YOUNGSTOWN, Ohio - The IU Indianapolis men's and women's track and field programs will head to Youngstown, Ohio, this weekend to participate in the 2026 Horizon League Indoor Championships at the Watson and Tressel Training Site. The two-day meet will begin on Saturday (Feb. 28) and conclude on Sunday (Mar. 1) with a variety of finals events. 

On the men's side, interim head coach Justin Amburgy's team will lean completely on the distance events to complile points as the Jaguars will compete in just six events. Sophomore Joey Ashman enters as the league's fastest in the 800m event, having run a school record time of 1:50.49 this season. In the 5,000m event, sophomore Joey LaPatra is the team's top performer with a seed time of 14:51.47 and freshman Eli Oetken is just off that pace at 14:56.63. 

The Jaguars also boast the league's best distance medley relay quartet this season, having run 10:02.03, as that event will cap Saturday's results. 

On Sunday, three of the league's top five milers will compete in Luke Shappell, Riley Nixon and Ashman. Shappell also ranks as the league's second-fastest in the 3K, having run 8:09.39 this season, missing the school record by three seconds. The Jags will close out the meet with an entry in the 4x400 relay on Sunday. 

On the women's side, veterans Wini Barnett and Julie Smith and newcomer Sarah Madi-Bouabre represent the team's best from the regular season. Madi-Bouabre broke the program in the 60m dash in her collegiate debut with a time of 7.60 seconds, ranking No. 4 in the league. Barnett has been on a tear of late with an impressive 2:14.79 effort in the 800m event. Smith is the team's top performer in the 5,000m event, having run a time of 17:24.82 to earn a spot in the faster of the two heats. 

Junior Journey Howard is among the league's best in the high jump, having a personal best mark of 1.63m (5' 4.25''). Fellow veteran Reese McCuan ranks No. 10 in the league in triple jump and owns a personal best mark of 11.46m (37' 7.25'') while Smith enters Sunday's events ranked No. 10 in the 3K this season. Sophomore Ella Colclesser is No. 14 in the league standings in the 3K with a best effort of 10:19.46. 

A full recap and results from each day's events will be posted to IUIndyJags.com immediate after competition.