Swabik and Meacham Win Big 12 Titles to Lead Jayhawks at First Two Days of Big 12 Championship

Thursday, May 14

Tucson, Ariz.

University of Kansas

Big 12 Outdoor Track & Field Championships Day 1

Tucson, AZ - 05.15.2026 - John Swabik during Outdoor Big12s at Roy P. Drachman Track & Field Stadium in Tucson, AZ. Photo by Sydney Allan/Kansas Athletics

Photo by: Kansas Athletics

Swabik and Meacham Win Big 12 Titles to Lead Jayhawks at First Two Days of Big 12 Championship

5/15/2026 11:37:00 PM | Track & Field

Schedule Results

TUCSON, Ariz. -- Kansas track and field senior John Swabik and Anthony Meacham highlighted the Jayhawks first two days at the Big 12 Outdoor Championship with their first and third career titles at Roy P. Drachman Stadium in Tucson, Arizona.

Swabik won the men's decathlon and set a new school record with 7,819 points, aided by a very strong second day and set a new school record in the process. Meacham won the men's pole vault with a clearance of 5.63 meters; the 83rd men's pole vault conference championship in school history and third of his career. With the win, Meacham swept the Big 12 titles this season, winning both the indoor and outdoor championships.

Swabik scored 7,819 points to set a new school record and 361 point personal best on his way to the crown. He became the fourth Jayhawk ever to win a conference decathlon championship, and the third to win a Big 12 decathlon title. The win helped the Jayhawks sweep the men's multi events this season, with teammate Tayton Klein winning the indoor heptathlon.

On Thursday, Swabik finished sixth in the 100 meter dash, first in the long jump, 11th in the shot put, fourth in the high jump and tenth in the 400 meter dash. At the end of the first day of competition, Swabik sat in second place with 4,004 points. To begin Friday, he finished tenth in the 110 meter hurdles before setting three straight personal bests.

He finished fourth in the discus with a 2.73 meter personal best, second in the pole vault with a 0.16 meters personal best and sixth in the javelin throw with a 3.52 meters personal best. After nine events, Swabik sat in third, trailing Oklahoma State's Steven Schmidt by 50 points. He finished the 1,500 meters in 4:34.69 to place third and earn 714 points.

Swabik ended up winning the decathlon by 71 points over Kansas State's Dorian Charles who sat in second before the final event, and by 90 points over Schmidt. Conor Dunback also set a personal best in the event with 7,507 points to place sixth.

Anthony Meacham added a third Big 12 Championship title to his resume with his 5.63 meters clearance to win the Big 12 Outdoor Championship. Meacham entered the competition at the 5.43 meters mark, clearing the bar on his first try. He then cleared the 5.53 meters mark on his third try before vaulting 5.63 meters on his first attempt.

Texas Tech's Jackson Bragg and Kansas teammate Bryce Barkdull also cleared the 5.43 mark, both on their second attempts, before Bragg failed at 5.53 meters. Barkdull failed his first attempt at 5.63 meters before passing to attempt 5.73 meters. He failed both of those attempts, making Meacham the Big 12 Outdoor Champion.

Meacham's third Big 12 title added to his already stellar season in which he has cleared 19 feet three times and became the first Big 12 men's athlete to win three Big 12 Athlete of the Week awards. He has also held the top national mark since his first vault of the season and broke the Kansas school record twice.

On Thursday, Barbora Stejfova and Kat Meacham picked up the first points of the meet for Kansas with their seventh and eighth place finishes in the women's hammer throw. Meacham threw a personal best 57.83 meters, over 13 feet longer than her previous best.

During the preliminary runs on Thursday, Quenton Walion, Tanner Talley and Emmah Jemutai qualified for the finals in the 1,500 meters. Sidney Smith ran a season best 58.33 seconds 400 meter dash to qualify for the women's finals.

Thursday night wrapped up with the first points for the Kansas men's team when Stephen Maroro finished fifth in the men's 10,000 meter run in his first ever Big 12 Outdoor Championship, earning four points for the Jayhawks.

On Friday, Jemutai picked up her second finals qualification with a 2:03.28 time in the women's 800 meter run. Michael Joseph then qualified in the men's 400 meter dash with a time of 45.75 seconds and Deshana Skeete qualified in the women's 400 meter dash.

In addition to Meacham's pole vault win and Barkdull's second place finish, Payton Kasper also earned points, finishing seventh with a second straight personal best, this time clearing 5.23 meters. In total the three vaulters earned 20 points for the Jayhawks.

During the women's pole vault, Madison Snody finished third, the highest placement of her career at a conference meet, with a clearance of 4.37 meters. It marked the third time she has earned points during the Big 12 meets. Mason Meinershagen finished tied for fifth with a clearance of 4.17 meters, marking the fifth time she has scored in the pole vault at conference meets, as she also finished third during the indoor season and second at last year's Big 12 Outdoor Championship.

After two days, the Kansas women's team sits in ninth place with 12.5 points while the men's team is tied for third with 37 points. The meet will wrap up tomorrow with the finals of the running events and six field events. A full schedule of events can be found here.

HOW TO FOLLOW ALONG
Fans can stay current with the events by following the official Kansas Track & Field and Cross Country X or Instagram account @kansastfxc. The meet will be streamed live on ESPN+ and live results are available here. Final results and a meet recap will be posted at the conclusion of the meet on kuathletics.com.