FRISCO, Texas – Lamar University senior
Mariam Buenanueva Saleme has been named 2026 Southland Conference Women's Field Athlete of the Year, announced league officials Thursday morning. In total, Big Red accumulated 10 all-conference nods from 11 athletes.
The SLC Outdoor Track & Field superlative awards are nominated and voted upon by the league's head coaches. Voting for a school's own athlete was not permitted. All-conference recognition is given to the first, second and third-place finishers in each championship event final.
Buenanueva Saleme earned first-team All-SLC honors by winning the heptathlon with a school-record score of 5,679 points. Of the seven events, she was in the top two six times, including first in the 800 meters and the 100-meter hurdles. Buenanueva Saleme becomes just the second Cardinal to be named league field athlete of the year joining Parl Ealma (2023).
Anthony Oliver was LU's other first-team all-conference member after he repeated as the hammer throw champion, breaking the school record with a mark of 63.70m (209-0). A two-time SLC Individual Champion, Oliver is now a three-time all-conference selection.
Neelie Schiel earned her second career all-conference nod following a second-place finish in the javelin when she broke the school record with a toss of 49.71m (163-1).
Other second-team honorees included
Kenson Tate in the long jump,
Ke'Asia Hall in the triple jump and the 4x400m relay of
Ethan Ellis, Tre Brown,
Tyler Minter and
Davis Wenthe. Wenthe and
Krystan Bright each collected third-team recognition from their 400-meter events.
Ashton Rainey collected two third-team honors in both the 5,000m and 10,000m. She finished her junior season with four all-conference awards and has six for her career.
Both Cardinal teams combined for 10 top-three finishes (two firsts, four seconds and four thirds) at the conference championship meet. The LU women finished fourth with 98.5 points, while the men were with 54 points.
LU will wait to see which athletes will compete in the NCAA Regionals in Fayetteville, Ark. The regional championships will start Wednesday, May 27th and run through Saturday, May 30th.
