IRVING, Texas – The American Conference has announced the winners of the 2026 American Outdoor Track & Field Most Outstanding Performance awards, with student-athletes from East Carolina and Rice securing honors following the American Outdoor Track & Field Championships meet on May 14-16 at Norma Knobel Hunt Stadium in Denton.

The most outstanding performance awards are presented to student-athletes who recorded the highest-ranking marks on the NCAA's Division I performance list during the American Outdoor Championships. East Carolina’s Rashun Fountain and Kelly Ufodiama and Rice’s Juan Marais and Mckyla Van der Westhuizen were each recognized for their performances during the American Outdoor Championships.

Men’s Outdoor Most Outstanding Track Performance
Rashun Fountain, Sr., East Carolina (200-Meter Dash)
Fountain secured the top seed during the men’s 200-meter dash preliminary heats with a time of 20.41 and then proceeded to run a conference season-best of 19.98 in a wind-aided final to win the event. Fountain’s championship final time was tied for second in NCAA DI as of May 26.

Men’s Outdoor Most Outstanding Field Performance
Juan Marais, So., Rice (Discus)
Marais established a meet record on his first attempt of the men’s discus competition, covering 62.55m (205-2.0) to capture his first conference championship in the event. Marais ranked sixth in the NCAA in the discus as of May 26.

Women’s Outdoor Most Outstanding Track Performance
Kelly Ufodiama, So., East Carolina (200-Meter Dash)
Ufodiama defended her American championship in the women’s 100-meter dash with a wind-aided time of 11.04 that was above the NCAA allowable wind measurement but also earned the top seed in the 200-meter dash by posting a preliminary time of 22.57. While not her fastest recorded 200 dash time of the season (22.53, ninth), Ufodiama’s prelim run would have ranked tied for 14th on the latest national performance list as of May 26.

Women’s Outdoor Most Outstanding Field Performance
Mckyla Van der Westhuizen, Sr., Rice (Javelin)
Van der Westhuizen, already the conference record holder in the women’s javelin, won a third straight outdoor American championship in the event with a meet record throw of 57.34m (188-1.0) in the fifth round. While not her top recorded javelin throw of the season (59.06m, 193-9.0), Van der Westhuizen’s championship performance would have ranked sixth on the latest NCAA performance list as of May 26.