American Athletic Conference championship, NCAA Tournament bid highlight spring sports achievements

May 6, 2026
Categories: General News
Two student athletes on stage at Normies Awards

The stock is rising at UNC Charlotte athletics. A year that included new head football and basketball coaches, groundbreaking on the expansion of Jerry Richardson Stadium and a new athletic director was capped with athletic and academic excellence from the spring student-athletes. 

Student athletes celebrated at Normies

Charlotte 49er student-athletes, coaches and staff all gathered for the annual Normies awards ceremony, Thursday, April 30, in the Popp Martin Student Union, to recognize the best performers and moments from the past year.

  • Justin Matthews, senior men’s golfer, was named Male Athlete of the Year.
  • Pinky Chaisilprungruang, sophomore women’s golfer, won Female Athlete of the Year.
  • Zak Freeland, junior distance runner, won Play of the Year for running the first sub‑4:00 mile in school history.
  • Women’s track and field earned Team Moment of the Year for winning back‑to‑back conference titles last May.
  • Graham Gutknecht, senior pole vaulter, received the Provost Student‑Athlete Academic Achievement Award, honoring the individual who best exemplifies scholarship, athleticism and community pride.
  • Bronson Long, redshirt senior football player, and Sarah Pullium, redshirt‑senior women’s track and field athlete won the Hugh McEniry Award and Bonnie Cone Award respectively, which are given to the male and female student‑athletes with the highest GPAs over two semesters..

See the full list of award recipients on the Charlotte 49ers website.

Men's golf team poses with American Athletic Conference logo after winning conference championship

Men’s golf repeats as American champs

Charlotte men’s golf captured the American Athletic Conference Championship for the second year in a row, making the 49ers the conference’s first repeat champions since 2018. This is the program’s 12th overall conference championship and the fifth under head coach Ryan Cabbage, who was named American Athletic Conference Coach of the Year for 2026. 

“We pride ourselves on building a championship culture,” Cabbage said. “The names and the faces may change but the people don’t. They have carried on with the winning tradition.”
The 49ers had five players named to the 2026 American All-Conference Team — Daniel Boone Jr., Seb Cave, Chase Cline, Frazer Jones and Justin Matthews. This is the first time since 2006 that Charlotte has had five players make an all-conference postseason team.

Women's tennis team cirlce together and put "picks up" at American Athletic Conference Championship

Women’s tennis wins first NCAA Tournament match after historic season

It was a historic season of Charlotte women’s tennis. The 49ers closed the regular season on a 16-match win streak, earning the highest ITA ranking in program history (No. 30) at season’s end. The team nearly captured its first conference championship, falling to Rice in a 4-3 thriller in the finals. 

However, the team’s banner regular season was enough to secure the program’s second-ever at-large bid into the NCAA Tournament. In Athens, Georgia, the site of the NCAA Tournament, the 49ers added another milestone, earning their first NCAA Tournament win in program history with a 4-0 sweep of Elon University. Their run was ended by the University of Georgia, the top seed and tournament host. 

Junior Sara Suchankova and Sophomore Ni Xi, the anchors of Charlotte’s singles and doubles lineup, earned American All-Conference honors. Suchankova and Xi climbed as high as No. 16 in the ITA Doubles Rankings. 

Pinky Chaisilprungruang holds Women's Golfer of the Year Award

Chaisilprungruang named Women’s Golfer of the Year – again 

Charlotte women’s golf standout Pinky Chaisilprungruang was named the American Conference Women’s Golfer of the Year. This marks her second straight year winning the award; she also earned Freshman of the Year honors in 2024‑25.

Chaisilprungruang continued her dominant play in the final round of the American Conference Championship, winning the individual title by nine strokes at Southern Hills Plantation Club in Brooksville, Florida. The team finished second in the conference tournament, four strokes behind Tulsa.

Sarah Pullium mid-throw in discus competition

More highlights

  • Two broken records in two weeks: At track and field’s final regular‑season meet, Sarah Pullium shattered her own discus school record (54.50m) with a new best of 55.81m. During Senior Weekend, Pullium became the third woman in program history to surpass 60.00m in the hammer throw, setting a new record at 64.77m.
  • Lacrosse: Isa Torres, junior attack, and Sophia Rakis, freshman attack, were named to the All‑American Conference Team. Charlotte has had multiple players earn all‑conference honors in each of its first two seasons as a Division I program.
  • Softball: Charlotte softball saw multiple players named to all‑conference teams for the sixth straight season, as Jenna Lord, redshirt senior third baseman, and Audrey Wilson, sophomore catcher, earned postseason honors.
  • Men’s tennis: Freshman Moritz Muenster was named Co‑Freshman of the Year, and redshirt senior Vasco Prata was named to the all‑conference singles team.