Hokie Club
FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. – Virginia Tech closed the indoor season Saturday with the men recording a top-20 finish while every Hokie competitor earned All-American honors at the 2026 NCAA Indoor Track & Field Championships at the Randal Tyson Track Center.
George Couttie earned All-American honors in both of his events. In the mile, Couttie delivered a strong performance to finish second in 3:59.30, just 0.36 seconds behind Carter Cutting, who won the race in 3:58.94. The finish marked Couttie’s first First Team All-American honor in the indoor mile.
He returned to the track in the 3,000 meters, posting a time of 8:07.18 to finish 11th and earn Second Team All-American honors, marking his second consecutive Second Team All-American finish in the event.
The honors cap a historic indoor season for Couttie, who ranked No. 2 nationally in the mile after breaking his own Virginia Tech school record with a 3:52.02 earlier this season. He also holds the program record in the 3,000 meters (7:36.74), which ranked No. 5 on the NCAA qualifying list.
Couttie also set the NCAA indoor collegiate record in the 2,000 meters (4:57.81) at the Hokie Invitational, becoming the first collegian to break the five-minute barrier in the event.
The 2026 indoor season marked a successful comeback campaign for Couttie after missing the 2025 outdoor season due to injury. He carried that momentum from the fall, where he earned cross country All-America honors with a 10th-place finish at the NCAA Division I Cross Country Championships. Couttie also finished fourth at the NCAA Southeast Regional to earn All-Region honors and placed fourth at the ACC Cross Country Championships, earning his second career All-ACC selection.
Nate Paris earned his second consecutive All-American honor in the heptathlon, finishing eighth overall with a personal-best 5,917 points. He defended his Virginia Tech school record and the Canadian U23 indoor heptathlon record, previously 5,858 points, and improved on last year’s performance of 5,617 points, improving from Second Team to First Team All-American honors this season.
He completed day two with 8.05 in the 60-meter hurdles (969 points), 4.37 meters in the pole vault (871), and 2:45.84 in the 1,000 meters.
On day one, Paris finished second overall with 3,416 points, highlighted by a personal-best 6.78 in the 60 meters (962 points), a season-best 7.51 meters in the long jump (937), and a matching personal-best clearance of 2.06 meters in the high jump (859).
Chiara Sistermann made her first NCAA Indoor Championships appearance and earned her third career All-American honor in the pole vault with a clearance of 4.26 meters (13' 11¾"). Sistermann previously earned Second Team All-American honors outdoors in 2024 and 2025.
The Virginia Tech men totaled 15 points to finish 17th overall.
Up Next
Virginia Tech will begin its outdoor season March 20–21 at the Hurricane Invitational in Miami before competing at the Virginia Opener in Charlottesville.