Marian Women's Track and Field Capture First-Ever NAIA Red Banner

GAINESVILLE, Fla. - On a day where the men's program captured its second consecutive NAIA Red Banner, the Marian women's track and field team joined in on the festivities, as the ladies captured the program's first-ever NAIA National Championship at the 2026 NAIA Indoor Championship on Saturday. Marian becomes the second-ever women's team champion in the Crossroads League, and secured Marian's eighth NAIA National Championship in program history. The Knights' championship was headlined by Katie Woods, who won one individual and one relay national championship, leading to Marian capturing the Red Banner. 

Through the first two days of the NAIA Championship, the Knights sat as a top-20 team in the 2026 NAIA Indoor Championship field, entering Saturday's finals with six total team points. Marian's first points of the week came on Thursday by way of Ciarra Moore's fifth-place finish in the triple jump, as the first-year Knight scored four points with her 11.95m mark. Nhaydia Watson scored two points for the Knights on Friday, finishing seventh in the weight throw after hitting a distance of 17.34m with her top throw.

Despite the six points through two days, Marian was in a prime position to strike on Saturday, qualifying both the DMR and 4x400m relay for finals in Thursday's work, while on Friday, Katie Woods, Summer Rempe, Hanna Reuter, and Emma Edwards each qualified for individual events, providing the team an opportunity to score big. 

Saturday's first event for the women was the mile race, with Katie Woods taking the track as one of the top runners in the country. Woods began her race competing neck-and-neck with Heidi Heldt of Olivet Nazarene, trailing by less than half of a second through the first 800 meters. At the 1000m mark, Woods took the lead and held a lead of under 0.03 seconds entering the last lap of the mile. On the final stretch, Heldt was able to overtake the Marian senior, passing Woods and sending the Knight to the runner-up pedestal, as Woods scored eight points in her 4:45.46 national runner-up race.

Marian would score two events later in the 400m, as Emma Edwards took home a sixth place finish with her 55.99 time in the race. Edwards brought home three points for Marian in the race, soaring the total to 17.

Hanna Reuter then clocked a 1:35.38 time as the track turned to the 600m, as Reuter finished eighth overall. The senior's All-American point took Marian to a total of 18 points, and helped inch Marian higher on the board.

Edwards and Reuter's All-American honors were their first-career individual All-American awards.

The Knights hit their stride in the 1000m, bringing their championship aspirations to a reality as Katie Woods and Summer Rempe toed the start line. Woods, one of the top runners in the NAIA in the event this season, and Rempe, the No. 1 seed from Friday's prelims, both ran flying out of the gate, immediately taking the one-two start. Woods never trailed and continued to get stronger, building a lead of two seconds throughout the race. Rempe would be challenged back and forth with Heldt of Olivet Nazarene, but on the final lap, the sophomore clocked her best split of the race, as her 33.17 time allowed her to race back into second, giving Marian the national champion and runner-up in the event. Woods' final time ended at 2:47.68, while Rempe hit a speedy 2:49.14 time. 

Woods' championship is Marian's first-ever in an individual race, and the first in a primary track event. The Knights' previous NAIA Championships came in field events and the pentathlon. 

The 18 points from the two distance runners catapulted Marian into second place with 36 team points, with the Knights needing a total of six points over the course of two relay races to bring home the championship. First up was the DMR, with Summer Rempe, Kathy Soriano, Gracynn Hinkley, and Katie Woods taking the track. Rempe led off and was strong in the 1200m, keeping Marian in the lead at the exchange to Soriano. The sprinter held Marian's lead as she handed off to Hinkley, and Hinkley was able to pass to Woods in second place, as Indiana Wesleyan's 800m runner caught the Knight in the waning moments of the lap. Looking to get a championship kick once again, Woods wasted no time to take the lead back, needing 600 meters to take the lead. Woods finished her mile with a strong push, gaining ground on the Wildcats as she finished the national championship in the DMR with a three-second win, as Marian clocked an 11:39.21 time.

The championship win in the DMR sealed the Marian team championship, and as an added measure, Marian earned a strong fourth-place finish in the 4x400m relay, securing five points behind the legs of Holli Reuter, Hanna Reuter, Emma Edwards, and Claire Lange. The quartert's fourth-place finish came in a 3:45.88 time, and brought Marian's team scoring total to 51 points, giving the Knights a 10-point victory over Dickinson State, capturing the first-ever NAIA National Championship.

The championship is Marian's eighth in school history and first in program history, bringing the Knights to a total of nine overall after the men's team captured its second consecutive title. The championship track banners join championships in football (two), women's basketball (two), women's volleyball (two), and men's bowling (one). 

At the conclusion of the meet during the awards ceremony, Katie Woods was named the most outstanding individual, as she scored a meet-best 28 points. Head Coach Katie Wise-Butler was named the NAIA Coach of the Year, earning the honor for the first time in women's track and field. Wise-Butler was also named the NAIA Coach of the Year on the men's side after leading them to their championship, marking her third career NAIA Coach of the Year honor.