Auburn Track and Field travels to Eugene, Oregon, for the 2026 NCAA Outdoor Championships at historic Hayward Field, June 10-13, on the University of Oregon’s campus.
Led by fourth-year head coach Leroy Burrell, the Tigers have 17 entries and will be represented by 10 men and nine women, competing in nine events and two relays. This will be the 44th consecutive championship that Auburn has had at least one woman represented, and the 37th straight on the men’s side.
“I don’t think there’s a more storied event and history than Hayward Field, or course, the new Hayward Field,” Auburn head coach Leroy Burrell said. “Some of the mystique rests in old Hayward Field. I think for athletes who get to go for the first couple of times, it’s really exciting. There are some good places to hold the meet, but I don’t think there’s a better place than Eugene.”
The men will compete on Wednesday and Friday, while the women’s events are scheduled for Thursday and Saturday. Action begins Wednesday with the men’s hammer throw at 4:30 p.m. CT, while Auburn opens competition at 7:05 p.m. CT with the semifinal round of the 4x100m relay.
Heading into this week’s competition, the men are ranked 6th, while the women come in at No. 24 in the most recent USTFCCCA poll.
“We’re just really excited,” Burrell said. “The kids have worked really hard all year. We have a great group of young men and women, a lot of leadership, and I’m really looking forward once again to see how we fare on the national stage.”
The Tigers are coming off a historic showing at the NCAA East Preliminary round in Lexington, highlighted by junior Kayinsola Ajayi’s sizzling finish of 9.84 in the men’s 100m quarterfinals to post the second fastest collegiate time ever and the world’s top time in 2026.
The Tigers will field the nation’s best men’s 4x100m relay squad with the quartet of Azeem Fahmi, Ajayi, Austin Kresley, and Tyler Davis, fresh off equaling a facility record in the East Preliminaries in 38.20. The two-time defending NCAA champions in the event, Auburn will look to become the first 4x100m relay to three-peat since LSU from 1992-94. Fahmi and Ajayi both were on the last two national championship relays for the Tigers.
Competing in his third consecutive NCAA Outdoor Championships, junior Ja’Kobe Tharp enters as the defending national champion in the men’s 110m hurdles. The Bowerman finalist matched his personal best and school-record time of 13.05 in the East Preliminary Round, the same mark he ran to win the 2025 NCAA title and at this year’s SEC Championship.
The 2026 indoor champion in the 60m hurdles, Tharp looks to win not only back-to-back national titles in the 110m hurdles, but to become the eighth Auburn student-athlete to win both an indoor and outdoor National Championship in the same year, a feat he accomplished last season.
On the women’s side, the Tigers qualified five athletes in the throwing events and the 4x100m relay team. All-American Megan Hague will make her third NCAA Outdoors appearance, while freshman phenom Sophia Mazzoni looks to continue her record-breaking season in her nationals debut.
At last year’s championships, the Auburn men finished fourth with 35 points, marking the program’s first consecutive top-five finishes at the NCAA Outdoor Championships since 2007-08 after placing second the previous year. The Tigers also won multiple national titles for the third time in program history and for the first time since 2006, when Cory Martin captured national championships in shot put and hammer throw.
Live results can be found at flashresults.ncaa.com. The meet will be live-streamed on ESPN+, and coverage throughout the meet can also be found on the ESPN family of networks.