AUBURN, Ala. – Auburn track and field will host the 2026 SEC Outdoor Championships at Hutsell-Rosen Track on Auburn’s campus, Thursday through Saturday. It will mark the first time since 2008 that the Tigers have hosted the conference outdoor championships.
Action begins Thursday at 11:30 a.m. CT with the women’s decathlon 100m. Auburn’s first competitors on day one will be freshman Norah Lind in the women’s hammer throw at noon while track events for the Tigers will start at 5:30 p.m. A total of 14 Auburn athletes will be in action Thursday.
“We're really looking forward to the opportunity for our fans and the Auburn family to see our student athletes compete on their home track,” Auburn coach Leroy Burrell said. “It’s a big deal, and we have invested quite a bit to make it happen, and I’m really looking forward to putting on the show for the Auburn fans.”
Parking for the meet is free, and spectators are encouraged to park in the AG Heritage Lots located east and northeast of Hutsell-Rosen Track or in the parking structure on South Donahue Drive. Fans may bring their own food and non-alcoholic beverages, while select vendors will also be available outside the venue. Tickets are available for purchase at the main entrance or online HERE.
Led by fourth-year head coach Leroy Burrell, Auburn will face some of the nation’s best teams this weekend. The men enter the weekend ranked seventh nationally, while the women come in at 25th in the most recent USTFCCCA poll.
On the men’s side, Auburn will compete against 10 nationally ranked SEC programs, including four in the top five, while the women also face 10 squads ranked in the top 25.
Auburn plans to utilize 23 men and 21 women at this year’s championships, including 10 men and seven women who have previously competed at the conference meet. Seven men and four women are previous SEC Outdoor scorers.
“There’s going to be a lot of energy here,” Burrell said. “I’m really excited about what we’ll see here in the next couple of days, not only for our program, but also for our sport.”
At last year’s SEC Outdoor Championships, the Tigers delivered six podium finishes and took home four silver medals behind performances by Ja’Kobe Tharp in the 110m hurdles and Kayinsola Ajayi in the 100m. Tharp has won three SEC Indoor and Outdoor hurdles titles and will look to win his second outdoors.
“I think we have a really good plan for the sprints group,” Burrell said. “You’re going to see a couple of our guys and our ladies as well, who will focus on their main event. Then we will broaden just a little bit to see if we can qualify if we want people to the NCAA Championships.”
Sprints have been a key factor in the Tigers’ success this season. Ajayi owns the nation’s third-fastest time in the 100m (9.90w) and earned silver in the event at last year’s SEC Championships. Sophomore Israel Okon holds the fifth fastest 100m time nationally, while in the 200m, he is tied for the fourth-fastest mark this season (20.27).
Senior Megan Hague leads the way in throws after coming off another school record-breaking performance in women’s shot put. The All-American’s mark of 18.63m/61-1.5 is the best in the SEC and third best in the NCAA this season. Hague has broken the Auburn school record three times this season and owns nine of the top-10 performances in AU history in the event.
“Megan has had an outstanding year. She’s proven she’s among the best in the NCAA and certainly the best shot putter we’ve had here at Auburn. I’m just really excited for her because she worked really hard, and she’s capping off a senior season and a career in really nice form. I’m just looking forward to her delivering at conference and then again at Nationals.”
Bowerman Award finalist and national champion Tharp owns the NCAA’s second-fastest time in the men’s 110m hurdles this season at 13.09. The junior will look to capture his second SEC Outdoor title in the event and first since 2024. Tharp owns nine of the top-10 performances in Auburn history in the 110m hurdles and has totaled 18 points at the SEC Outdoor Championships during his Auburn career.
The Tigers will also field the nation’s top men’s 4x100m relay squad of Azeem Fahmi, Ajayi, Tharp, and Okon. The quartet posted the NCAA’s fastest time this season (41.38) at the East Coast Relays two weeks ago.
In the men’s throws, senior Matthew Rueff owns the SEC’s sixth-best shot put mark this season at 18.93m/62-1.25, while fellow senior Seth Allen ranks third in the conference in discus with a mark of 62.02m/203-5.
In the distance events, sophomore Max Hardin broke the Auburn school record in the men’s 1500m with a 3:38.28 finish at the Wake Forest Invitational, while fellow sophomore Nickson Chebii turned in the third-fastest 10,000m performance in program history at 28:39.16.
Sophomore Camila Gomes leads the way for the women’s distance runners, as she delivered the third-best performance in Auburn history in the 800m (2:03.95) and the 1500m (4:12.85).
Over the course of the season, the Tigers have broken four school records, including two freshman marks. Hardin set the men’s 1500m record, Hague established the women’s shot put record, Daramola Ibukunoluwa broke the men’s freshman long jump record at 7.70m/25-3.25, and Sophia Mazzoni set a new freshman record in the women’s javelin at 54.50m/178-10
“This is an opportunity to compete where you’re most comfortable, and there is something on the line, and there’s stiff competition as well,” Burrell said. “I would suspect that you’re going to see our athletes perform at a really high level. There are going to be track records galore. The weather is going to be outstanding.”
At the 2025 SEC Outdoor Championships, the men took eighth place, scoring 50 points, while the women finished 11th with 42 points. Arkansas has won the last five SEC outdoor championships on the men’s side, while Georgia is the reigning champion on the women’s side.
Additional meet information is available on the SEC Championship Central page.
Live results can be found HERE, and the meet will be live-streamed throughout the week on SECN+.