WATERVILLE, Maine - On Thursday afternoon, the North Atlantic Conference (NAC) released the results of the 2026 Pre-Championship Coaches Poll, and the University of Maine at Farmington men's track and field team was picked to repeat as NAC Champions, receiving four of the six first-place votes.
Farmington is set to host the 2026 NAC Championship at the University of Maine at Orono. The event will kick off on Saturday with the pole vault, high jump, and hammer throw beginning the competition. Saturday's events are scheduled to start at 1:00 PM. The majority of the championship will take place on Sunday, beginning at 11:00 AM.
The Beavers secured their first conference championship in program history in 2025, dominating the field and amassing 227 points—78 more than any other team that competed a year ago.
This season, the Beavers are looking to defend their crown after building steady momentum throughout the events leading up to this weekend's championship. Farmington has consistently been led by junior thrower Alex Crews (Winslow, Maine), who has been named the NAC Field Athlete of the Week on three separate occasions. Crews has automatically qualified for the New England Championship in the shot put and has provisionally qualified in the discus.
On the track, the Beavers feature a deep group of distance runners coming over from the three-time NAC Champion cross country program. Among that group is junior standout Andrew LaFlamme (Nashua, N.H.), who has delivered numerous notable performances throughout the season. He opened the outdoor season by provisionally qualifying for the New England Championship in the 3,000-meter steeplechase. LaFlamme has also provisionally qualified in the 10,000 meters and is now the program's all-time record holder in the event, posting a time of 31:52.29 at the Silfen Invitational. He has also been named the NAC Track Athlete of the Week three times this season.
Farmington's deep distance and mid-distance group includes Cross Country All-Conference selections Alexander Gagnon (Goffstown, N.H.), James Riley (Shrewsbury, Mass.), Ethan Linscott (Lakeville, Maine), and Samuel Perkins (Jay, Maine).
First-year Lucas Witkowski (Cromwell, Conn.) will also play a vital role this weekend for the Beavers. Witkowski, a sprinter, was recently named the NAC Rookie of the Week after provisionally qualifying for the New England Championship in the 400 meters. He enters this weekend as the top seed in the event, with a time more than a second faster than any other athlete in the conference.
Sophomore Logan Burns (Islesboro, Maine) has competed in both sprint and jumping events this season and currently ranks near the top of the conference leaderboard in several events. Entering this weekend, Burns sits second in the NAC in the long jump, provisionally qualifying for the New England Championship in the event.
Sophomore Owen Booker (Lisbon, Maine), a multis athlete, will also play an important role in the Beavers' success this weekend. At last season's championship, Booker place fifth in the long jump, sixth in the triple jump, second in the pole vault, and fifth in the 110-meter hurdles. He has also provisionally qualified for the New England Championship in the javelin this season, accomplishing that mark in the first event of the 2026 outdoor season.
Follow this link to see the full NAC release for this weekend's championship event.
Poll Results
UMaine-Farmington - 33 (4)
Thomas College - 32 (2)
Husson University - 25
UMaine-Presque Isle - 17
Lesley University - 10
VTSU Johnson - 9
