Angelo State’s William Opare and West Texas A&M’s Fran Bonifacic, Abigail Abugire and Esther Conde-Turpin claimed 2026 Lone Star Conference Outdoor Track and Field Athlete of the Year honors, which were announced Friday (May 29) by the league office.
 
Opare was named LSC Male Outdoor Track Athlete of the Year, Bonifacic was tabbed LSC Male Outdoor Field Athlete of the Year, Abugire won LSC Female Outdoor Track Athlete of the Year for the second consecutive year and Conde-Turpin was voted LSC Female Outdoor Field Athlete of the Year.
 
Opare, who is a freshman from Accra, Ghana, was the men’s high point scorer (22.5) at the NCAA Division II Track and Field Outdoor Track and Field Championships in Emporia, Kan., and helped the Rams to a seventh-place finish. Opare won the 200 meters (20.45), 400 meters (44.95) and was a part of the gold-medal 4x400 meter relay team (3:04.46). The 400 and 4x400 marks were both Francis G. Welch Stadium records. Opare’s 400 time was also the fifth-fastest in Division II history. Opare also won gold in the 100 and 4x100 relay at the LSC Championships.
 
Bonifacic, who is a sophomore from Punt, Croatia, was the Division II decathlon champion with 7,499 points. He picked up the victory in the final event, winning the 1,500 meters with a time of 4:34.87. Bonifacic was also first in the javelin (62.00m) and discus (39.91m). His performances helped the Buffs to an eighth-place team finish. Bonifacic was the high point male athlete at the LSC Championships (24) to help the Buffs to the conference crown.
 
Abugire, who is a sophomore from Legon, Ghana, was a Division II champion in the 800 meters (2:02.56) and 4x400 meter relay (3:32.18). The 800 time was second all time in Division II history, while the relay mark was the best ever. At the LSC Championships, Abugire won gold medals in both the 800 and 1,500.
 
Conde-Turpin, who is a senior from Reunion Island, France, was the Division heptathlon winner with a new meet record of 6,100 points. She totaled 2,507 points over the final three events, capped off by a personal-record 2:12.88 in the 800 meters. She also registered a bronze medal finish for the entire meet in the 100 meter hurdles (13.41). Conde-Turpin was the women’s high point scorer at the LSC Championships (38.5), winning the long jump, javelin and 110 hurdles. She was part of the gold-medal winning 4x100 meter relay team.
 
Abugire and Conde-Turpin both helped the Lady Buffs to the national and conference title.
 
All four athletes earned All-American recognition by U.S. Track & Field and Cross Country Coaches Association and were First Team All-LSC selections.
 
The LSC honors were voted on by the league’s head coaches.
 
 
2026 LSC OUTDOOR TRACK & FIELD ATHLETE OF THE YEAR AWARDS
 
Male Track Athlete of the Year: William Opare, Angelo State
Male Field Athlete of the Year: Fran Bonifacic, West Texas A&M
Female Track Athlete of the Year: Abigail Abugire, West Texas A&M
Female Field Athlete of the Year: Esther Conde-Turpin, West Texas A&M