SUWANEE, Ga. -- The Southern Collegiate Athletic Conference (SCAC) has announced its 2026 Women's Outdoor Track & Field postseason award winners following a vote conducted among the league's head coaches and sports information directors.
Allison Barker of Colorado College earned Women’s Track Athlete-of-the-Year, while McMurry University’s Kendra Humpries was selected as the Field Athlete-of-the-Year.
Rounding out the balloting, Eslie Ngoran of University of St. Thomas was tabbed as Women’s First-Year Athlete-of-the-Year and the McMurry War Hawks’ coaching staff, led by head coach Cody Knight, earned Women’s Staff-of-the-Year honors.
The all-conference team is determined by performance at the conference championship meet where the top three finishers in each event are recognized as All-SCAC. Complete All-SCAC Women's Track & Field Team
Barker, a senior from Bethesda, MD., capped her SCAC career winning both the 800- and 1,500-meters at the 2026 SCAC Conference Championships. She crossed the line in the 800-meters in 2:15.81, while she broke the tape in the 1,500-meters in 4:44.52 to capture her first ever SCAC individual titles. Barker also ran a leg on the Tigers’ winning 4x400 relay squad that crossed the line in 3:57.73. On the national stage, Barker earned Second Team All-American honors after finishing 11th in all of NCAA Division III in the 1,500-meters (4:28.26). In qualifying for the final, Barker set a new program record in the 1,500-meters with a qualifying time of 4:26.77.
A two-time SCAC Track Athlete-of-the-Week honoree, Barker’s award marks the fourth time in CC Women’s Track program history to earn SCAC Track Athlete-of-the-Year accolades. She joins former Tiger standouts, Kendall Accetta (2022, 2024) and Katie Sandfort (2017) as the other winners.
Humpries, a native from College Station, Texas, concluded her stellar season with an eighth-place finish in the shot put (13.57m) to earn All-American honors at last month’s National Championship. She became the first female athlete in SCAC history to earn All-American honors in the shot put. Additionally, she secured 19th at NCAAs in the javelin with a toss of 39.94m. At the SCAC Championships, the junior defended her title in both the shot put and the javelin. In the shot put, she became the first woman in conference history to break 43-feet, with a winning record toss of 13.39m and her winning toss in the javelin measured 39.53m. Humpries is the first athlete in SCAC history to repeat as conference champion in both the shot put and javelin.
Humpries is the first McMurry women’s track athlete to earn SCAC Women’s Field Athlete-of-the-Year in program history.
Ngoran, a first-year from Houston, Texas, burst onto the scene, winning the 400-meters at the 2026 SCAC Championship meet with a personal best time of 57.85. It marked just the second SCAC title in St. Thomas program history in the event and the first time since 2022. Her winning time marked just the 13th such occurrence since 1992 the time has been under 58 seconds. She also finished fifth in the 200-meter dash (25.67) and ran a leg on the Celts 4x400 meter real team that earned All-SCAC honors with a second-place finish in a time of 3:59.69.
Ngoran’s honor marks the third in St. Thomas track & field history, joining Ebonee Nation (2023) and Peyton Walton (2024) as other recipients.
Finally, McMurry earned the conference’s Women’s Track & Field Staff of the Year honor following a historic season that culminated with the War Hawks capturing the SCAC Women’s Track & Field Championship for the first time in program history. Led by eighth-year head coach Cody Knight, the recognition also marks the first time in program history that Knight and his coaching staff have been named SCAC Women’s Track & Field Staff of the Year.
