LYNCHBURG, Va. (Feb. 14, 2026) - Sophie Beach went the distance. She went for speed. 

She got it, and she wasn't the only one. 

Beach and Carmyn Johson both set personal bests in the indoor 5000-meter race for the ETSU women's indoor track & field team at the Darius Dixon Memorial Invitational in Lynchburg, Virginia, across Friday and Saturday. 

Beach PR'ed with a 17:27.93 to finish fourth in the 5k invitational race. Johnson snagged ETSU's only podium of the weekend with a third place in the 5k open race at 17:55.98. Kendall Johnson finished fourth with an 18:03.90 mark in the 5k open, and Gracie Franklin turned in an 18:12.36. 

The Bucs' distance medley relay team of Beach, Deena Lutdke, Meg Lance, and Patty Kilkelly posted the 77th-best time in Division I this season with a 12:10.80, the 15th best time in the NCAA South Region and the second best time in the SoCon to date in the 2025-26 indoor season. 

Elsewhere on the track, Micailah Cook improved her previous season-best 400m mark with a time of 55.72 seconds, third best mark in the SoCon, to finish 11th in a deep field in the event. Brianna Fulford finished 10th in the 500m with 1:23.39, and Emily Lindsey set a season best in the 200m open sprint with a 28.56. 

In the field events, Fulford set a season best high jump with a 1.54m mark in the open event, and Maddie Winchester set a personal best with a 14.20m weight throw, putting the freshman seventh in the SoCon in t, putting the freshman seventh in the SoConhe event so far this season. 

The Bucs have one more event before the SoCon Indoor Championships, returning to Tryon International for the Tryon Banked Invitational next weekend. 

For more information on ETSU track & field, go to ETSUBucs.com.