Carmel, IN – The Heartland Collegiate Athletic Conference (HCAC) has announced the results of the 2025-26 Men's Indoor Track and Field preseason poll, with Rose-Hulman Institute of Technology expected to finish first, as determined by a vote amongst league coaches.  Eight of the ten coaches selected the Engineers as the probably favorite.  The other two coaches picked the Manchester University Spartans to finish in first, and those votes boosted the Spartans to an overall predicted finish of second place.  Given that Manchester and Rose-Hulman were co-champions at last year’s Championship, with a tie in overall points, the preseason prediction – while not exactly bold – might prove to be accurate.

Rounding out the top five predicted finishers, the HCAC coaches believe that Hanover will likely finish in third place, Franklin College in fourth and Mount St. Joseph in fifth. 

Here are the full 25-26 HCAC Indoor Track and Field Preseason Poll results. 
 
2025-26 Men's Indoor Track and Field Preseason Poll Results

1 - Rose-Hulman 80 (8)
2 - Manchester 74 (2)
3 - Hanover 63
4 – Franklin 50
5 – Mount St. Joseph 47
6 – Berea 34
7 – Anderson 27
8 – Bluffton 26
9 – Transy 25
10 – Earlham 24

The HCAC Indoor Championships will be hosted at Mount St. Joseph University on February 28, 2026, and fans can again tune into live coverage on HCAC.tv.
 
As we head into the season, here are some things to watch for from each of the HCAC teams:

Rose-Hulman Institute of Technology Fightin’ Engineers – Predicted Finish = First Place

Second year head coach Shane Mills hopes to recapture last year’s championship winning success.  In that quest, he will rely on three senior All-HCAC returners to come up big for the Fightin’ Engineers.  Antoine Cooper (Indianapolis, IN) finished third in the weight throw in the 2025 HCAC Indoor Championship and fourth in the shot put at that event.  James Kaunas (Johnsburg, IL) achieved his All-Conference status by winning last year’s HCAC Indoor Championship triple jump event.  The third returning All-HCAC senior is Joshua Pohle (Osgood, IN).  Pohle is a talented distance runner for the Engineers and should add some quality points all season long in both the 3000- and 5000-meter runs.  Hurdler William Fleck (Chillicothe, OH) will be anxious to improve upon a special sophomore season, where he too joined his upper-class teammates as an All-Conference awardee in 2025. 

Coach Mills is expecting Junior hurdler Logan Phillips (Cable, OH) to be a solid contributor for Rose-Hulman.  Sam Rinker (Indianapolis, IN) is another talented teammate, and he promises to be a quality distance runner in a deep Heartland Conference pool of talent.
 
Manchester University Spartans – Predicted Finish = Second Place

Veteran coach, Brian Cashdollar, in his 27^th season with the Spartans, will have Manchester in position to compete for another HCAC Indoor Championship title again this winter. 

The Spartans are bringing four valuable returning All-Conference athletes into the season.  One runner that MU knows it can count on for success is Senior Gavin Byerly (Huntington, IN).  As a harrier, Byerly was the runner of the year at the recent HCAC Cross Country Championships and then qualified for the Division III Cross Country National Championship.  Look for this All-HCAC star to be a standout again this indoor track season in both the middle-distance and distance events.
Kenneth Redd (Dayton, OH) will be the likely points leader for the Spartans in the sprints and jumps.  The All-HCAC Senior won the long jump competition and finished in second place in the 200-meter dash at the 2025 HCAC Indoor Championships.

Look for 2025 HCAC Indoor Triple Jump Champion Chris Rene (Logansport, IN) to have a solid year of competition and make a strong bid for another title in that event.  Rene will also compete, more than aptly, in the hurdles. Sophomore George Myles (Gary, Ind) should also account for quality points in throws all season for MU making this well rounded Spartan team tough to beat. 
 
Hanover College Panthers – Predicted Finish = Third Place

Hanover College returns more men’s indoor track and field All-Conference athletes than any team.  With that reality, look for coach Richard Annorat’s Panthers to push hard against the top two predicted finishers this year. 

Quality returners for Hanover are scattered in different disciplines, leading to a team that scores points in lots of areas.  Sean Woods, Jr (Corydon, IN) finished second in the 2025 HCAC Indoor Pole-Vault competition and seventh in the high jump at the same event.  Look for Woods to be high off the ground again this winter.
Brandon Bensouda (Smyrna, TN) and Layden Adair (Indianapolis, IN) will lay down the fast times for the Panthers in the sprints.  Bensouda is the reigning HCAC Indoor 60-meter champion and Adair finished fifth in that same event.  If you stretch the track just a little further out, Panthers speedster Jayden Enderle (Mooresville, IN) will likely be near the front of the pack in the 400-meter dash. 

In the distance events, look for Connor Watson, Sr (Greenwood, IN) to pace this year’s Hanover squad. 
 
Franklin College Grizzlies – Predicted Finish = Fourth Place

Brandon Dworak will have the Franklin Grizzlies ready to go this season, and they hope they can, as predicted, climb the leader board after a fifth-place finish in last year’s HCAC Indoor Championships. 

The Grizzlies Steven Scott (Indianapolis, IN) continues to gain speed, and after finishing second in the Indoor 400-meter dash last year (to a Senior from Bluffton), expect Scott to compete for 400-meter gold medals throughout the season and at the HCAC Championship.  Brayden Wilkens (Fountaintown, IN) is another Franklin College sprinter to keep your eyes on this year.

