Two track and field meets scheduled for April 2026 have been canceled due to weather delays at University Stadium, which is still undergoing renovations, according to an announcement released by Wichita State Athletics Tuesday afternoon.
Originally scheduled for April 9-11, the KT Woodman Classic and Shocker Pre-State Challenge, a Kansas State High School Activities Association meet, are canceled for the 2026 outdoor season. The meets are scheduled to return April 8-10, 2027.
The cancelation is due to 53 inches of total rainfall that fell in Wichita throughout this summer and fall.
Brad Pittman, WSU’s senior associate athletic director for facilities and operations, told The Sunflower that the rain prevented dirt that makes up the track’s foundation from drying out to a point that allowed for the track to be laid. In addition, with weather conditions consistently below 50 degrees this time of year, conditions for working on the stadium are less than ideal.
However, WSU Athletics said in the announcement that “the 2026 KSHSAA Track and Field Championships will proceed as scheduled at University Stadium.” KSHSAA has tentatively confirmed May 29-30 as the dates of the meet.
“I feel terrible that the rainy conditions this past summer and fall caused such delays, and we won’t be able to host the KT Woodman,” WSU head coach Steve Rainbolt said in a statement. “But, it doesn’t diminish how excited we are for what is coming together to be such a beautiful track and field facility.”
Renovations and upgrades of University Stadium (formerly Cessna Stadium) began in 2023. In April 2024, the university selected Crossland Construction to complete Phases 1A and 1B of the renovations.
Phase 1A — which added a new 5,800-person seating area, ticket booth and parking facility, among other improvements — was completed in May 2025 and cost around $11.8 million, according to WSU’s website.
Phase 1B, which widens the grass playing field and the track to nine lanes, and includes more seating areas, was set to be complete by February 2026 and cost an estimated $8.42 million.
Pittman estimated that the track could be installed as soon as late April to early May 2026, and confirmed that the KSHSAA State track and field meet will still be held.
“Weather will play a part,” Pittman said. “Could be sooner or later.”
