Live updates: 2026 DI men's and women's indoor track and field championships
Heptathlon kicks off Day 2
The men's heptathlon is underway to begin Day 2 of action! The 60 meter hurdles got things started as the crowd begins to slowly trickle in. It's not a packed house yet, but fans are still here supporting some of the top athletes in all of college sports.
The 60 meter hurdles saw Texas A&M's Blake Harris run a big personal-best of 7.81 seconds to lead all competitors. Oregon's Peyton Bair ran the second-fastest time in 7.86 seconds and BYU's Ben Barton and Oregon's Aiden Carter ran 7.96 seconds as the third-fastest runners in the event.
How did those performances impact the standings?
Barton's hurdles performance bumped him up to second with two events to go, while Blake Harris and Aiden Carter each moved into scoring position at seventh and eighth, respectively, in the overall standings.
Meanwhile, Bair holds on to first place through five events with 4692 points. After yesterday's performance that had him among some of the men's heptathlon's all-time greats, Bair is still on pace for No. 2 all-time. Through five events, Georgia's Kyle Garland scored 4,821 points in 2023. While Bair trails Garland, he leads Arkansas' Ayden Owens-Delerme's 4,669 from 2023 and Oregon's Ashton Eaton's 4,601 points from 2010.
Can Bair catch Garland? Well the final two events are the pole vault and 1000 meters. Bair has a pole vault personal-best of 5.05 meters and a 1000 meter personal-best of 2:41.02 from back in January. Those scored him 926 points and 862 points — 1,824 points. In Garland's collegiate record heptathlon, he combined for 1,818 points across the final two events. That's a six point difference.
Bair currently is 129 points behind Garland's pace, so he'll need to make up 123 points with new personal bests across the final two events.
The pole vault gets underway at 11:50 a.m. CT/12:50 p.m. ET.
Day 2: Start lists, schedule of events, results
Day 2 of the DI indoor track and field national championships is here and we're back in Fayetteville at Randal Tyson Track Center. We have our own Stan Becton on site providing live updates of the final day of competition.
Today we'll crown all of our individual champions plus two team national champions on both the men's and women's side. Here's what you need to know.
Start lists
How to watch
The 2026 NCAA DI Indoor Track & Field Championships will air on ESPN+. See the complete TV schedule below.
All times Eastern.
Schedule of events for Saturday, March 14, 2026
View the schedule below and click any of the event links for results
Team scores:
Live Tracker:
- Heptathlon Saturday events
- 12 p.m. |
- 12:50 p.m. |
- 5 p.m. |
- Women's Field events — ALL FINALS
- 2:45 p.m. |
- 3:45 p.m. |
- 3:30 p.m. |
- 5 p.m. |
- Men's Field events — ALL FINALS
- 2 p.m. |
- 2:45 p.m. |
- 6 p.m. |
- Women's Track events — ALL FINALS
- 5:10 p.m. |
- 4:30 p.m. |
- 5:50 p.m. |
- 6:10 p.m. |
- 6:30 p.m. |
- 6:50 p.m. |
- 7:10 p.m. |
- 7:40 p.m. |
- Men's Track events — ALL FINALS
- 5:20 p.m. |
- 5:40 p.m. |
- 6 p.m. |
- 6:20 p.m. |
- 6:40 p.m. |
- 7 p.m. |
- 7:25 p.m. |
- 7:50 p.m. |
Day 1 Championship Recap
That's a wrap on Day 1 of the DI indoor track and field championships. We crowned 10 individual champions, saw plenty of top-10 all-time collegiate performances and even one collegiate record to start the day.
We won't run down every little detail for you, but here's a glimpse of what you may have missed AND what lies ahead.
Champions from Day 1
Women's champions
- Pentathlon — Winner: Oregon's Liisa-Maria Lusti
- Weight throw — Winner: Minnesota's Anthonett Nabwe
- Long jump — Winner: Illinois' Sophia Beckmon
- 5000 meters — Winner: BYU's Jane Hedengren
- Distance medley Relay — Winner: Oregon
Men's champions
- Pole vault — Winner: Kansas' Ashton Barkdull
- Weight throw — Winner: Iowa's Ryan Johnson
- Long jump — Winner: Tarleton State's Lokesh Sathyanathan
- 5000 meters — Winner: New Mexico's Habtom Samuel
- Distance medley Relay — Winner: Northern Arizona
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Top performances from prelims
- Ja'Kobe Tharp puts Grant Holloway on notice
- 7.36! The Auburn star and Bowerman finalist was 0.01 seconds off from tying the collegiate record in the men's 60 hurdles prelims.
