Paige Wins 800m ACC Championship

Saturday, May 16

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ACC Outdoor Championships

Makayla Paige Poses On Podium With Coach Milt after winning the ACC

May 17, 2026 | Track & Field

LOUISVILLE, KY - Carolina track and field closed out the final day of the Atlantic Coast Conference Championships with three medals, highlighted by Makayla Paige (2:00.86) winning the women's 800m championships.

Paige won her first career ACC Championship in her signature style, running a tactical race and kicking, heading into the final turn as she turned on the afterburners, winning by nearly two seconds.

Paige brought home the first women's ACC title since Madison Wiltrout won the women's javelin in 2023, and it was the first track championship since Lianne Farber won in the 1,500m in 2013. Paige's ACC Championship was the first 800m conference title for Carolina since Tasha Stanley won in 2012. Paige had the fastest 800m championship winning time in program history.

Paige beat out Gladys Chepngetich from Clemson, who came out on top in the indoor championships earlier this year.

The senior continued to build her Tar Heel legacy. Paige ran the 13th-fastest time in the NCAA this season. Paige ran under 2:01 for the tenth time in her career. The senior followed up her championship by anchoring the 4x400m squad (3:36.74) that scored and finished in fifth.

The senior can now add the conference title to her lengthy list of accomplishments, which includes a national title and runner-up in the fastest 800m race in NCAA history. She also became the first woman to run sub-2 minutes in program history, and she has done so three times.

After making his first ACC championship finals in what could have been his last race as a Tar Heel, Trevor Paschall brought home his first individual championship medal as he was the second runner to cross the finish line, claiming runner-up status, running a blistering 46.04, which would have been a PR if he hadn't run the seventh fastest time in program history the night before. Paschall ran the two fastest times of his career in back-to-back days to bring home the silver medal. Paschall ( 3:08.70) also followed up his silver medal by running in the men's 4x400m relay squad and finishing in fifth.

Vera Sjoberg (15:40.12) notched her second bronze medal of the weekend as she finished in third in the women's 5,000m. Sjoberg pulled double duty in the women's 5,000m and 10,000m. Sjoberg became the first Carolina women's runner to win a medal in both the 5k and 10k in the same meet since at least 2018.

Brynn Brown(15:57.15) and Ciara O'Shea (15:57.44) also had a great showing as the trio of women's distance runners all finished in the top ten. When Sjoberg ran the 10k on Friday, that was her first time running the event, and she broke the school record set by Joan Nesbit in 1984.

Adam Smith made his ACC Championships debut in his lone year on the team as a one-year graduate student transfer, and he finished in eighth, scoring in the men's discus. After the men's discus wrapped up, the meet was paused for a lengthy weather delay reaching over two hours. In addition, McKynzie Mauney made it to the finals of women's discus in her final meet as a Tar Heel.

The women's team finished in eighth with 49 points, and the men's team wrapped up ACCs in 13th with 26 points.

Men's Discus

8. Adam Smith, 52.35m (171-9)

16. Tyler Mayerhoff, 48.75m (159-11)

Women's High Jump

12. Tyler Collins, 1.64m 5-4½

Women's Discus

9. McKynzie Mauney, 46.38m (152-2)

17. Skylar Bohlman, 42.51m (139-5)

Women's 100m Hurdles (Finals)

4. Tori Goodson, 13.30

8. Kalani Witherspoon,13.43