Recap: Historic Sprint Races Define 2026 Edition Of NCAA Championships, But There Was Also Much More

By Doug Binder, DyeStat Editor

Keith Webber and Tim Healy Photos

RESULTS | INTERVIEWS

EUGENE -- The barrage of record-breaking performances on the final day of the NCAA Track and Field Championships began with the women's discus on a warm and breezy day at Hayward Field. 

Alida Van Daalen of Florida dominated the action and produced the five farthest throws of the competition. Her third round throw landed at 65.98m (216-6) and broke Cierra Jackson's year-old meet record. 

As the temperatures rose into the low 90s in the late afternoon the women's finals on the track hit with the same intensity as the sun. 

By the end of the day, a total of 12 meet records and nine collegiate records had fallen between the men and women.

USC won its second consecutive 4x100 relay title with a lineup of Dajaz Defrand, Mia Brahe-Pedersen, Madison Whyte and Brianna Selby. 

The collegiate leaders throughout the season executed to near perfection and ran a time of 41.58 seconds -- just shy of Texas' sizzling 41.55 in 2023. 

The Trojans lineup, made up of four Americans, ran the 12th-fastest time in U.S. history. 

"What makes our group special is the lack of ego, that we can work together, and we can mix and match on any leg," said Brahe-Pedersen, who spoke on behalf of the group as her teammates were getting ready for other events. "We're all that versatile and we all want what's best for the team."

The two remaining field events on Saturday evening both delivered dramatic endings. 

In the high jump, Illinois' Rose Yeboah made a third-attempt clearance at 1.96m (6-5) to get even with Temitope Adeshina of Texas Tech and force the bar to be raised to 1.99m (6-6.25) -- a height equaling the collegiate record and beyond the 1.97m meet record. 

Neither woman could get over 1.99 so Temitope won the title by virture of making six consecutive bars with no misses. 

In the triple jump, Oregon newcomer Sharifa Davronova, the NCAA leader, trailed Clemson's Shantae Foreman by a half-inch from round two until round six. 

Then, Davronova took the lead with a jump measuring 46-5.25w (14.15m), moving a half inch ahead of Foreman. 

Foreman had one chance left and she made the most of it. She jumped a personal best 14.24m (46-8.75) to take the victory. 

In the women's 100 meters, all eyes were fixed on Georgia's Adaejah Hodge, who ran 10.63 in Thursday's heats to become the fifth-fastest woman in history. 

But Shenese Walker of Florida State got out to a lead and won the final in 10.88.

"I'm very confident. I don't really watch what my competitors do," Walker said. "Staying focused on myseld and executing was the easiest thing I could have done."

Aaliyah McCormick gave the Hayward Field local fans reason to cheer as she won the 100-hurdles final for the second year in a row, in 12.47. 

It was a fierce battle in the middle part of the race with Kentucky's Emmi Scales and the two were side by side. But Scales hit the final hurdle and crashed into the lane on her right, knocking UCLA's Celeste Polzonetti over as she crossed the finish line. 

Scales was subsequently disqualified for "flagrantly impeding." Polzonetti managed to take second by .007 seconds ahead of Ohio State's Janela Spencer. 

South Carolina's Akala Garrett was emotional after winning the 400-meter hurdles in personal  best time of 53.32 seconds, the No. 4 time in the world this year. 

Garrett finished second in the 2025 final when she wore a Texas uniform. A subsequent transfer and adjustment to a new environment was difficult, she said. But more than anything she wanted to erase the sting of last year's loss. 

"I know people remember the last (social media) post I made for Texas and the disappointment that I felt," Garrett said, breaking into tears. "I was so disappinted in myself because I knew I needed it and I knew I could win. I'm so proud of myself ...  It's all I've been wanting, it's all I've been dreaming of."

The distance races were affected, at least in part, by the heat. 

In the 1,500 meters, Washington State continued to plant the Pac-12's flag on the meet as Rosemary Longisa powered her way through the final lap in 59.08 seconds to finish in 4:12.10. She is the first WSU woman to win an individual title since 2003. The reconfigured Pac-12 Conference officially launches July 1. 

South Carolina's Salma Elbadra was second and Oregon duo Juliet Cherubet and Wilma Nielsen were third and fourth.

In the 5,000 meters, Bowerman Award recipient Doris Lemngole was the apparent winner but was subsequently disqualified for steps inside the rail. 

Instead New Mexico's Marion Jepngetich won the 5,000 in a time of 15:13,01 and Mercyline Kirwa of Iowa State, the 10,000 meters champion, was second. 

BYU freshman sensation Jane Hedengren revealed after the race that she had suffered through several days of illness a week ago and was trying to make the best of it. She finished third in the 10,000 on Thursday and was ninth in the 5,000 meters. 

BYU distance running got a victory in the 3,000-meter steeplechase, however, where Taylor Lovell pulled away from the field and ran like heat didn't affect her, while others wilted. Lovell finished in 9:21.03 and Notre Dame's Sophie Novak was second, five and a half seconds back.   

Washington's Sofia Cosculluela won the heptathlon to give the Huskies 10 more points to go with the Moll twins' 1-2 finish in the pole vault. 

Cosculluela, ranked No. 1 in the event this spring, scored a personal best 6,182 points. She opened her second day with a mark in the long jump of 21-4.75 (6.52m) that led the field. 

Cincinnati's Juliette Laracuente-Huebner finished second with 6,084 points and Illinois JaiCieonna Gero-Holt cracked the 6,000-point barrier for the first time to take third with 6,010.