spring.

“It’s similar to what I mentioned with the women’s group. It’s young. Noah’s a captain and a leader in that group but it’s about them continuing to develop and being competitive. Embracing the training and embracing the process.

When you lose the conference titles from that group that can be hard to replace. But what you hope to replace out of that is the culture in it, having people wanting to show up and put the work in and I think this group has shown that.”

Noah Friedrich won the 5,000-meters last spring at the Linfield Open, clocking a personal best time of 15:56.30. he parlayed that into a strong cross country campaign where he was part of the team’s top seven after had strong races in less than ideal conditions at both the conference and regional meet.

They’re early in their process with track season coming off of cross country but I think Noah and Jonah are the two most experienced in that group and our expectations of them is to be really good leaders and set an example daily with the training because that distance group is really young.

Among the newcomers is Corder Janes. The Juneau, Alaska native was PLU’s top first year at the conference cross country meet and was the third Lute finisher after covering the 8,000-meter course on campus in 28:56.1.

Anchoring the throws is a trio of multi-sport athletes is Micah Ragaza-Bourassa, George Sonko, and Griffin Montana.

Ragaza-Bourassa placed third in the hammer throw with a toss of 159’ 8” and was 10th in the shot put at the conference meet. George Sonko was fifth in the discus with a personal best throw of 150’ 0” while placing 14thin the shot put while Griffin Montana, an All-Conference offensive lineman this fall, was 15th in the shot put at conference last spring.

“Micah established himself as one of the best hammer throwers in the conference last year. George is somebody who has consistently been at the top of conference in discus and shot and Griffin is somebody that has a ton of potential in shot that we’re going to lean a lot on.”

Also back is Jake Wood who missed the conference meet last spring but has 11 meets under his belt in the javelin. That includes a personal best toss of 143’ 1” last year at the PLU Spring Invitational.

These are all football players and guys who have been with the program for a really long time and they’ve continued to get better and better every single season. We have somebody in each event that can not only contribute but be at the top end of conference. That’s huge for our men’s team to know we have the numbers in the group and it’s a squad we’re going to lean on week to week as far as what they bring to the team from a competitive standpoint.

The Lutes are also excited about newcomers Ben Barfield and Chace McSherry who will add even more depth to the throws crew. Barfield joins the Lutes from Mead High School in Spokane while McSherry hails from nearby Spanaway and Steilacoom High School.

“As first-years, they’re going to be in the mix and have a chance at contributing at conference.”

This year’s coaching staff will feature a few new faces in addition to veteran assistants Tabitha Messineo-Solomon and Pat Licari.

PLU adds Aaron Blake as the new sprints coach while Head Cross Country Coach Francis Reynolds will coach the distance squad for the first time this spring.

It’s exciting to have, we’ve had really good coaches in this program for a really long time and when you have to replace coaches you want people to fit culturally and understand what it means to be not only a D3 student-athlete but a PLU student-athlete.”

When you have a really good coaching staff you lean in on that.

Friday will begin a stretch of three indoor meets over the next month before opening the lid on the outdoor season on March 6 at the University of Puget Sound’s Ed Boitano Invitational.

“For us it’s always about getting experience during indoor season. It’s about our first-years getting their first opportunity to compete. The Whitworth trip is always our first big team trip so that’s a huge part, not only competition-wise but team bonding and getting on the road together in our first hotel trip. So that meet serves a huge purpose for us but we’re always building. It’s outdoor conference for us, and we use the indoor season as a way to continue to build and get experience and when we do get to outdoor, our athletes have already been through it and they understand what it looks like to compete.”

After opening the outdoor season across town, the Lutes benefit from two straight weeks at home, hosting the PLU Invitational on March 13-14 and the PLU Open on March 20-21. The 2026 NWC Championships are in Spokane this April on the 25th and 26th while a few Lutes have their sights on the NCAA Championships which will be in La Crosse, Wisconsin in late May.

Track & Field Schedule