Cardinals Send Four Athletes to NCAA East Regional; Nettles Qualifies for NCAA Championships in Heptathlon

NCAA Qualifiers at 2026 NCAA track regionals

Cardinals Send Four Athletes to NCAA East Regional; Nettles Qualifies for NCAA Championships in Heptathlon

May 21, 2026 | Track & Field

MUNCIE, Ind. -- Four Ball State track student-athletes will compete in next week's NCAA East First Round, one of two regional sites as a preliminary round of competition that feeds into the NCAA Outdoor Track and Field Championships, June 10-13 in Eugene, Oregon.

The Cardinals boast five NCAA qualifiers, as announced by the NCAA on Thursday, with Nina Garner, Malina Miller, Kenli Nettles and Lapri Ratney all slated to compete in next week's regional in Lexington, Kentucky, May 27-30. Ball State's five qualifiers are the most for the program since the Cardinals sent five to regional sites in each of 2005, 2006 and 2007.

Nettles is a two-event qualifier, set to compete in Lexington as one of 48 East qualifiers in the 400-meter hurdles. The two-time Mid-American Conference champion in the heptathlon, she also ranks 23rd out of 24 national heptathlon competitors that are already qualified for the NCAA heptathlon finals in Eugene.

While Nettles qualified in two different events, the Cardinals placed two into regional high jump competition, adding to Ball State's rich history in the event which includes 2023 national champion Charity Griffith. Sophomore Malina Miller won the MAC Championships by clearing a personal-record height of 1.77 meters. Freshman teammate Nina Garner finished fourth in the conference event and qualified for the regional with a season-best jump of 1.76 meters.

Rounding out the Cardinals' regional lineup is sophomore sprinter Laya'Lapri Ratney who raced to the MAC title in the 100-meter hurdles and qualified for the NCAA First Round with a qualifying mark of 13.32 seconds.

Miller and Garner are seeded 24th and 32nd, respectively, in the NCAA East high jump competition. Ratney is seeded 38th in the 100m hurdles and Nettles is 40th in the 400m hurdles. All regional events compete with a full field of 48 participants.