AUSTIN, Texas—Auburn sophomore sprinter Favour Ashe ran a 9.96 in the men's 100 meters to equal the program school record during semifinal round Wednesday at the first day of the NCAA Outdoor Track and Field Championships. The Ughelli, Nigeria native who is in his first year with the Tigers equaled the previous school record set by Harry Adams at the 2012 NCAA outdoor championships.
Running in the second of three heats, Ashe got out to a strong start and pulled away midway through the race to win his heat and earn the automatic qualifier for Friday's finals that will be run at 8:52 p.m. CT. Friday's final will feature five athletes that ran sub-10 seconds including Florida's PJ Austin (9.89) and LSU's Godson Oghenebrume (9.93).
Ashe was the silver medalist a year ago in the meet in Eugene, Oregon while at the University of Tennessee. A repeat performance on Friday would mark Auburn's first medalist finish in the event since 2000 when Coby Miller was the national runner up.
The Auburn trio of Kyle Moison, Kyle Brown and Erik Ebel earned honorable mention All-America honors in the hammer throw. Moison finished 17th after a personal-best throw of 67.38m/221-1 on his third and final throw. Brown was 21st with a best mark of 66.17m/217-1 and Ebel was 22nd after throwing 65.95m/216-4. The three competitors in one event marked the fifth time in program history and first time in the field events that feat had been accomplished.
Competing in his first NCAA outdoor championships, junior decathlete John Murray withdrew from the competition after three events with an injury. The Madison, Alabama, native finished fourth at SEC outdoors with a lifetime best 7760 points and will be poised to make another run as a senior in 2024.
Senior Mo Mpoke racing in his second outdoor championships in the 400m hurdles pulled up prior to the first of 10 hurdles and did not finish.
Day two of the championships will feature All-Americans Madi Malone and Maura Huwalt. In her fifth NCAA outdoors, Malone will throw in the women's hammer throw at 2:30 p.m., while Huwalt will be competing in the javelin throw at 6:45 p.m.
ESPN+ will air the women's hammer throw with the javelin throw appearing on ESPN2 and ESPN+.
2023 NCAA OUTDOOR TRACK & FIELD CHAMPIONSHIPS
MIKE MYERS STADIUM
AUSTIN, TEXAS
DAY 1
Men's 100m dash (semifinals)
3. Favour Ashe 9.96 PR/SR
Men's Hammer Throw
17. Kyle Moison 67.38m/221-1 PR
21. Kyle Brown 66.17m/217-1
22. Erik Ebel 65.95m/216-4
Men's 400m Hurdles
Mo Mpoke DNF
Men's Decathlon
John Murray DNF
100m 11.09
Long Jump 6.74m/22-1.5
Shot Put 14.24/46-9
High Jump DNS
400m DNS
PR - Personal Record
SR - School Record
