Men’s Indoor track & Field Season Preview

By Jim Fenton

BRIDGEWATER, Mass. — The Bridgewater State University men’s indoor track & field roster features an equal mix of returners and newcomers.

The Bears have 32 upperclassmen back from the 2024-25 team and they are joined by 30 new additions, including 25 freshmen.

“We did a good job of retaining folks,” said coach Christine Kloiber, “but also now that I’ve been here a few years and things have organized and we have consistency with the assistant coaches, we also brought in really big recruiting class.

“That was the goal. That was the long-term plan. We did our due diligence about folks who are passionate about the sport and have brought them here.”

BSU begins the 2025-26 season on Saturday morning at 10 a.m., taking part in the Suffolk Relays at the Reggie Lewis Center in Boston, Mass. It is one of two meets prior to the semester break. The Bears will also compete at The Mini Meet held at Boston University on Saturday, Dec. 13.

The top returner is graduate student Kevin McBirney (East Bridgewater, Mass.), whose career at BSU will end with the indoor season.

McBirney earned All-American second team honors last March by finishing 16th at the NCAA Division III Championships with a time of 1:56.02 in the 800-meter run in Rochester, N.Y.

McBirney has one last season of eligibility since there was no indoor track & field season when he was a sophomore in 2022-23.

Last season, McBirney set new BSU records in the 800 (1:52.54) and the 1,000 (2:29.42).

“What we would hope is for him to execute like he did last year,” said Kloiber. “He has gotten better. He keeps shaving time off. He gets stronger, he gets faster and he gets smarter at racing.

“We would hope to just continue that trend.”

Also ending his BSU career this winter will be graduate student Chigozie Adigwe (Lowell, Mass.), a hurdler and a sprinter.

Adigwe has been a consistent performer for the Bears throughout his career and took part in the New England Division III and the NEICAAA Championships a year ago.

Senior Kyle Ackroyd (Charlestown, R.I.) is coming off a strong cross country season in which he was second at the Massachusetts State Collegiate Athletic Conference Championships.

Ackroyd was eighth to earn All-NEICAAA honors last winter, finishing the 5,000-meter run in 15:44.86.

“He dropped a minute in the 8k (in cross country),” said Kloiber. “He will get faster over the course of indoors. The primary focus for him is definitely going to be outdoors. But he will definitely be contributing a lot.”

Junior Matthew Mooney (Douglas, Mass.) is also back after earning All-NEICAAA honors with a fourth-place finish in the 200 with a time of 22.43 seconds.

Senior Ryker King (Wareham, Mass.) is also back after setting the school record with 4,049 points in the heptathlon in a meet at Tufts University.

“We’re pretty strong,” said Kloiber. ‘We have a pretty big roster. We have a really strong returning class and a really stellar class of freshmen coming in.

“We built up. We’re going to be strong in sprints and we have a good core group that is strong in hurdles. We recruited top-notch athletes for throws and they’ll have a presence. It’s going to be a collective effort.”

BSU has won five straight MASCAC championships and seven of the last 10.

The Bears were scheduled to host the MASCACs last February, but a winter storm forced the cancellation of the meet. The 2026 MASCAC Indoor Championships will take place at Wheaton College on Sunday, Feb. 15.

“They are very eager for that,” said Kloiber. “That was very hard (not having the MASCACs in 2025). It was the second one this class didn’t have (there was also no championship meet in 2023). To not have two was tough. To say they’re motivated is an understatement.”

Following the MASCAC Championship, postseason competition continues with the Division III New England Championships held at The Track at New Balance on Feb. 28 and the NEICAAA Championships at the Reggie Lewis Track & Athletic Center on March 6-7.

The NCAA Division III Championships will be held at the Birmingham CrossPlex in Birmingham, Alabama on March 13-14.