MTRACK: Ramadan Becomes Third GNAC Athlete In History to Qualify For NCAA Indoor Championships

Release Courtesy of Saint Joseph's (Maine) Athletic Communications

Indianapolis - The NCAA Division III Men's and Women's Track and Field and Cross Country Committee announced on Sunday the participants in the 2026 NCAA Division III Men's and Women's Indoor Track and Field Championships.

Saint Joseph's College of Maine junior Haytham Ramadan has been selected to compete in the 2026 NCAA Division III Men's Indoor Track & Field Championships, becoming the first national qualifier in Saint Joseph's indoor track & field history and just the second athlete from a Great Northeast Athletic Conference men's track & field program and third student-athlete overall to reach the NCAA Division III Indoor Championships. Suffolk's Emily Manfra previously qualified for the 2020 national meet in the Women's Mile while former teammate Matyas Csiki-Fejer previously qualified for the 2022 national meet in the 3,000 meters. 

The national championship will be held March 13-14 at the Birmingham CrossPlex in Birmingham, Alabama. For each men's individual event, the top 20 declared student-athletes were accepted into the championship field.

Ramadan earned his place on the national stage after a record-breaking indoor season highlighted by a program-record 1:51.99 in the 800 meters at the Tufts Final Qualifier on March 7. That mark lowered his own standing in the national field and capped a steady rise throughout the winter.

"Beyond excited for Haytam to have this opportunity to compete at the national level and represent St. Joseph's College of Maine," said Saint Joseph's College head coach Mike Burleson. "He's been putting in some serious work during the second half of the season and, most importantly, believing in himself. His training has been focused and he has executed excellent race plans at the right time of the year. Haytam is an incredibly gifted athlete and a wonderful person, and couldn't be more proud of him. The sky is the limit for him, and know he still has so much room to grow as an athlete."

His indoor campaign began with a victory in the 600 meters at the Bates Invitational and Multi, where he ran 1:21.53. He later posted an 1:56.95 in the 800 at the BU John Thomas Terrier Classic before putting together a dominant conference-championship performance at the GNAC Indoor Championship, where he won the 800 meters (1:59.70), mile (4:30.67), and helped the Monks capture the distance medley relay (11:24.69). Ramadan then returned to the 800 with a win at the Mule Tune-Up in 1:55.05, followed by a seventh-place finish at the New England Division III Indoor Championship in 1:52.63, before closing the regular season with his school-record effort at Tufts.

Ramadan is scheduled to open competition on Friday in Event 14, the men's 800-meter preliminaries, where he enters with a seed time of 1:50.41. He is tied for the fifth-fastest seed in the field heading into the preliminary round, a group that includes some of the top middle-distance runners in Division III this season.

His qualification marks a historic milestone for the Monks program and adds another chapter to one of the finest individual indoor seasons in school history. After winning conference titles, setting a program record, and climbing into the national field, Ramadan will now represent Saint Joseph's College on the sport's biggest stage.