Three different Tar Heels – shot putter Tommy Kitchell and runners Makayla Paige and Ethan Strand – finished as the national runners-up in their respective events at the NCAA Outdoor Track & Field Championships in Oregon last week.
Kitchell, competing in his last collegiate event, achieved a new personal best and a school record with a 20.74-meter throw on his last attempt of the championships. Prior to the throw, Kitchell had been sitting in fifth place, which would have matched his career-best finish at the championships. With his second-place finish – the best at the NCAA Championships by any UNC shot putter in history – Kitchell earned first team All-America honors.
On the track, Strand also earned All-America honors by finishing second in the 1,500-meter race with a time of 3:47.33, just .07 seconds behind the champion. Strand also ran in the 5,000-meter race, finishing 19th. Teammate Colton Sands finished 12th.
In the women’s 800 meters, Paige took home the silver medal with a 1:58.97 in the fastest 800-meter race in the history of the NCAA Championships. Every finalist ran the fastest time that a runner in that position had ever achieved in championship history. The feat earned Paige first team All-America honors for the second time in her career and improved upon her 14th-place finish at the 2024 championships.
Overall, UNC’s men’s team finished tied for 17th, its highest team finish at the outdoor championships since 2007. The women’s team finished tied for 34th.
Featured image via UNC Athletic Communications
Chapelboro.com does not charge subscription fees, and you can directly support our efforts in local journalism here. Want more of what you see on Chapelboro? Let us bring free local news and community information to you by signing up for our newsletter.
Related Stories
‹
Parker Wolfe, Ethan Strand Among UNC's 2025 Patterson Medal WinnersUNC named the 2025 class of Patterson Medal winners Monday morning. The Patterson Medal is the school’s most prestigious individual athletics honor and has been awarded annually since 1924. Recipients must have competed in at least three seasons for UNC and have concluded their collegiate eligibility. The 2025 honorees are David Ford of the men’s […]
UNC Wins Multiple Titles at ACC Track & Field ChampionshipsUNC senior Parker Wolfe became the first runner ever to win the 5,000 and 10,000 meter titles in consecutive seasons at the ACC Outdoor Track & Field Championships this week in Winston-Salem. Wolfe was named the men’s track MVP while helping the Tar Heels finish second in the championship’s team leaderboard. The women’s team finished […]
UNC's Ethan Strand and Makayla Paige Win Titles at NCAA Indoor ChampionshipsTwo Tar Heels brought home hardware from the NCAA Indoor Track & Field Championships in Virginia Beach last weekend. UNC’s Ethan Strand won the 3,000-meter national title while Makayla Paige won the 800-meter title. Thanks for having us, Virginia!#GoHeels pic.twitter.com/NxuAE0vt7L — UNC Track & Field • XC (@UNCTrack_Field) March 16, 2025 Strand’s race was […]
UNC's Parker Wolfe Named ACC Men's Outdoor Track Performer of the YearUNC’s Parker Wolfe picked up another accolade following an outstanding 2023-24 season, as he was named the ACC Men’s Outdoor Track Performer of the Year on Thursday. ⭐️ Outdoor Track & Field Performers of the Year ⭐️ 📰 https://t.co/AbcoMctmit pic.twitter.com/eYX7zsdVRh — The ACC (@theACC) June 20, 2024 Wolfe was also named the Southeast Region Men’s […]
UNC's Parker Wolfe Wins 5,000-Meter National Title at NCAA ChampionshipsUNC’s Parker Wolfe capped off an outstanding junior season by winning the men’s 5,000-meter national title at the NCAA Outdoor Track and Field Championships in Oregon on Friday night. Wolfe crossed the finish line with a time of 13:54.43, just beating Northern Arizona’s Nico Young to claim the title. DON'T MESS WITH THE WOLFE 🤩 […]
UNC Men's Fencing, Men's Indoor Track & Field Both Win ACC ChampionshipsThe UNC men’s fencing and men’s indoor track and field team’s took home historic ACC championships over the weekend. For the fencing team, it’s the first ACC title since 1980; for track and field, it’s the first since 1996. The fencers put together a stellar 3-0 performance on Sunday, including back-to-back wins over top-ranked Notre […]
UNC Hosts First Track & Field Event Since 2020 in Renovated FacilityThe UNC track & field programs showed off the newly-renovated Eddie Smith Field House at the Dick Taylor Carolina Challenge in Chapel Hill on Saturday. The event was the first indoor track & field meet to be held on the UNC campus since January of 2020. There was #NothingFiner than cheering for Carolina in the […]
UNC Cross Country Wins Adidas XC Challenge; Second Straight WinThe UNC men’s cross country team won its second event in as many tries to start the season this weekend, taking first at the Adidas XC Challenge in Cary, N.C. Carolina topped a field that included NC State, No. 23 Duke and No. 15 Wake Forest. Wolfe wins, and UNC men come away with the […]
UNC Falls in Another Heartbreaker vs. Virginia. Can They Get Over the Hump? — The Carolina Football Hour (Oct. 27, 2025)UNC played another close game Saturday at Kenan Stadium, but again the Tar Heels fell inches short in a 17-16 overtime loss.
UNC Men's Basketball vs. Winston-Salem State (2025): How to Watch, Cord-Cutting Options and Tip-Off TimeUNC will play its second and final exhibition game of the preseason Wednesday night when it hosts Winston-Salem State at the Dean Smith Center. The Tar Heels dropped their first exhibition game, 78-76, at No. 8 BYU last Friday. If you aren’t attending the game in person, here’s how you can follow along at home: […]
›
