STATEN ISLAND, N.Y (Feb. 28) – The stage just got bigger for UC Santa Barbara's own Mia Shepard. In just her sophomore season, Shepard has been officially accepted into the 2026 USATF Indoor Championships, earning her place among the country's top professionals and collegiate athletes. 

The two day meet begins on February 28 and will be held at the Ocean Breeze Athletic Complex in Staten Island, New York. Shepard has been accepted into the preliminary round of the 400m following her standout performance at the Silver State Invitational, hosted by the University of Nevada on Dec. 6.

After a breakout indoor season, Shepard's blazing time of 52.96 seeds her 10th among a competitive field of 14 athletes heading into the meet.

As the youngest competitor in her heat, Shepard will have the opportunity to line up against seasoned professionals and four Olympic athletes, all vying for qualification to the World Indoor team. 

The four olympians featured in the 400m include Britton Wilson, Rosaline Effiong, Paris Peoples, and Shamir Little. Wilson represented the United States at the Tokyo Olympic Games in 2021 as part of the 4x400m relay pool and is also a World Championships medalist. Effiong competed for Nigeria in the 4x400m relay in Tokyo, while Peoples was a member of Team USA's 4x400m relay pool at the Games. Little represented the United States in the 400m hurdles at the Tokyo Olympics and is a World Championship medalist as well.

UCSB Track and Field is proud to have one of their own competing on such a prominent stage and looks forward to seeing how Shepard performs against the nation's best. 

The prelims will take place at 12:48 p.m. PST on Feb. 28, while the finals will follow the next day at 10:56 p.m PST. To watch Shepard live, streaming can be found at USATF.TV . Live results can be found at USATF Results.