GREENVILLE, S.C. – The Conference Carolinas women's outdoor track & field head coaches picked the University of Mount Olive to win a 12th consecutive and 14th overall conference championship in the 2026 preseason poll released on Thursday.

The Trojans collected 192 points and 13-of-15 first-place votes to slot the Trojans ahead of Converse University's 170 points and one first-place vote. North Greenville University who received 160 points was picked third, followed by Belmont Abbey College's 152 points in fourth. Lees-McRae College rounded out the top five with 132 points.

UNC Pembroke earned 123 points to take the sixth spot and was followed by Francis Marion University (114), Southern Wesleyan University (110), Barton College (81), King University (80), Emmanuel University (76) Ferrum College (69), Shorter University (46), Young Harris College (42) and Erskine College (28). Francis Marion received the final first place vote.

Southern Wesleyan opens up the Outdoor Track & Field season at home as they host the Gotta Run Invite on March 13-14.  They will then travel to Montreat, NC to take on the Montreat College Open on March 20-21.  The Warriors will compete in the Thrills in the Hills, the Lenoir-Rhyne Invitational and the Lee Fast Break Invitational before competing in the Conference Carolinas Outdoor Championship on April 23-25.

Merritt Smith will look to build off of her successful Indoor Track & Field season where she was named the champion of both the 3000 meters and 5000 meters and went on to be named the Track Athlete of the Year within the Conference.  Freshman Ellie Adams and Elise Foster will also look to impress in their first outdoor season with Southern Wesleyan.  Foster was a key contributor to the Warriors during the Cross Country season where she earned All-Conference Third Team honors.  Adams look to continue to build her career with the Warriors after she took seventh in the mile during the Indoor Track & Field Conference Championships.

The 2026 Conference Carolinas Outdoor Track & Field Championships will be held on April 23-25 at Doug Shaw Memorial Stadium in Myrtle Beach, South Carolina.

The preseason poll was voted on by the league's head coaches and they can't vote for their own school.