Recruiting Roundup - Women's XC, Track
Nine new athletes have committed to NWACC's 2026 class as of early May
With three months to go before a new crop of Eagles arrives, the NWACC Women's Cross Country and Track and Field programs have already locked in nine athletes across all events. Coaches Josphat Boit and Chris Weller have added four cross country runners for the fall and will boast entries in multiple jumps categories, all firsts for the program.
Six athletes are from Northwest Arkansas, while one comes from Joplin, one comes from Nebraska and another will become NWACC's first-ever athlete from Wyoming.
MADISON SQUIRES - Bentonville, Ark.
Squires was one of two 800-meter participants representing Bentonville West in the 6A West Conference Championships in 2024 as a sophomore, and she ran alongside NWACC at the 2025 Chile Pepper Cross Country Festival hosted by the University of Arkansas in Fayetteville.
LILY ZAKARAS - Springfield, Neb.
Zakaras has seen success in both long-distance running and gravel biking; she is a member of the Mach1 U23 Development Team and has semi-pro biking experience. As a runner, she boasts two UTMB (Ultra-Trail du Mont-Blanc) youth 10k national championships and last competed in cross country for Bentonville High School.
Zakaras hails from the small town of Springfield, Neb., half an hour from Omaha. She has called Bentonville home for the past two years and began attending NWACC in Fall 2025.
KEILEE HERNANDEZ - Tontitown, Ark.
Coming from Ozark Catholic Academy in Tontitown, Ark., Hernandez boasts five top-three finishes at the 2A Region 1 level across cross country and track events in 2025 alone.
LILLY LUNSFORD - Gravette, Ark.
Lunsford recently moved back to her hometown of Gravette, Ark. from Honduras, and she committed to represent the Eagles after she graduates high school via Arkansas Connections Academy this summer.
Lunsford ran and jumped for NWACC coach Chris Weller while the two were at Gravette High School, where Lunsford attended her freshman and sophomore years before moving to Honduras. While in Honduras, Lunsford was involved in competitive volleyball.
JOANNA ROCKWELL - Rogers, Ark.
A small forward starting on the War Eagles' varsity team, Rockwell anticipates using her basketball abilities to her benefit in both jumps and distance running. Rockwell also becomes the first women's athlete at NWACC from Heritage High School and just the second in program history, following 2021 Academic All-American cross country runner Will Smith.
KAYLYN SMITH - Green Forest, Ark.
The first-ever NWACC athlete to represent Green Forest, Ark., Smith is a tri-sport athlete with experience in volleyball, basketball and track and field at both Berryville and Green Forest High Schools. As a junior with Berryville, Smith set the school record triple jump mark with a 34' 6.5", outdoing the previous mark held by her coach, Cecelia Doss. She has since already beaten that mark early in the 2026 season at Green Forest.
The 5'6" all-around athlete scored over 1,000 points in basketball and was nominated for Most Outstanding Girls Basketball Player as a senior with Green Forest. In volleyball, she was a potent offensive player as a right-side and opposite hitter.
GRACE PERKINS - Dayton, Wyo.
After picking up experience in sprint and mid-distance relays as well as the 800-meter run, the 1600-meter run and the 3200-meter run, Perkins will likely compete in a variety of running disciplines for NWACC Track and Field as well as the cross country program.
A multi-sport athlete, Perkins was also a main contributor to Tongue River's basketball program, which ranked #25 in the state of Wyoming in 2025-26 according to MaxPreps.
KENDALL NYARANGO - Joplin, Mo.
Nyarango will participate in sprints as well as long jump for the Eagles; she has collected two wins en route to top-four finishes in all five long jump events this season for Joplin. She also brings in PRs of 12.93 (100 meters) and 26.58 (200 meters) in sprint categories.
BRAYLEY MCCARLEY - Rogers, Ark.
McCarley comes from Heritage High School in Rogers, where she was a dual-sport athlete in track and field as well as softball. On the track, McCarley has experience as a jumper and a sprinter.
ROSTER BY EVENT
The current roster for next season is below; confirmed incoming freshmen are denoted in italics.
Throws
Discus
- Madilyn Guy (66-2 | 20.18 meters)
Jumps
High Jump
- Lilly Lunsford (Gravette, Ark., 5-6 | 1.68 meters)
- Kaylyn Smith (Green Forest, Ark., 4-9 | 1.45 meters)
Long Jump
- Kendall Nyarango (Joplin, Mo., 19-7 | 5.38 meters)
- Lilly Lunsford (Gravette, Ark., 15-8w | 4.77 meters)
Triple Jump
- Kaylyn Smith (Green Forest, Ark., 34-9 | 10.59 meters)
Sprints
100-Meter Dash
- Kendall Nyarango (Joplin, Mo., 12.93)
- Lilly Lunsford (Gravette, Ark., 13.25)
- Kaylyn Smith (Green Forest, Ark., 13.62)
- Brayley McCarley (Rogers, Ark., 13.86)
200-Meter Dash
- Kendall Nyarango (Joplin, Mo., 26.58)
- Kaylyn Smith (Green Forest, Ark., 27.48)
- Lilly Lunsford (Gravette, Ark., 27.55)
- Brayley McCarley (Rogers, Ark., 28.78)
- Talitha Venter (30.39)
400-Meter Dash
- Kaylyn Smith (Green Forest, Ark., 1:03.47)
- Talitha Venter (1:07.72)
Distance
800-Meter Run
- Lily Zakaras (Bentonville, Ark., 2:32.55)
- Gloria Kurgat (2:36.19)
- Grace Perkins (Dayton, Wyo., 2:36.25)
- Keilee Hernandez (Tontitown, Ark., 2:44.52)
- Talitha Venter (2:57.01)
- Joanna Rockwell (Rogers, Ark., N/A)
1500-Meter Run (converted from 1600 meter times for high schoolers)
- Gloria Kurgat (5:03.69)
- Lily Zakaras (Bentonville, Ark., 5:12.47)
- Grace Perkins (Dayton, Wyo., 5:22.38)
- Keilee Hernandez (Tontitown, Ark., 5:43.10)
- Joanna Rockwell (Rogers, Ark., N/A)
Cross Country
- Gloria Kurgat (19:02.57)
- Madison Squires (Bentonville, Ark., 20:00.12)
- Lily Zakaras (Bentonville, Ark., 20:43.79)
- Grace Perkins (Dayton, Wyo., 21:00.16)
- Keilee Hernandez (Tontitown, Ark., 22:45.96)
- Talitha Venter (22:56.1)
- Joanna Rockwell (Rogers, Ark., N/A)
NEXT UP
More athletes will continue to be announced over the summer in advance of their arrival in August.
