GREENVILLE, S.C.  –  With the conclusion of the indoor track season looming and the beginning of the outdoor track season just around the corner, Conference Carolinas released their Outdoor Track & Field preseason poll with the Converse University Valkyries coming in second.

Conference Carolinas also released their list of Athletes to Watch, and junior Dorian Bomar, senior Devron Davis and senior Isaac Gilmore all earned the honor.

Bomar, a junior from Spartanburg, was named a 2026 Conference Carolinas Co-Indoor Track Athlete of the Year. He has also found success on the outdoor track in his two seasons, accumulating all-conference honors such as: 2025 first team All-Conference Carolinas in the 4x100 meter relay, 2025 second team All-Conference Carolinas in the 100 meters and 200 meters and 2024 second team All-Conference Carolinas in the 4x400 meter relay. The 2025 first-team All-Conference Carolinas 4x100 meter relay team were also national qualifiers.

Davis, a senior from Columbia, was the other athlete named a 2026 Conference Carolinas Co-Indoor Track Athlete of the Year. He also earned the distinction of 2025 Conference Carolinas Outdoor Track Athlete of the Year. He has also earned multiple all-conference honors including: 2025 first team All-Conference Carolinas in the 100 meters, 200 meters and 4x100 meter relay, 2024 second team All-Conference Carolinas in the 200 meters and 4x400 meter relay and 2024 third team All-Conference Carolinas in the 100 meters. He, too, was a member of the 2025 4x100 meter relay national-qualifying team.

Gilmore, a senior from Rock Hill, has earned two all conference honors during his collegiate career: 2025 third team All-Conference Carolinas and 2024 second team All-Conference Carolinas, both in the 4x400 meter relay.

Mount Olive topped the poll with 184 points and 13 of the available 14 first-place votes.

Converse placed second in the poll with 182 points and one first-place vote.

Belmont Abbey, UNC Pembroke and Southern Wesleyan rounded out the top five with 163, 147 and 144 points, respectively.

Lees-McRae placed sixth with 126 points followed by King in seventh with 109 points, the final team to earn over 100 points in the poll.

Young Harris, Ferrum and North Greenville round out the top 10 with 94, 90 and 87 points, respectively.

Barton, in 11th with 66 points, received the final first-place vote.

Emmanuel, Erskine, Shorter and Francis Marion round out the poll.

2026 Conference Carolinas
Men's Outdoor Track & Field Preseason Poll

	School	Total (First Place)
1	Mount Olive	184 (13)
2	Converse	182 (1)
3	Belmont Abbey	163
4	UNC Pembroke	147
5	Southern Wesleyan	144
6	Lees-McRae	126
7	King	109
8	Young Harris	94
9	Ferrum	90
10	North Greenville	87
11	Barton	66 (1)
12	Emmanuel	64
13	Erskine	44
14	Shorter	39
15	Francis Marion	36

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