BRIDGEWATER, Mass. -- Seven-time defending champion Bridgewater State University has been chosen by the coaches from around the conference to claim the 2026 Massachusetts State Collegiate Athletic Conference (MASCAC) Men's Outdoor Track and Field title.

The Bears claimed four first-place votes and 16 total points in this year’s poll. Westfield State is second with 12 points and one first-place vote while Fitchburg State rounded out the top three teams with 11 points.

The Bears captured the outdoor titles in 2018, 2019, 2021, 2022, 2023, 2024 and 2025. The 2020 championship meet was not contested due to COVID.

During the 2025 MASCAC Outdoor Championships, the Bears won 11 individual events and a pair of relays. Fourth-year head coach Christine Kloiber will look to seniors Kyle Ackroyd (Charlestown, R.I.), Ryker King (Wareham, Mass.) and Dasean Peters-Wolfe (Mansfield, Mass.), junior Matthew Mooney (Douglas, Mass.) and sophomore Joshua Cardichon (Brockton, Mass.) to lead the team to their eighth straight MASCAC outdoor title and 11th in team history.

Ackroyd, King and Mooney each won MASCAC individual titles at the outdoor championship meet in 2025. Ackroyd placed first in the 10,000-meter run while King won the pole vault and Mooney captured top honors in the 200-meter hurdles.

Mooney, Peters-Wolfe and Cardichon were part of the MASCAC champion 4x100-meter relay team last spring while King ran a leg on the conference champion 4x400-meter relay squad.

Bridgewater State will open the 2026 outdoor season on Friday (March 27) as the Bears will compete at the Jonathan Tymann Invitational hosted by Gordon College. Several members of the team will head to Atlanta, Georgia this weekend for the Emory Thrills in the Hills.