NCAA Track & Field will be on center stage this week as the Division I Outdoor Championships are staged from Wednesday, June 8 thru Saturday June 11 in Eugene, Oregon.
The competition at famed Hayward Field will air on ESPN cable networks — ESPNU, ESPN2 and ESPN. The men’s semifinals will air Wednesday beginning at 7:30 p.m. ET on ESPNU. The women’s semifinals will be televised on ESPNU Thursday starting at 8:30 p.m. ET.
The men’s finals Friday begin at 9:00 p.m. ET on ESPN2. Saturday’s women’s finals will be on ESPN beginning at 5:30 p.m. ET. Additional events not on the TV schedule (decathlon, heptathlon, men’s and women’s high jump, long jump, triple jump, pole vault, hammer, shot put, javelin, hammer, discus and trophy presentations) will be streamed live on ESPN3.
NC A&T tops the HBCU contingent
NC A&T and soon-to-be departing head coach Duane Ross will enter with an HBCU-best 13 athletes in the competition — nine men’s performers and four women. The Aggies 13 entries are tied for 12th in the competition with Arizona State, Colorado, Notre Dame and Princeton. The Aggie are among the favorites for the men’s title. They finished third with 34 points behind LSU (84) points and Oregon (53) in the 2021 Outdoors.
Randolph Ross Jr. (men’s 400 meters) and Paula Salmon (women’s 100 meter hurdles) have the best times in their respective events and lead the A&T contingent. Javonte Harding (men’s 100 and 200 meters), Grace Nwokocha (women’s 100 and 200 meters) and Brandon Hicklin (long jump) are among the favorites in their events. The A&T men’s 4×400 meter relay team (Ross, Shemar Chambers, Akeem Lindo and Raheem Hayes) and 4×100 meter relay team (Ross, Harding, Malcolm Croom-McFadden and Tavarius Wright) are also expected to contend for the top spots in those events.
A&T also has entrants in the men’s 400 meter hurdles (Cory Poole and Aveon Reid), the women’s 400 meters (Delecia McDuffie) and the men’s 110 meter hurdles (Rasheem Brown).
Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference women’s champion Howard is next among HBCUs with three entries, all women. HU head coach David Oliver has Jessica Wright in the field for the 400 meter hurdles while Jessika Gbai is in the 200 meter field. The Howard 4×400 relay team of Wright, Gbai, Ozioma Scott and Ameenah Saalih will also compete in Eugene.
Coppin State has sprinter Joseph Manu in two events, the men’s 100 and 200 meters. Tennessee State (R’Lazon Brufield, men’s triple jump), Prairie View A&M (Nathan Crawford-Walls, men’s triple jump), Arkansas-Pine Bluff (Safiya John, heptathlon) and Florida A&M (Rachel Robertson, women’s triple jump) each has one athlete competing.
NCAA Track & Field: The entrants
There will be three heats in all the semifinal running events on Wednesday (men) and Thursday (women). The top two finishers in each heat and the next three fastest times will advance to the finals on Friday (men) and Saturday (women).
One-hundred-seventy schools have at least one entry into the championships, whether that be a men’s or women’s entry. From those 170 schools, 117 schools have multiple entries into this year’s championships. Texas leads all schools with 33 total entries, followed by LSU with 25. LSU (men) and Southern Cal (women) won last year’s titles.
Relay entries are counted as one entry even though there are four athletes on a relay team. Athletes selected for multiple events are counted for each event (one person running in both the 100m and 200m equals two entries).
