Macon-Ford Finishes 15th at Nationals
GAINESVILLE, FLA. – To cap off a stellar indoor track and field season, UHSP sophomore Leah Macon-Ford finished 15th in the 60m dash at the NAIA Women's Indoor Track and Field Championships on Friday afternoon at the Alachua County Sports & Events Center in Gainesville, Florida.
Macon-Ford competed in the fourth and final heat of the 60m dash at the championships, finishing fourth of seven with a time of 7.64. The top finishers of each heat, plus the next four fastest times qualified for the finals in the event scheduled for Saturday. Macon-Ford was just .11 seconds behind the last qualifier.
Macon-Ford ran a B-standard qualification time for the 60m dash back in January to qualify for the national championships and continued to improve her UHSP-record time in the event as the indoor season progressed. On February 21, she defended her 2025 American Midwest Conference champion title with a new program record time of 7.57. The time was the 14th-best time of all NAIA runners coming into the national championships.
This was Macon-Ford's second trip to Gainesville for the NAIA indoor championships in as many years. As a freshman last season, she finished 14th in the nation (of 19 qualifying sprinters) with a time of 7.70. She is the third woman in Eutectic program history to qualify and compete at NAIA nationals for track and field.
UHSP head track and field coach Maurice Lewis said he was proud of how Macon-Ford competed at the national level.
"Leah had a great indoor season in her sophomore campaign!" said Lewis. "It being her second time at indoor nationals, she knew she belonged with the nation's best sprinters. I felt like the experience wasn't too much for her this time around like her freshman year.
"Even though we didn't accomplish what we set out in the beginning of the season, which was becoming an All-American, I'm proud of how she responded to the pressures of repeating as a two-time Conference Champion in the 60m and 200m as well as qualifying for nationals in the 60m again!
"I look forward to her using this as motivation during outdoor season to qualify again in the 100mand take another shot at becoming an All-American!"
Macon-Ford will now join the rest of the Eutectic track and field team with preparations for the outdoor season. The first UHSP outdoor competition is scheduled for Friday, March 13, at the Wildcat Relays hosted by Culver-Stockton College in Canton, Mo.