KANSAS CITY, Mo. – The Mid-America Intercollegiate Athletics Association announced its men’s and women’s preseason rankings for the 2026 outdoor track and field seasons. Pittsburg State was picked as the easy favorites by MIAA head coaches for both the men’s and women’s upcoming seasons.
 
The track and field programs of Pittsburg State University swept the league’s 2026 Indoor Track & Field Championships. It was the men’s fifth consecutive indoor title and the women’s fifth. Indoor and outdoor championships combined, the Gorillas have swept the last five MIAA track and field titles.
 
The Gorillas are also fresh off their sweep of the 2026 NCAA Division II Indoor Track & Field National Championships. The Pitt State women won their second-straight indoor national championship with 69.5 team points, while the Pitt State men claimed their fourth straight indoor national title with 75.5 total points. The men are the enter the 2026 outdoor season as the four-time defending outdoor national champion. The women last claimed the NCAA Division II outdoor national title in 2024 and finished as the national runner-up in 2025.
 
Northwest Missouri was picked second in both the men’s and women’s preseason coaches polls. Both Bearcat teams were the only other MIAA programs to place in the top ten at the 2026 indoor national championships, with the Bearcat women placing seventh with 22 points and the Bearcat men placing eighth, also with 22 team points.
 
Missouri Southern, Washburn and Central Missouri concluded the coaches’ top five teams on both the men’s and women’s preseason rankings. The complete rankings for the 2026 MIAA men’s and women’s outdoor track and field preseason coaches polls are listed below.
   
 The 2026 outdoor season officially begins Friday, March 20, with MIAA teams competing in Colorado, Kansas and Missouri.  MIAA fans can view all ten men’s outdoor track and field schedules at theMIAA.com/mtf and all 11 women’s outdoor schedules at theMIAA.com/wtf.
 
The 2026 MIAA Outdoor Track & Field Championship meet is scheduled for May 1-3 in Pittsburg, Kan. Emporia State University will once again host the NCAA Division II Outdoor Track & Field National Championships, which is set for May 21-23 at the Hornets’ Francis G. Welch Stadium in Emporia, Kan.