In the middle-distance and distance events, William Hirsch (Evansville, IN) and Andre Davis (Indianpolis, IN) are poised to compete in the lead packs throughout the year. 

In the field, look for Junior Max Malone (Fort Wayne) to try to move into the top three of the conference in the throws events. 
 
Mount St. Joseph University Lions – Predicted Finish = Fifth Place

Head Coach Adam Cokonougher will do two things this indoor track season.  First, he will host quality events all year, culminating in the HCAC Indoor Championship in Cincinnati.  Second, he will work to improve upon last year’s sixth place conference finish.  His coaching colleagues believe the Lions should jump up at least one spot, having picked MSJ to finish fifth.

Assistant Coach and sprint specialist Jeff Hill has provided MSJ with some exciting athletes to watch in the sprint events. The Lions will be lead by Kyle Evers-Smith, a Senior from Little Miami, OH.  Evers-Smith is a returning All-HCAC sprinter, having finished in third place at the 2025 HCAC Indoor Championships in both the 60- and 200- yard dashes.  Evers-Smith will look to best Franklin’s Scott and Hanover’s Bensouda in those same two events this season.  He will need to look over his shoulder for his teammate Diego Yun (Cincinnati, OH).  Yun finished only 0.04 seconds behind Evers-Smith in last year’s Indoor 200-meter dash, so those two should be fierce competitors with each other and against their HCAC foes.  Just to keep things interesting for Yun and Evers-Smith, there are two other Lions that are fast of feet.  Teammates Chris Barrow (Cincinnati, OH) and Ezekiel Thomas (Bakersfield, CA) are the other sprinting MSJ athletes to watch. 

When we place the hurdles on the track, look for MSJ’s newcomer Christian Sumner (Vandalia, OH) to have positive results. 

In the throws, the competition should be prepared to see MSJ have marked improvement as Assistant Coach Andrew Pacifico enters his second season on staff, coaching the throws.
 
Berea College Mountaineers – Predicted Finish = Sixth Place

Michael Thomas will lead the Berea Mountaineers into their second ever HCAC Indoor Track and Field season.  The Mountaineers hope that Austin Gatewood (Azel, TX) can repeat his success from a year ago in the 800-meter run. The middle-distance runner finished second at last year’s Championship, behind only Manchester’s Gavin Byerly. 

Look for Drake Williams (Atlanta, GA) and Leroy Freeman (Riviera Beach, FL) to lead the Mountaineers in the jumps. 

Robert Russell (Valdosta, GA) and Gloire Muzeba (Louisville, KY) are expected to provide team leading and conference competitive speeds in the 200- and 400-meter runs.
 
Anderson College Ravens – Predicted Finish = Seventh Place

The HCAC coaches preseason predictions show an expectation that the Anderson Ravens will crawl up the standings, besting their ninth-place Indoor finish from a season ago. 

Coach Nic Huffman and the Anderson Ravens do not have the luxury of any all-HCAC returners, but what they do have is young incoming talent that should make for an improved team.

Local Anderson product, Freshman Kaleb Eldridge, will come in and compete right away in the 60-meter hurdles.  Eldridge will be joined by two other young Ravens, as Jayden Holeman (Alton, IL) will be worthy of a look in the 200-meter race, and sophomore Dillon Pratt (Frankton, IN) should find quick pace in the 400-meter event.
In the field, Coach Huffman is hopeful that Qi’Yam Simmons, a freshman from Indianapolis, can have an instant impact in the shot put competition.
 
Bluffton College Beavers – Predicted Finish = Eighth Place

Coach Chris Scott and the Beavers from Bluffton University will rely on two all-HCAC returners to pick up the loss of their exceptional sprinter Desmond Gist, who was a constant presence at the top of HCAC scoreboards during his time at Bluffton.

Sophomores Jalen Jackson (Memphis, TN) and Devin Homan (Dayton, OH) are the two sprinters that will try hard to fill Gist’s blazing spikes. 
 
Transylvania Pioneers – Predicted Finish = Ninth Place

Coming off an eighth-place finish at the 2025 Indoor Championships, Coach Matt Andrews and his Pioneers will be out to prove that the rest of the league might be underestimating them. Andrews will rely heavily on Senior Markieus Hill (Lexington, KY) to repeat his All-Conference performance from last year in the long jump.  Hill is already an HCAC Champion in 2025-26, having won the crown as a member of the Transylvania men’s soccer team.  Look for him to bring that winning spirit into the track locker room for the Pioneers. 
 
Earlham College Quakers – Predicted Finish = Tenth Place

Coach Chris Krystofiak’s Earlham Quakers round out the predicted preseason poll.  The Quakers hope that All-Conference returner Ethan Rose (Raleigh, NC) will again finish in the top three of the 800-meter run at Conference Championships, just like he did a year ago.  Krystofiak will look to Sophomore sprint/jump athletes Tommy Reddick (Dumas, AR) and Ian MacDonald (Copperas Cove, TX) to help improve the Quakers.  Incoming Freshmen Logan Brown (Fountain City, IN) and Bud Davis (Oakland, CA) should also help this growing squad.
 
For more information on HCAC Track and Field, visit the websites of any of the participating schools, or go to the HCAC's home on the Internet at www.heartlandconf.org.  Be sure to stay up to date on all of your Heartland Collegiate Athletic Conference news by following @HCACDIII on Twitter and by liking the "HCAC DIII" Facebook page.