- Jelani Watkins and Garrett Kaalund put on a show in the men's 200m
- 0.001 seconds separated the top two 200 meter sprinters. Kaalund (USC) finished by the blink of an eye in front of Watkins (Arkansas) as both ran 20.11. They'll race in the same heat again tomorrow.
- Oregon gets three into the mile
- Oregon kept its team title hopes alive with Wilma Nielsen, Silan Ayyildiz and Juliet Cherubet all advancing to the women's mile final. That's a potential 24 points from one event.
- The Rookie lives up to the hype
- Georgia's Adaejah Hodge ran the fastest qualifying 200 meter time in 22.28 seconds. She also ran the third-fastest qualifying 60 meter time in 7.12 seconds.
- A Florida Surprise
- Florida's Justin Braun ran 44.77 in the men's 400m prelims. His season's best was only 45.30 entering the meet.
What's next
Team scores
Women's team leaders
1. Illinois — 302. Oregon — 20
3. Florida — 14
4. BYU — 13
5. Minnesota — 10
Men's team leaders
1. Arkansas — 14
T-2. Virginia — 13
T-2. Kansas — 13
4. Texas A&M — 12
5. Kansas State — 10
Men's combined events
Oregon's Peyton Bair leads all competitors in the heptathlon after four events with 3675 points. He's currently outpacing past all-time performers like Ashton Eaton and Ayden Owens-Delerme, and will be chasing collegiate record holder Kyle Garland across the final three events.
The heptathlon continues Saturday at 11 a.m. CT/12 p.m. ET. with the 60 meter hurdles, followed by the pole vault and 1000 meters.
When we'll be back (you'll be back too we hope)
We're off for the night now after a long day in Fayetteville. We'll return tomorrow ahead of an 11 a.m. CT/12 p.m. ET start when the heptathlon returns to competition.
The first field event will start with the shot put at 1 p.m. and the first track event will start with the women's mile at 4:10 p.m.
It'll be a loaded day full of finals as we lead up to crowning a men's and women's champion.
Northern Arizona wins the men's DMR
Northern Arizona won the men's distance medley relay in 9:19.95. It wasn't near the collegiate record time that teams have been approaching all season long, but it wasn't about a record today. It was about winning a championship.
And that's just what the Lumberjacks did thanks to an impressive showing from its quartet. For a program that prides itself on distance running, it finally has the distance relay crown for the first time in program history.
Check out the splits below
- 1200m — 2:49.80 — Rheinhardt Harrison
- 400m 3:35.63 — Josiah Johnson
- 800m — 5:22.82 — Tor Hotung-Davidsen
- 1600m — 9:19.95 — Colin Sahlman
Tarleton State's Lokesh Sathyanathan wins men's long jump
Tarleton State's Lokesh Sathyanathan won the men's long jump and is the first track and field champion in Tarleton State's Division I history!
Sathyanathan landed a personal-best 8.21 meter jump on his fourth attempt, placing him in the lead. The Texan jumper won by 0.01m aka ONE centimeter to end his senior season on top.
Minnesota's Anthonett Nabwe wins women's weight throw
Minnesota's Anthonett Nabwe won the women's weight throw championship with the sixth-best throw in collegiate history of 25.13 meters. The Minnesota star was the favorite entering the event and didn't dissappoint.
Nabwe opened with a 23.03 meter throw on her first attempt, which would've landed her fifth place if she fould every ensuing attempt. Of course, Nabwe that's not what happened.
Nabwe proceeded to land throws of 24.59m, 24.83m, 24.47m and 25.13m on her next four attempts. All four throws would've beat second place with 24.40m.
Oregon wins women's DMR
After coming so close in the women's distance medley relay, Oregon claimed the women's DMR this season. The Ducks won in 10:48.76, beating South Carolina (10:49.69) down the stretch. Wilma Nielson pulled ahead in the final 1600 meters, fending off a late push from South Carolina to give the Ducks the title.
