Peter Wangechi

2025-2026 Women’s Track & Field Preview: Blue Streaks Looking Forward To Another Historical Season

1/23/2026 7:48:00 PM | By: Jamie Dailey '22, SID Assistant

Women's Track & Field Has Eyes Set On Another Fantastic Campaign This Year

UNIVERSITY HEIGHTS – The 2024-2025 track & field season brought a lot of promise to this young group.

Led by Coach Daniel Tutskey, Director of Cross Country/Track & Field at John Carroll University and his staff, the team took a major step forward.

At both NCAA Championship meets, the Blue Streaks earned a combined seven All-American accolades, ranging from the 60 meter dash and the 4x400 meter relay and several school records were broken in the process.

This upcoming year will bring even more excitement as the team will open up their indoor season at home for the next two weeks and enter the North Coast Athletic Conference.

The Athletic Wellness & Event Center (AWE) opened its doors during the fall and has been a massive transformation for not only the program, but for the entire JCU campus and community.

This past Saturday, January 17th, the team competed in their very first Alumni Meet, welcoming back many former Blue Streak athletes and recognizing their achievements.

Next will be the Hayden Snow/Leo Miller Meet of Champions, which will be Saturday, January 24th, recognizing two great alums that had decorating careers for the JCU Track & Field program.

Some of the other meets to highlight will be the BU Valentine Invite and the Tufts Cupid Challenge, taking place in Boston on February 13-14. The NCAC Indoor Championships will take place in Springfield, Ohio hosted by Wittenberg University, while the outdoor championship meet will be hosted by Kenyon College in Gambier, Ohio.

Lastly, the NCAA Indoor Championships will be in Birmingham, Alabama on March 13-14, taking place at the Birmingham Crossplex.

Returning for her second year after posting a remarkable first year campaign is Dakota Houston.

Dakota became a four-time All-American in the indoor 60 meter dash, outdoor 100 and 200 meter dash races, and was a part of the women's 4x400 meter relay at NCAAs. She also became a five-time conference champion and was named the OAC Most Outstanding Sprinter/Jumper at the outdoor championships. She will look to continue her momentum and strengthen her range in various events.

Sandra King and Paige Munchick are two names to keep an eye out for this season. Both athletes return to the track coming off of an impressive performance in the 4x400 meter relay, becoming first-time All-Americans in the event.

At the YSU Icebreaker back in December, Sandra broke the school record in the 400 meter dash with a time of 57.63 seconds. She would go on to earn her third school record of her career.

Paige took a huge leap last year, earning numerous personal bests in the 200, 400, and 100 meter dash races and became an All-Conference sprinter for the Blue Streaks.

Last year's distance medley relay was just a couple of seconds shy from qualifying to the NCAA Championships, but the group will look to get back on the national stage.

One of those members was senior Abby Schroff. She will look to return and get back to competing at a high level for the Blue Streaks this season. Abby qualified for the 2024 NCAA Indoor Championships in the mile, where she became a second-team All-American.

Alyssa Vis will be another runner to keep an eye on as she is coming off of a stellar track & field season, becoming an All-Conference runner for the women's team in the 1500 meter run outdoors, as well as the mile and 1000 meter run.

Another runner who impressed a lot of people is Anne Rea. She became a 4x All-Conference runner for the Blue Streaks, scoring in events such as the 5000, 3000, and 10000 meter runs.

Seniors Breanna Berwald and Sarah Hart return on the throws side this season and will bring lots of leadership and experience to this young group.

Coach Tutskey is excited about the potential of this group and will look forward to seeing what they do throughout the season.

"Our women are just beginning to scratch the surface of just how talented they are," emphasized Tutskey. "They are a very hardworking group who have an opportunity to have a special season. The ladies caught a glimpse of what is possible at our Alumni Meet this past weekend. Dakota Houston set another record. This time in the long jump with former record holders Maria DeLuca and Evie Arnold also competing. I believe the alumni who were in attendance and had an opportunity to speak to the team at the end of the meet made a lasting impression."

Even though this year's women's team is young, they have lots of potential that can make several differences in many events that will help carry over into other opportunities down the road.

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