NCAA Div. I Outdoor Track & Field Championships TV schedule
| OUTDOOR TRACK AND FIELD CHAMPIONSHIPS | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Round | Date | Time (ET) | Site | Network |
| Men’s Day 1 | Wednesday, June 8 | 7:30 p.m. | Hayward Field | ESPNU |
| Women’s Day 1 | Thursday, June 9 | 8:30 p.m. | Hayward Field | ESPNU |
| Men’s Day 2 | Friday, June 10 | 9:00 p.m. | Hayward Field | ESPN2 |
| Women’s Day 2 | Saturday, June 11 | 5:30 p.m. | Hayward Field | ESPN |
NCAA Track & Field Outdoor Championships – HBCU entrants
WED, JUNE 8 – 7:30 P.M. (ET)
MEN’S SEMIFINALS
4 x 100 Meter Relay – 4:32 p.m. (PT)
9 advance – Top 2 in 3 Heats plus Next 3 Best Times
Heat 2 Prelims
6 N. Carolina A&T 39.37
1) Tavarius Wright SR 2) Randolph Ross JR
3) Malcolm Croom-McFadden SR 4) Javonte Harding SO
110 Meter Hurdles – 5:32 p.m. (PT)
9 advance – Top 2 in 3 Heats plus Next 3 Best Times
Heat 1 Prelims
9 Rasheem Brown SR NC A&T 13.63
100 Meter Dash – 5.46 p.m. (PT)
9 advance – Top 2 in 3 Heats plus Next 3 Best Times
Heat 1 Prelims
8 Joseph Manu SR Coppin State 10.14
Heat 3 Prelims
5 Javonte Harding SO NC A&T 10.08
400 MeterS – 6:00 p.m. (PT)
9 advance – Top 2 in 3 Heats plus Next 3 Best Times
Heat 2 Prelims
7 Randolph Ross JR NC A&T 44.23
LONG JUMP – 6:00 p.m. (PT)
Flight 1 Finals
6 Brandon Hicklin SR NC A&T 7.80m
400 Meter Hurdles – 6:30 p.m. (PT)
9 advance – Top 2 in 3 Heats plus Next 3 Best Times
Heat 3 Prelims
3 Cory Poole SR NC A&T 50.77
8 Aveon Reid JR NC A&T 50.71
200 MeterS – 6:44 p.m. (PT)
9 advance – Top 2 in 3 Heats plus Next 3 Best Times
Heat 2 Prelims
7 Javonte Harding SO NC A&T 20.13
Heat 3 Prelims
3 Joseph Manu SR Coppin State 20.55
4 x 400 METER RELAY – 7:48 p.m. (PT)
9 advance – Top 2 in 3 Heats plus Next 3 Best Times
Heat 2 Prelims
N. Carolina A&T 3:01.59
1) Reheem Hayles FR 2) Randolph Ross JR
3) Akeem Lindo SR 4) Shemar Chambers SO
Triple Jump – 6:20 p.m. (Fri.)
Flight 1 Finals
8 R’Lazon Brumfield SR TN State 16.02m
Flight 2 Finals
4 Nathan Crawford-Wallis SO Pr. View 16.08m
THURS., JUNE 9
WOMEN’S SEMIFINALS
100 METER HURDLES – 6:32 p.m. (PT)
9 advance – Top 2 in 3 Heats plus Next 3 Best Times
Heat 3 Prelims
5 Paula Salmon SR NC A&T 12.78
100 METERS – 6:46 p.m. (PT)
9 advance – Top 2 in 3 Heats plus Next 3 Best Times
Heat 1 Prelims
6 Grace Nwokocha FR NC A&T 11.17
400 METERS – 7:00 p.m. (PT)
9 advance – Top 2 in 3 Heats plus Next 3 Best Times
Heat 3 Prelims
9 Delecia McDuffie SR NC A&T 51.58
400 Meter Hurdles – 7:30 p.m. (PT)
9 advance – Top 2 in 3 Heats plus Next 3 Best Times
Heat 3 Prelims
6 Jessica Wright JR Howard 57.26
200 METERS – 7:44 p.m. (PT)
Heat 1 Prelims
9 advance – Top 2 in 3 Heats plus Next 3 Best Times
9 Jessika Gbai SR Howard 22.77
Heat 3 Prelims
8 Grace Nwokocha FR NC A&T 22.45
4 x 400 Meter Relay – 8:48 p.m. (PT)
9 advance – Top 2 in 3 Heats plus Next 3 Best Times
Heat 3 Prelims
5 Howard 3:28.91
1) Ozioma Scott SR 2) Jessica Wright JR
3) Ameenah Saalih SR 4) Jessika Gbai SR
Triple Jump – 2:50 p.m. (Sat.)
Flight 2 Finals
2 Rachel Robertson SR Florida A&M 12.94m
HEPTATHLON – 1:00 p.m. (Fri.)
24 Safiya John JR Ark.-PB 5602