UNC’s Ethan Strand and Makayla Paige Win Titles at NCAA Indoor Championships

Two 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.

Strand’s race was highly competitive, featuring nine of the 10 fastest collegiate times ever. Strand, a senior from Alabama, finished with a time of 7:52.03 to win the title. He was one of three Tar Heels to finish in the top 15, with teammates Parker Wolfe and Colton Sands finishing sixth and 15th. Wolfe’s top 10 finish guaranteed him first team All-America status.

Paige set a facility record in her race with a time of 2:00.39, starting with the lead and never giving it up. The senior from Massachusetts is the first Tar Heel woman to win a title at the NCAA Indoor Championships since 2018, while Strand is the first Tar Heel man to do so since 2003.

Shot putter Tommy Kitchell also earned first team All-America status during the championships, finishing in eighth place.

As a team, the UNC men finished tied for eighth place at the championships. It’s the second time the men’s team has posted back-to-back Top 10 finishes. The women’s team finished 23rd, marking the first time since 2003 both the men’s and women’s teams have finished in the Top 25.

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.

‹

Some UNC Athletes Are Competing in the Tokyo Olympics. Who Are They?

The Tokyo Olympics are officially underway, as the Japanese host city held its opening ceremony on Friday. After seeing the Summer Games delayed one year due to the coronavirus pandemic, many athletes are now aiming to compete in their various sports, including ten current and former UNC athletes. Two current Carolina student-athletes are set to […]

Germany’s Rodl Still Inspired by His UNC Coach, Dean Smith

Written by TIM REYNOLDS Henrik Rodl was unsure about what he’d do after finishing high school in Germany. He had done an exchange year of study in the U.S., then returned home to complete his required education there and figure out what to do next. And then Dean Smith took a flight over the Atlantic […]

‘OK Not To Be OK’: Mental Health Takes Top Role at Olympics

Written by JENNA FRYER For decades, they were told to shake it off or toughen up — to set aside the doubt, or the demons, and focus on the task at hand: winning. Dominating. Getting it done. For years, Simone Biles was one of the very best at that. Suddenly — to some, shockingly — […]

US Star Simone Biles Exits; Roc Wins Women’s Gymnastics

Written by WILL GRAVES Simone Biles came to Tokyo as the star of the U.S. Olympic movement and perhaps the games themselves. It all came to a stunning halt in the women’s gymnastics final on Tuesday night. A wonky vault to start the competition left her huddling with the U.S. team doctor before heading backstage […]

Japan Girds for a Surreal Olympics, and Questions Are Plenty

Written by FOSTER KLUG After a yearlong delay and months of hand-wringing that rippled across a pandemic-inflected world, a Summer Games unlike any other is at hand. It’s an Olympics, sure, but also, in a very real way, something quite different. No foreign fans. No local attendance in Tokyo-area venues. A reluctant populace navigating a […]

Parker Wolfe, Ethan Strand Among UNC's 2025 Patterson Medal Winners

UNC 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 […]

3 UNC Athletes Finish as National Runners-Up at NCAA Track & Field Championships

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 […]

UNC Wins Multiple Titles at ACC Track & Field Championships

UNC 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 […]

On Air Today: Wade Sutton and Tracey Williams-Johnson on Handball Futures' Tryouts

Wade Sutton and Tracey Williams-Johnson join 97.9 The Hill News Director Brighton McConnell on Thursday, April 3 to discuss an upcoming handball team tryout in Chapel Hill.

UNC's Ethan Strand and Makayla Paige Win Titles at NCAA Indoor Championships

Two 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 […]

›