The road to the NCAA Championships runs through Eugene, and Oregon track and field is bringing a full squad home with it.
After four days at the NCAA West First Round in Fayetteville, Arkansas, the Ducks qualified 30 total entries for the 2026 NCAA Division I Outdoor Track and Field Championships, which will be held June 10-13 at Hayward Field. Oregon will have 15 men’s entries and 15 women’s entries across 20 combined events when the national meet begins on its home track.
The Men of Oregon added
10 qualifiers on Friday to finish with 15 entries in 10 events, while the Women of Oregon followed Saturday with 11 more qualifiers to bring their total to 15 entries in 10 events.
It was a productive regional meet for a program that has already had a busy postseason. Oregon swept the Big Ten outdoor team titles earlier this month, and now the Ducks will get the chance to chase NCAA hardware in front of the Hayward Field crowd.
Men of Oregon send 15 entries to NCAAs
The Oregon men closed their qualifying weekend with a strong Friday showing, led by double qualifiers Simeon Birnbaum and Ben Smith.
Birnbaum advanced in both the 1,500 meters and 5,000 meters, continuing an impressive postseason run. He was the top overall qualifier in the 1,500, winning his heat in 3:37.00. Tomas Palfrey and Elliott Cook also moved on in the event, giving Oregon three qualifiers in the 1,500. Palfrey finished second in his heat in 3:44.67, while Cook was third in 3:45.24.
Birnbaum returned later in the 5,000 and added another automatic bid, finishing fifth in his heat in 13:42.69. Luke Tewalt also advanced in the 5,000, finishing fifth in his heat in 13:47.55. It will be Tewalt’s third career NCAA Outdoor appearance and his first as a Duck after previously competing at Wake Forest.
Smith added the discus to his NCAA schedule after already qualifying in the shot put earlier in the meet. His personal-best throw of 58.99 meters, or 193 feet, 6 inches, was good for fifth overall and moved him to No. 10 in Oregon program history. Smith also became just the fourth man in program history to rank in Oregon’s all-time top 10 in both the shot put and discus, joining Dean Crouser, Mac Wilkins and Dave Vorhees.
Oregon also advanced in the 4×100-meter relay, with Kai Graves-Blanks, PJ Ize-Iyamu, Grant Valley and Jaelon Barbarin running 38.90 to win their heat. Graves-Blanks returned to the track later and qualified individually in the 110-meter hurdles, finishing in 13.42. He will be making his NCAA Championships debut.
Benjamin Balazs continued his strong season in the 3,000-meter steeplechase, clocking a season-best 8:29.30 to finish second in his heat and third overall. The two-time Big Ten champion is headed back to the NCAA Championships for the second straight year.
Tre Betts rounded out the men’s Friday qualifiers in the triple jump. After fouling on his opening attempt, Betts posted back-to-back 16-meter jumps, with his best mark of 16.04 meters earning the final qualifying spot. That jump also moved him to No. 8 on Oregon’s outdoor all-time list.
The men’s NCAA qualifiers are:
Simeon Birnbaum, 1,500 meters and 5,000 meters
Elliott Cook, 1,500 meters
Tomas Palfrey, 1,500 meters
Luke Tewalt, 5,000 meters
Evan Burke, 10,000 meters
Kai Graves-Blanks, 110-meter hurdles
Benjamin Balazs, 3,000-meter steeplechase
Kai Graves-Blanks, PJ Ize-Iyamu, Grant Valley and Jaelon Barbarin, 4×100-meter relay
Tre Betts, triple jump
Kobe Lawrence, shot put
Ben Smith, shot put and discus
Daniel Thrana, javelin
Pat Vialva, javelin
Women of Oregon match the men with 15 entries
The Oregon women followed with their own strong finish Saturday, adding 11 NCAA qualifiers to the four they had already secured earlier in the meet.
Aaliyah McCormick delivered the biggest highlight of the day, breaking the Oregon school record in the 100-meter hurdles with a time of 12.44. The mark broke Alaysha Johnson’s previous record of 12.69, set in 2017, and tied the seventh-fastest time in NCAA history.
McCormick, the reigning NCAA champion in the event, led a 1-2 Oregon finish in the hurdles. Micaela De Mello also advanced, winning the opening heat in a wind-aided 12.75. De Mello will make her third career NCAA Outdoor appearance and her first as a Duck.
Oregon also loaded up in the 1,500 meters. Juliet Cherubet ran a personal-best 4:07.75 to lead a 2-3-4 finish for the Ducks, moving to No. 7 on Oregon’s all-time list. Wilma Nielsen followed in 4:07.87, while Silan Ayyildiz finished in 4:08.16. All three advanced to Eugene.
Cherubet came back roughly three hours later and added another qualifying mark in the 5,000 meters, running a season-best 15:28.61. That improved her already No. 5 standing in program history and gave her a second NCAA entry.
Alicia Khunou also became a two-event qualifier, adding a discus bid to her earlier shot put qualification. Khunou threw 56.16 meters in the discus, while Big Ten champion Marie Josee Bovele-Linaka advanced with a mark of 57.59 meters on her first throw of the competition.
The Ducks also punched a ticket in the 4×100-meter relay. Brazil Neal, Amirah Shaheed, Lakely Doht-Barron and Lily Jones ran 44.40 to finish third in their heat and secure an automatic qualifying spot. Jones will finish her Oregon career as a four-time national qualifier in the relay.
In the triple jump, Sharifa Davronova was the top qualifier with a wind-aided mark of 13.92 meters on her first attempt. Cassandra Atkins came through on her final jump, moving from 18th to fourth with a personal-best 13.73 meters. The mark moved Atkins to No. 3 on Oregon’s outdoor all-time list.
The women’s NCAA qualifiers are:
Silan Ayyildiz, 1,500 meters
Juliet Cherubet, 1,500 meters and 5,000 meters
Wilma Nielsen, 1,500 meters
Diana Cherotich, 10,000 meters
Micaela De Mello, 100-meter hurdles
Aaliyah McCormick, 100-meter hurdles
Brazil Neal, Amirah Shaheed, Lakely Doht-Barron and Lily Jones, 4×100-meter relay
Cassandra Atkins, triple jump
Sharifa Davronova, triple jump
Alicia Khunou, shot put and discus
Marie Josee Bovele-Linaka, discus
Greyson Glivinski, javelin
Liisa-Maria Lusti, heptathlon
Hayward awaits
The NCAA West First Round was about survival and advancement, and Oregon handled that assignment with depth across nearly every discipline. The Ducks qualified athletes in distance races, hurdles, relays, jumps and throws, giving both the men’s and women’s teams several scoring opportunities at the national meet.
For Oregon, the setting makes the opportunity even bigger. The Ducks will not just be competing for NCAA titles. They will be doing it at Hayward Field, where the program’s biggest moments tend to carry a little extra weight.
With 30 entries headed to the NCAA Championships, Oregon gave itself plenty of chances to create a few more.
The NCAA Outdoor Track & Field Championships will be held June 10-13. Watch on ESPN2, or better yet, get tickets here.
