The offseason is here for most Arizona sports, with the 2025-26 season in the books and the 2026-27 seasons still a few months away.
What better time than now to press pause and check the pulse of each Wildcat program?
Over the next few weeks we’ll take a look at each of the UA’s men’s and women’s athletic programs to see what shape they’re in, as well as the prospects for the near future. We’ll break down each team and evaluate how it has performed under the current coaching staff, comparing it to how it looked
beforehand, and assess how it fits into the Big 12 Conference.
Next up: Track and field under Andrew Dubs
How it looked before
Fred Harvey had been involved with Arizona’s track programs since the 1980s, taking over as director in 2002-03. During his tenure he produced 26 national champions (14 outdoor, 12 indoor) but only one over his eight seasons, and as a team the Wildcats rarely reached double figures in points.
Athletic director Desiree Reed-Francois opted for a change of leadership after the 2024-25 seasons, and like her previous hires in Olympic sports like swimming and women’s golf she opted for a first-time head coach who had been an assistant at a power conference school. Andrew Dubs was hired last June from Virginia Tech, where he had been for seven years during which he was also head coach of USA Track & Field Team for World University Games competition.
Taking Stock 2026
The offseason provides a great opportunity to evaluate each of Arizona’s athletic programs under its current leadership. Check back each day for another sport breakdown.
Sunday, May 31: Football
Monday, June 1: Volleyball
Tuesday, June 2: Soccer
Wednesday, June 3: Triathlon
Thursday, June 4: Cross country
Friday, June 5: Men’s and women’s swimming
Saturday, June 6: Men’s basketball
Sunday, June 7: Women’s basketball
Monday, June 8: Gymnastics
Tuesday, June 9: Beach volleyball
Wednesday, June 10: Women’s golf
Thursday, June 11: Women’s tennis
Friday, June 12: Men’s tennis
Saturday, June 13: Baseball
Sunday, June 14: Men’s golf
Monday, June 15: Softball
Tuesday, June 16: Men’s and women’s track and field
Where things stand now
Dubs’ first season was a massive success, with Arizona finishing in the top three in the Big 12 championships—that it hosted—on both the men’s and women’s side. It had nearly 30 athletes qualify for NCAA regionals, with 19 going to nationals.
Of that group, four secured First Team All-American honors highlighted by freshman Kya Crooke, who won the bronze medal in the women’s high jump, while senior Mason Lawyer was a First Team All-American in the 100-meter dash and Second Team in the 200 and 4×100-meter relay. All told the UA had 15 All-American nods including senior Hollan Powers, who set the school record in the women’s heptathlon en route to a 5th-place finish.
Arizona also gave its home facility, Roy P. Drachman Stadium, a major facelift that cost it some early-season meets but paid off with a well-received run as Big 12 host.
Life in the Big 12
Though it doesn’t have the overall depth in all events that schools like BYU, Iowa State, Kansas State or Texas Tech have, Arizona showed it can compete thanks to its top tier talent. The Big 12 will never be the SEC in track, but it’s a solid conference and the Wildcats fit right in.
One big question
Can Arizona retain its talent? Most of the UA’s All-Americans have eligibility remaining, with Lawyer, Powers and women’s sprinters McKenna Watson and Taylen Wise some notable exceptions. But in the age of revenue share, only a handful of schools devote any of that money to track & field and Arizona’s NIL budget (if it even has one) is near the bottom among power schools.
The transfer portal opened for track opened on May 28 and runs through June 26, which means the UA staff has just over a week to convince its best and brightest to stay in Tucson. Last year the Wildcats landed Lawyer from the portal, after Washington State decided to focus on only distance events, but lost sprinter Jade Brown to Florida.
Arizona has already signed two notable transfers in James Crawford (100, 200) from Cal State Northridge and Christian Parker (200, 400) from North Carolina State.
