ST. LOUIS, Mo. – With one meet under its belt, the WashU women's indoor track and field team looks to continue its success from last season, finishing as national runner-up in both the indoor and outdoor seasons. They head into the heart of the indoor season and look towards the outdoor schedule this spring.

Where to Follow 
Both the WashU Distance Carnival and WashU Invite will be streamed live exclusively on FloSports. This year, the UAA and FloSports entered an exclusive five-year media rights agreement to stream all UAA competition. 

FloSports is a subscription-based platform available on desktop, laptop, or tablet. The FloSports app is available on iPhone and Android, and is also accessible through Roku and Amazon Fire TV. 

To view pricing and sign up, click HERE.

Schedule 
WashU began its 2025-26 season back on Dec. 6 at the Scott Fangman Invite at UIndy. The Bears had a strong showing, including event wins in the 60m (senior Jasmine Wright), 800m (junior Cate Christopher), 4x400m (sophomore Quinn Bird, Christopher, junior Julia Coric, and senior Kylie Spytek), and pole vault (first-year Campbell Pallera).

This weekend WashU will travel to the annual John Craft Invite hosted by Eastern Illinois University in Charleston, Ill. The following weekend, the team will split with athletes competing in both the Friday Night Spikes #3 hosted by Rose-Hulman in Terre Haute, Ind. on Friday, Jan. 23 and the Bob Teel Invite on Saturday, Jan. 24 hosted by Missouri in Columbia, Mo.

The Bears will then return to Terre Haute a week later on Saturday, Jan. 31 for the Rose-Hulman Classic, once again at the SRC Fieldhouse. The next Saturday will see the team travel to the Keck Select Invite hosted by Illinois Wesleyan on Saturday, Feb. 7.

A trip north then awaits the Bears on Saturday, Feb. 14 when they visit Whitewater, Wisc. for the Midwest Elite Invitational hosted by UW-Whitewater. The following Friday on Feb. 20, the team competes in its final indoor regular season meet at the IC Hilltop Classic in Jacksonville, Ill.

The 2026 UAA Indoor Championships take place Saturday, Feb. 28, and Sunday, Mar. 1 at the Gosman Center on the campus of Brandeis in Waltham, Mass. The final chance to qualify for nationals is Friday, Mar. 6, and Saturday, Mar. 7 at the NCAA Final Qualifier hosted by Wartburg.

The 2026 NCAA Indoor National Championship takes place Friday, Mar. 13, and Saturday, Mar. 14 at the Birmingham CrossPlex in Birmingham, Ala.

The outdoor season kicks off just a week later at the Central Methodist Open on Saturday, Mar. 21 in Fayette, Mo.

The following weekend the Bears will host a pair of outdoor meets with the WashU Distance Carnival taking place Thursday, Mar. 26, and Friday, Mar. 27, while the WashU Open will take place Mar. 27 and 28. For the WashU Open, the only events on that Friday will be the shot put and discus, with the remaining field and all the track events taking place on that Saturday.

A split weekend then awaits WashU as team members will travel to both the UW Platteville Invite on Friday, Apr. 10, while others attend the Greenville Select on Saturday, Apr. 11. The next weekend will see the Bears travel to Canton, Mo. for the Wildcat Invite hosted by Culver-Stockton on Saturday, Apr. 18.

The 2026 UAA Outdoor Championships will be hosted by Case Western Reserve in Cleveland on April 25 and 26. After a week's break, the team will compete at the Billy Hayes Invite in Bloomington, Ind., hosted by Indiana on Saturday, May 9. The Bears will also be looking to send athletes to meets at Augustana, Indiana State, St. Francis, and Wartburg that weekend.

The annual Augustana Last Chance meet will take place Wednesday, May 13, and Thursday, May 14, offering a final opportunity to qualify for nationals.

The 2026 NCAA Outdoor National Championship will be held Thursday, May 21 through Saturday, May 23 in La Crosse, Wisc.

Personnel 
WashU returns a combined 12 All-Americans from the 2024-25 indoor season while adding eight more from the 2025 outdoor championships. Senior Jenae Bothe earned First Team honors in both indoor and outdoor while finishing national runner-up at the indoor championships. Senior Katie Rector, junior Caroline Echols, and sophomore Kalena Riemer were part of the DMR team to earn First Team honors. Coric, Bird, Christopher, and Spytek were indoor national runner-up in the 4x400 to earn their All-American honors. In the 60m, senior Jasmine Wright finished in the top eight to earn her First Team selection. Junior Olivia Theisen (High Jump), Spytek (400m), and senior Jillian Heth (Mile) also earned Second Team honors for finishing ninth through 16th in their respective events at the NCAA Indoor Championships.

From the outdoor season, Spytek and Wright were part of the 4x100m team that earned First Team All-American honors. Bird, Christopher, and Spytek also grabbed First Team selections in the 4x400m for the Bears. Wright claimed her selection on the First Team in the 100m. Spytek picked up her third All-American honor of the outdoor season in the 400m with a Second Team selection.

The Bears return nine of the 15 All-Region selections from the indoor season: Bird (4x400), Bothe (shot put), Christopher (4x400), Coric (4x400), Echols (DMR), Rector (DMR), Spytek (4x400), Theisen (high jump), and Wright (60m). From the outdoor season, Bird (4x400m relay), Bothe (shot put), Christopher (800m, 4x400m relay), Echols (800m), Spytek (400m, 4x100m relay, 4x400m relay), and Wright (100m, 4x100m relay) each earned All-Midwest outdoor honors.

In claiming its eighth UAA indoor title in a row, the Bears saw Rector, Echols, Bothe, Theisen, Spytek, Wright, Riemer, Bird, Christopher, and Coric each earn All-UAA honors for finishing in the top three in their events.

For the outdoor season, All-UAA honors were earned by senior Riley Clark, Christopher, Echols, Bothe, junior Maya Davis, Wright, Spytek, Bird, and Coric.

In total, WashU returns 15 seniors, 16 juniors, and 14 sophomores to the team from last year. They are joined by 19 first-year scholar-champions.

 
------------------------------------------

Elevating scholar-champions requires resources beyond the institutional budget. Through the W Club, generous alumni, parents, and friends provide unrestricted support that is essential to the extraordinary WashU student-athlete experience—and the ongoing growth and development of the department. Annual support for Athletics allows the Bears to consistently rise to national levels of competition and ensures that our student-athletes enjoy exceptional opportunities as they train, compete, and lead. To make a gift to the Annual Fund for Athletics, please visit our secure online giving form or contact the Athletics Advancement Office at athletics@wustl.edu.