Oregon's championship splits
- First leg - 1200 meters — 3:19.35 from Juliet Cherubet
- Second leg - 400 meters — 55.20 from Lakely Doht-Barron
- Third leg - 800 meters — 2:04.42 from Silan Ayyildz
- Fourth leg - 1600 meters — 4:29.81 from Wilma Nielsen
New Mexico's Habtom Samuel wins men's 5K
New Mexico junior Habtom Samuel held off Villanova junior Marco Langon down the stretch to win the men's 5000 meters. Samuel finished with a time of 13:36.58, ahead of Langon's 13:36.98.
BYU's Jane Hedengren wins women's 5K
BYU freshman Jane Hedengren set a facility record in the 5000 meters with a time of 15:00.12. Hedengren pulled ahead after the first 400 meters and never looked back en route to the title.
Kansas' Ashton Barkdull wins men's pole vault
Kansas junior Ashton Barkdull won the men's pole vault thanks to a personal best jump. Barkdull and Texas A&M senior Aleksandr Solovev each cleared 5.80 meters, with Barkdull winning after clearing the height on his second attempt while Solovev cleared it on his third attempt, tying her personal best.
The win puts Kansas in a tie for the team lead with Virginia, each with 13 points through two events, just in front of Texas A&M with 12.
Auburn's Ja'Kobe Tharp runs second-fastest 60 meter hurdles in NCAA history
Auburn junior Ja'Kobe Tharp ran the second-fastest time in NCAA history in the 60 meter hurdles, running in 7.36 seconds during the preliminary round Friday. The time, a personal best for Tharp, puts him behind only Florida legend and Olympic gold medalist Grant Holloway, who set the record of 7.35 seconds at the NCAA Indoor Championships in 2019.
The 60 meter hurdles finals are scheduled for Saturday at 6 p.m.
Illinois' Sophia Beckmon wins women's long jump
Illinois junior Sophia Beckmon won the women's long jump with a jump of 6.84 meters. Beckmon's first attempt of 6.72 meters was better than anyone else in the field, bested only by her third attempt of 6.84 meters. Beckmon finished fifth in the long jump last season. This jump places the All-American long jumper second all-time in Illinois' indoor long jump history.
The win gave Illinois 10 team points and elevated the Illini (18 points) to first place in the team standings in front of Oregon (10 points) through two events.
Arkansas' Jelani Watkins runs second-fastest 60 meters in NCAA history
Arkansas sophomore Jelani Watkins ran the second-fastest time in NCAA history in the men's 60 meters, finishing in 6.46 seconds. The current record of 6.45 seconds is held jointly by Kanyinsola Ajayi (Auburn, 2026), Terrence Jones (Texas Tech, 2022), Christian Coleman (Tennessee, 2017) and Leonard Myles-Mills (BYU, 1999).
In last year's NCAA Track & Field Indoor Championships, USC's JC Stevenson also ran the 60 meters in 6.46 seconds in the prelims.
Oregon's Liisa-Maria Lusti wins women's pentathlon
Oregon's Liisa-Maria Lusti is only a freshman, and she's already a national champion! The rookie Duck took home the women's pentathlon crown after a long five-event grind, finishing with 4498 points. ;
Lusti outpaced Illinois' JaCieonna Gero-Holt in the 800 meters by one spot to hold off her fellow freshman and secure the top overall spot by 32 points.
In the grand scheme of things, Oregon picked up 10 team points thanks to Lusti. Illinois added eight team points after Gero-Holt's finish. An 800-meter DQ knocked off one point from Illinois' total after Meagan Humphries originally finished in eighth before a protest.
With Oregon and Illinois as two of the top team contenders entering the day, that DQ could carry weight down the line.
Iowa's Ryan Johnson wins men's weight throw
Iowa's Ryan Johnson is no stranger to the big stage. He set a collegiate record to win the Big Ten weight throw title in his last outing. While he didn't break his record to win today's NCAA title, the only person to throw farther than his 25.64 meters is... himself.
That's right, Johnson won the NCAA title with the second-farthest throw in NCAA history. It came on his fifth attempt.