Junior AJ Walsh (Lombard, Ill. / IC Catholic Prep) and freshman Joey Yaros (Bloomington, Ill. / Normal) achieved All-Missouri Valley Conference Honorable Mention status for their performances at the 2026 MVC Indoor Championships, which concluded on Monday at the Indianapolis Fairgrounds.
 
How It Happened

• Walsh competed in the final three events of the heptathlon on Monday, finishing in fifth place with an overall score of 4,943. He earned All-MVC Honorable Mention while scoring four points for the team. Walsh, who had a top-5 finish in four of the seven events, was just shy of his personal record and program record of 4,964 from the John Gartland Invitational on Dec. 12 of this season.  
• Yaros represented Valpo in the finals of the men's mile, crossing eighth in 4:18.78. He scored a point for the Beacons and attained All-MVC Honorable Mention by virtue of his top-8 finish.
• The men's 4x400 relay of senior Anthony Vassolo (Tinley Park, Ill. / Andrew), junior Noah Meacham (Tulsa, Okla. / Broken Arrow), junior Alejandro Chaves (Bayamon, P.R. / American Military Academy) and sophomore Ferdinand Rosa (Toa Alta, Puerto Rico / American Military Academy) beat out Bradley to place ninth with a time of 3:21.59. That time was the second-fastest in program history in the 4x4 and fastest since Butts/Brooks/Hatchett/Adamik in 2013.
• In the throws, sophomore Michael Tarasiewicz (Tinley Park, Ill. / Andrew) had a team-best 14.28m (46-10.25) in the shot put, leading the team and placing 14^th overall.
• In the women's distance, freshman Samantha Rowley (Barrington, Ill. / Barrington) finished 17^th in the 3,000 at 10:07.32.

Up Next
The outdoor track & field schedule will be released soon.