The road to Eugene officially begins this week as HBCU athletes from the SWAC, MEAC and other Division I Black college programs compete in the NCAA Division I East and West First Rounds.
The NCAA preliminary rounds act as the national qualifying stage for the NCAA Outdoor Championships in Eugene, Oregon. Athletes are divided geographically into East and West regions, with the top competitors advancing to nationals.
For sprint and hurdle races, athletes must survive preliminary heats and quarterfinal rounds before national qualifiers are determined. Field events and relays use different qualifying structures, with most field events functioning as single-round finals where only the top 12 athletes advance.
Below is the complete event-by-event breakdown of HBCU athletes competing this week.
WOMEN'S EVENTS Women's 100-meter dash Athlete School Seed Time Kiersten Clark Florida A&M 11.33 Mackenzie Robinson Howard 11.36 Diandrenique Gaines Florida A&M 11.15 Yahnari Lyons Howard 11.22 Janaree Kinchen Florida A&M 11.15 Makenna Urbanek North Carolina A&T 11.27
Women's 200-meter dash Athlete School Seed Time Yahnari Lyons Howard 22.34 Brianna Charles Hampton 23.10 Diandrenique Gaines Florida A&M 22.72 Nilijah Darden Howard 23.29
Women's 800-meter run Athlete School Seed Time Aliyah Williams Alabama State 2:04.87 Tiffany Mugubi Howard 2:04.86
Women's 100-meter hurdles Athlete School Seed Time Tashina Alase Southern 12.64 Jada Chevalier Alabama State 13.41 Lindsay Johnson Howard 13.38 Marcia Sey Howard 12.96 Ty’yanah Adams Florida A&M 13.07 Lauren Thompson Howard 13.27 Zamia Stelly North Carolina A&T 13.36 Rasunek Tyler-Thompson Alabama State 13.08 Brooklyn Robinson Norfolk State 13.13
Southern's Tashina Alase enters with one of the top seed times among HBCU athletes in the regional field.
Women's 400-meter hurdles Athlete School Seed Time Chidubem (Miriam) Okwudibony Delaware State 58.35 Lindsay Johnson Howard 58.24 Aniya Woodruff Howard 57.94 Taylor Hankton Southern 58.41 Cenaiya Billups Howard 56.57 Katelynn Smith Florida A&M 57.95
Women's 4×100-meter relay School Seed Time Florida A&M 43.65 Howard 43.64
Florida A&M relay pool Janaree Kinchen Diandrenique Gaines Arayana Ladson Kiersten Clark Ty’yanah Adams
Howard relay pool Nilijah Darden Marcia Sey Yahnari Lyons Mackenzie Robinson Ai’yana Gray-Williams Women's 4×400-meter relay School Seed Time Howard 3:31.79
Howard relay pool Zoe Turner Aniya Woodruff Cenaiya Billups Lindsay Johnson Carrie Vannoy Yahnari Lyons Mackenzie Robinson
Women's High Jump Athlete School Seed Mark Spirit Morgan North Carolina A&T 1.84m Tia Lucas North Carolina Central 1.76m
Women's Long Jump Athlete School Seed Mark Keira Stewart Morgan State 6.22m Olivia Dowd North Carolina A&T 6.26m Arayana Ladson Florida A&M 6.29m Sanaii Gaines South Carolina State 6.34m
Women's Triple Jump Athlete School Seed Mark Jada David Grambling 12.68m Laniyah Henderson Morgan State 13.03m Olivia Dowd North Carolina A&T 13.03m Daedrian Beville Alabama State 13.22m
Women's Discus Athlete School Seed Mark Taylor Reagor North Carolina A&T 51.85m Nubia Evans-Shields Delaware State 51.56m Rochele Solmon Hampton 52.79m Olamide Ayeni Delaware 55.10m
Women's Hammer Throw Athlete School Seed Mark Jaida Graham Hampton 58.97m
MEN'S EVENTS Men's 100-meter dash Athlete School Region Seed Time Jacory Patterson Florida A&M East 10.18 Travis Williams Alabama State East 10.20 Jalen Brown Norfolk State East 10.22 Xavier Butler North Carolina A&T East 10.24 Demetrius Colbert Southern East 10.25 Joshua Brown Texas Southern West 10.24
Men's 200-meter dash Athlete School Seed Time Jalen Brown Norfolk State 20.58 Travis Williams Alabama State 20.62 Xavier Butler North Carolina A&T 20.64
Men's 400-meter dash Athlete School Seed Time Khaleb McRae Howard 45.91 Justin Davis Alabama State 46.02
Men's 110-meter hurdles Athlete School Seed Time Malcolm Johnson Norfolk State 13.61 Darius White South Carolina State 13.72
Men's 400-meter hurdles Athlete School Seed Time Khaleb McRae Howard 50.11 Jaden Cooper Florida A&M 50.49
Men's 4×100-meter relay School Seed Time North Carolina A&T 38.91 Norfolk State 39.11 Florida A&M 39.20 Alabama State 39.28 Howard 39.44
Men's 4×400-meter relay School Seed Time Howard 3:05.77 Norfolk State 3:06.12 Alabama State 3:06.88
Men's Long Jump Athlete School Seed Mark Isaiah Greene Bethune-Cookman 7.71m Marcus Daniels Alabama A&M 7.66m
Men's Triple Jump Athlete School Region Seed Mark Braylon Carr Texas Southern West 15.49m Ahmad Muhammad Texas Southern West 15.50m
Men's Shot Put Athlete School Seed Mark Jordan Mitchell Southern 18.22m
Men's Discus Athlete School Seed Mark Jordan Mitchell Southern 56.11m
Men's High Jump Athlete School Seed Mark Caleb Grant Hampton 2.15m
How athletes qualify for Eugene Sprint and hurdle events Most sprint and hurdle races use this format:
Preliminary heats Quarterfinal rounds National qualification rounds
The top finishers in each heat plus additional time qualifiers advance.
Relay events Relay teams compete once at regionals:
Automatic qualifying spots go to top finishers Additional teams advance on time Field events Field events are single-round finals:
Athletes receive three attempts Top 12 overall advance to Eugene
Why this matters for HBCU track and field The NCAA preliminary rounds represent one of the biggest stages in collegiate track and field before the national championships in Eugene, Oregon.
For HBCU athletes, advancing through regionals means:
All-American opportunities NCAA finals appearances National championship contention Increased national visibility for HBCU track and field programs
Programs from the SWAC, MEAC and other HBCUs continue to show growing national depth in sprinting, hurdles, relays and field events.
The post Every HBCU track and field athlete competing in NCAA Championship appeared first on HBCU Gameday .
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This story was originally published May 26, 2026 at 12:29 PM.
