AUBURN, Ala. - Auburn track & field travels to Jacksonville, Florida for the NCAA East Preliminaries to begin the journey to the 2025 NCAA Outdoor Track & Field Championships at Hodges Stadium on the University of North Florida campus.
Action will begin Wednesday at 9 a.m. CT with the men’s hammer throw. The men’s events will occur Wednesday and Friday, while the women will compete Thursday and Saturday.
Auburn will have 16 men and 14 women compete in 19 individual events and two relays in an attempt to qualify for the NCAA Championships in Eugene, Oregon, at the historic Hayward Field, June 11-14. Of the 30 competing, 12 have previously competed at the NCAA Outdoor Championships.
On the men’s side, that includes seniors Kyle Brown, Makanakaishe Charamba, Kyle Brown, Dario Matau and Kyle Moison, juniors Azeem Fahmi and Seth Allen and freshman Kayinsola Ajayi and Ja’Kobe Tharp. The women include juniors Alyssa Quinones-Mixon and Megan Hague and seniors Vimbayi Maisvorewa, Maura Huwalt and Adrienne Adams.
“Our performances that we’ve made throughout the season were good enough to project scoring positions for us,” Auburn track & field head coach Leroy Burrell said. "We’re in a good spot and we have some upside potential that we’re going to recognize in the upcoming weeks.”
Heading into the preliminary rounds, the men are ranked eighth overall, while the women come in at 25th in the most recent USTFCCCA poll.
Following a strong performance at the SEC Championships in Lexington, Kentucky, six Tigers earned All-SEC honors to begin their postseason campaign.
Senior Makanakaishe Charamba and sophomores Ja’Kobe Tharp and Kayinsola Ajayi were named to the All-SEC Men’s Second Team. Senior Adrienne Adams and sophomore Ana-Liese Torian were named to the All-SEC Women’s Second Team and freshman Brenda Jepchirchir was named to the All-SEC Women’s Third Team.
“We're a much different program than we were a few years ago,” Burrell said. “It is all about the athletes. The quality athletes that we have are capable of competing against anyone in the world.”
Charamba was one of five athletes to earn silver at the conference championships for the Tigers. His time of 20.08 in the 200m was the second fastest time in finals to place second overall. In the preliminary round of the race, he crossed in 19.92 to break his own program record and the Zimbabwe national record. His time of 19.92 is the fastest in the nation.
Tharp claimed his second SEC medal in two years in the 110m hurdles, becoming the first to medal in the event at back-to-back conference championships since Ty Akins (2007 and 2008). His time of 13.15 earned silver, broke his own school record and is the third fastest in the country this year.
Freshman Israel Okon enters the weekend with the second fastest time in the country with his wind-aided time of 9.91 (+2.9) that he ran at the LSU Invitational earlier this season.
Senior Kyle Brown will make his third NCAA East Preliminary Round appearance. Entering the weekend, he is No. 4 in the conference.
On the women’s side, sprints and throws have been consistent throughout the season. All-American Vimbayi Maisvorewa holds the second fastest 400m time in the country (50.25).
Maisvorewa runs the first leg of the dominant women’s 4x400m relay made up of senior Ashantae Harvey and sophomores Deboraha Oke and Zuriel Reed. The quartet has the 11th fastest time in the country (3:27.92).
Adams claimed her second SEC medal for the Tigers, the first coming at SEC Indoors in weight throw (21.41m). At SEC Outdoors, she finished second overall in discus throw (57.30m).
Auburn freshman distance runner Brenda Jepchirchir has broken seven records this indoor and outdoor season. Her most recent was at the SEC Outdoor championships in the 5000m where she claimed bronze, shattering the previous record that Joyce Kimeli held by eight seconds (15:40.37).
The men and women will face off against No. 12/NR Alabama, No. 19/NR FSU, No. 13/19 LSU, No. 15/NR Ole Miss, No. 25/7 South Carolina, NR/No. 16 Clemson, No. 2/NR Tennessee, No. 16/10 Florida, No. 5/1 Georgia, No. 14/NR South Florida No. 24/NR Kentucky and others within the east region.
“Our goal all along is to be a nationally competitive program,” Burrell said. “We brought home a trophy indoors ... we want to improve upon that.”
The top 48 individuals and top 24 relay performances from the East and West Regions earned the opportunity to compete in their respective meets. The West Preliminaries are held on the campus of Texas A&M University in Bryan-College Station, Texas. The top 12 finishers from the East and West Preliminaries advance and the top 24 from both will compete at the NCAA Championships.
Live results can be found at flashresults.ncaa and will air on ESPN+ throughout the week.