{"id":295750,"date":"2026-06-04T12:36:22","date_gmt":"2026-06-04T12:36:22","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/295750\/"},"modified":"2026-06-04T12:36:22","modified_gmt":"2026-06-04T12:36:22","slug":"famu-sends-six-to-ncaa-track-and-field-championship","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/295750\/","title":{"rendered":"FAMU sends six to NCAA Track and Field Championship"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>Florida A&amp;M track and field will have a strong presence at the 2026 NCAA Outdoor Track and Field Championships as six student-athletes have qualified for the national meet in Eugene, Oregon.<\/p>\n<p>The NCAA Championships will be held June 10-14 at historic Hayward Field, widely regarded as one of the premier venues in track and field.<\/p>\n<p>Leading the way for Florida A&amp;M is a women\u2019s 4\u00d7100-meter relay team that has already made history this season.<\/p>\n<p>FAMU relay team breaks school and SWAC records<\/p>\n<p>The quartet of Janaree Kinchen, Diandrenique Gaines, Kiersten Clark and Arayana Ladson punched its ticket to the NCAA Championships after delivering a record-breaking performance during the postseason.<\/p>\n<p>The relay team shattered the Florida A&amp;M school record while also posting the fastest women\u2019s 4\u00d7100-meter relay time ever recorded by a <a href=\"https:\/\/hbcugameday.com\/2026\/05\/13\/jackson-state-and-famu-take-swac-track-titles\/\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">SWAC program<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>Their performance cemented the group as one of the most accomplished relay teams in both FAMU and SWAC history.<\/p>\n<p>Ty\u2019yana Adams will travel with the team as the relay alternate.<\/p>\n<p>Leonard Mustari earns NCAA berth in hurdles<\/p>\n<p>Florida A&amp;M will also be represented on the men\u2019s side by standout hurdler Leonard Mustari.<\/p>\n<p>Mustari qualified for the NCAA Outdoor Championships in the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.instagram.com\/p\/DY8k4dSo9SS\/\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">men\u2019s 110-meter hurdles<\/a>, earning a chance to compete against the nation\u2019s top collegiate athletes in one of track and field\u2019s premier sprint events.<\/p>\n<p>The NCAA berth continues a strong season for Mustari, who has consistently ranked among the top hurdlers in the region.<\/p>\n<p>FAMU track and field reaches national stage<\/p>\n<p>Florida A&amp;M athletic director John Davis praised the accomplishments of the program as it prepares for the national championship meet.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThis is a tremendous accomplishment for our track and field program and a testament to the culture of excellence our coaches and student-athletes continue to build at Florida A&amp;M University,\u201d Davis said.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cTo have six student-athletes competing for national championships, including a relay team that has rewritten both the FAMU and SWAC record books, speaks to the talent, dedication and competitive spirit that define Rattler Athletics.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Director of Cross Country and Track &amp; Field Garfield Ellenwood II said the qualifiers have earned the opportunity through months of hard work and elite performances.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cOur student-athletes have worked relentlessly all season for this opportunity,\u201d Ellenwood said. \u201cWhat this group has accomplished is special. The women\u2019s relay team has made history, and Leonard has continued to prove he belongs among the nation\u2019s best hurdlers.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>FAMU NCAA Outdoor Championships qualifiers<\/p>\n<p>Men\u2019s 110-Meter Hurdles<\/p>\n<p>Women\u2019s 4\u00d7100-Meter Relay<\/p>\n<p>Janaree Kinchen<\/p>\n<p>Diandrenique Gaines<\/p>\n<p>Kiersten Clark<\/p>\n<p>Arayana Ladson<\/p>\n<p>Relay Alternate<\/p>\n<p>Coaching and support staff<\/p>\n<p>The NCAA Championship qualifiers have been guided by a coaching and support staff that includes:<\/p>\n<p>Garfield Ellenwood II, Director of Cross Country and Track &amp; Field<\/p>\n<p>Tamika Kinchen, Assistant Coach<\/p>\n<p>Brandon Love, Assistant Coach<\/p>\n<p>Markya Richardson, Athletic Trainer<\/p>\n<p>Florida A&amp;M\u2019s qualifiers will compete for national titles when the NCAA Outdoor Track and Field Championships begin June 10 in Eugene, Oregon.<\/p>\n<p>\n\tRelated\n<\/p>\n<p>\t\t<script async src=\"\/\/www.instagram.com\/embed.js\"><\/script><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Florida A&amp;M track and field will have a strong presence at the 2026 NCAA Outdoor Track and Field&hellip;\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":295751,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[16],"tags":[124592,124593,16024,1814,11994,58707,124594,124595,142,73820,14591,11995,124596,232,234,233,28053],"class_list":["post-295750","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-tallahassee","tag-arayana-ladson","tag-diandrenique-gaines","tag-eugene","tag-famu","tag-florida-am","tag-hbcu-sports","tag-janaree-kinchen","tag-kiersten-clark","tag-ncaa","tag-nike","tag-oregon","tag-swac","tag-swac-track-and-field","tag-tallahassee","tag-tallahassee-headlines","tag-tallahassee-news","tag-track-and-field"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/295750","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=295750"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/295750\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/295751"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=295750"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=295750"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=295750"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}