Bemidji State's Sophie Rylance wins first individual NSIC indoor title since 2021

Sophie Rylance, a sophomore for Bemidji State, won the women's 1000-meter at the NSIC Indoor Track and Field Championships in Mankato with a personal-best time of 2:55.85, becoming the first Beaver to ever claim the conference 1000m crown and giving Bemidji State its first individual NSIC indoor title since 2021. The victory also earned Rylance All-NSIC honors and marked the high point of the Beavers' weekend in Mankato.

Rylance advanced to the final after a qualifying time of 3:03.28 in the preliminaries, then lowered her mark to 2:55.85 in the title race. Season coverage notes Rylance has produced multiple personal bests and set school and facility records this season, and her progression from a 3:03.28 qualifier to a 2:55.85 champion underscored that trajectory.

Bemidji State's distance medley relay posted a key team result as well. The DMR of Jada Goeson, Amelia Congrove, Sophie Rylance and Maggie McCarthy finished fourth in 12:30.11, a result credited with four team points. That quartet's finish complemented Rylance's individual gold and was one of the larger point contributions for the Beavers at the meet.

Relay depth also showed in the 4x400-meter race. The quartet listed as Amelia Congrove, Jada Goeson, Sophie Rylance and senior Josie Aitken ran a season-best 4:07.19, taking 14th overall. Freshman Jada Goeson also posted a personal-best 3:05.41 in the 1000m preliminaries, finishing 12th in qualifying heat action.

Other individual track performances included Maggie McCarthy's season-best 10:31.37 in the 3000-meter, which placed her 19th. Those track results combined with the DMR and 4x400 show multiple Beavers contributing marks across middle and long distances in Mankato.

Bemidji State posted several field-event results as well. Trista Bilden led the field efforts with a 12.41-meter shot put for 13th place. Redshirt junior Hannah Baker registered a 15.56-meter mark in the weight throw for 15th, and Chloe Knott cleared 3.16 meters in the pole vault to finish 19th.

The Beavers finished 12th as a team at the NSIC Indoor Championships on Feb. 28, 2026. Rylance's 2:55.85 and the DMR's 12:30.11 stood out as the meet's primary point-scoring performances for Bemidji State. Program history notes show Rylance earlier posted a one-mile time of 5:19.53 at the Twin Ports Open on Jan. 18, 2025 and was part of a DMR that ran 12:34.70 on Feb. 28, 2025, placing her recent title in the context of an upward trend for the sophomore.

No post-race quotes from athletes or coaches were available in the meet coverage; the mark and placements above provide the confirmed results from Bemidji State's outing in Mankato.