Meet Recap: 2023 NCAA DI Outdoor T&F Championships

All eyes are on Austin, Texas.

That’s because the 2023 NCAA DI Outdoor Track & Field Championships will be taking place at Mike A. Myers Stadium from June 7-10!

2023 NCAA DI Outdoor T&F Championships – Current Standings
Men’s Teams	Score	Women’s Teams	Score
Florida	57	Texas	83
Arkansas	53	Florida	51
Stanford	44	Arkansas	46
LSU	43	Oregon	44
Arizona State	41	Texas A&M	36

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This is the eighth time that Austin plays host to the climatic meet of the NCAA Outdoor Track & Field season. The Live Music Capital of the World, as they like to call it, welcomed the Best of the Best in 1957, 1974, 1980, 1985, 1992, 2004 and 2019.

Bookmark this post, because we’ll update it over the next four days with highlights from the Lone Star State. You better believe we’ll see some records broken.

National Chomps: Gators Walk It Off

You want drama?

Florida’s men entered the final event of the meet – the 4×400 relay – five points back of Arkansas. Both programs had a quartet entered and implications were huge: If the Gators won and the Razorbacks finished no worse than fourth, they’d share the national title. Anything else coupled with a Florida win would result in another crown for the Gainesville crew.

Well, the Gators weren’t collegiate record-holders for nothing.

Florida lowered its own collegiate record to 2:57.74 to win the climactic event and put the pressure on Arkansas. It wasn’t to be for the Razorbacks, who finished eighth in the nine-team field.

Final score: Florida 57, Arkansas 53.

The Gators defended the title they won in Oregon last year and have gone back-to-back in four of the past seven years.

Celebration Time For Texas

Host Texas won its first women’s title since 2005, notching a huge score of 83 points – the highest in this meet since 1994.

Dominant doesn’t even begin to describe the Longhorns on their home turf.

Texas scored at least ten points in five different events with event titles in the 100 meters, 200 meters, 400 meters, 4×100 relay and long jump. The Longhorns became just the second program in meet history to win the 100, 200 and 400 at the same NCAA Championships (Florida State, 1984).

All Hail, King Leo – Long May He Reign

Leo Neugebauer set a national record in the decathlon.

We’re not talking the collegiate record – the German record.

Don’t worry: Neugebauer shattered the collegiate record, too.

Neugebauer, competing on his home turf, orchestrated a masterclass performance in the decathlon over the first two days of the 2023 NCAA DI Outdoor Championships in Austin, Texas. The Longhorn standout scored 8836 points over the two-day affair to lay waste to the German national record, collegiate record and meet record in one fell swoop.

At first, it was a duel between Neugebauer and former collegiate record-holder Kyle Garland of Georgia. Neugebauer ended Day 1 with 4591 points, 21 more than Garland – but then Day 2 came and Neugebauer pulled away thanks to massive PRs in three of the next four events: discus (55.06m/180-8), pole vault (5.21m/17-1) and javelin (57.45m/188-6).

The collegiate record was a foregone conclusion for Neugebauer, but he still had to work for the German national record. Needing to run 4:48.50 or faster to top Germany’s all-time chart, Neugebauer closed the multi in style – running 4:48.00 to etch his name into the record books.

Neugebauer is now the eighth-best performer in world history, too.

Garland finished runner-up with 8630 points, good enough for the third-best performance in collegiate history. The Georgia star, who set the CR in the heptathlon indoors, owns three of the top-4 marks in collegiate history in the decathlon – No. 2, No. 3 and No. 4.

Happy Birthday To You

Very few athletes in collegiate history turned in a better performance at the NCAA DI Outdoor Championships than Julien Alfred in 2023.

Where do you start? The marks? The titles?

Let’s try both.

100 meters: 10.72 (+2.3) … That equals the fastest time in collegiate history, regardless of conditions (Alfred clocked that back in April).

200 meters: 21.73 (+2.5) … That’s the fastest time in collegiate history, regardless of conditions.

Before we go on, no woman in history put together a faster all-conditions, single-day, 100-200 double. World history, not just collegiate.

4×100 relay: 41.60 … Alfred was the lead-off leg for a quartet that notched the second-fastest performance in collegiate history. That’s because Texas decimated the collegiate record two days earlier at 41.55.

Oh, it was also Alfred’s birthday.

Hook ‘Em: Texas Obliterates 4×100 Relay CR

Texas wasted no time in making history on Thursday.

Actually, the Longhorns only needed 41.55 seconds of it.

Texas destroyed its own collegiate record in the Women’s 4×100 Relay in the semifinals of the event, going 41.55 on its home track. Not only was that a major improvement on their own all-time collegiate best, it also made the Longhorns the fifth-fastest quartet in world history.

Moore Jumps; Records Follow

Jasmine Moore and triple jump records.

Name a better duo. We’ll wait.

Moore bounded 14.78m (48-6) in Round 2 on Saturday night to shatter the five-year-old collegiate record of 14.62m (47-11¾) set by 2018 The Bowerman winner Keturah Orji during her award-winning year.

Nugent Hurdles Into History

Ackera Nugent etched her name at the top of another hurdling echelon.

Nugent, who set the collegiate record in the 60-meter hurdles during the indoor season, won the 100-meter hurdle title at the NCAA DI Outdoor Championships in a blistering 12.25 (+3.8). That is an all-time, all-conditions collegiate best for Nugent, since the wind was over the allowable.

Rinse, Repeat: Wilson 400-Meter Record

Add another record to Britton Wilson’s growing trove.

Wilson took down Athing Mu’s meet record in the 400 meters with her 49.36 effort in the semifinals on Thursday night. That was the third sub-49.40 of the season for Wilson and gave her the second-most of that nature by an American woman in history (Sanya Richards-Ross had 17 of them).

Take one look at the collegiate record book and that will show you just how dominant Wilson has been over 400 meters. Wilson holds each of the top-5 marks in collegiate outdoor history.

A Final For The Ages

Seven.

That’s how many athletes went sub-10 in the final of the Men’s 100 Meters.

Four.

That’s how many did the same in the final at the 2022 World Championships.

Courtney Lindsey of Texas Tech led them all, as he went 9.89 to nip Godson Oghenebrume of LSU (9.90) and Shaun Mawanganyi of Houston (9.91) at the finish line. There hasn’t been a faster 1-2-3 in meet history and they equaled the fourth-, fifth- and eighth-best performers in collegiate history.

Hibbert Hops (And Other Phases) Into History

Jaydon Hibbert started off with a bang on Friday night.

Already the collegiate indoor record-holder in the triple jump, Hibbert bounded 17.56m (57-7½) in Round 1 to notch the third-best performance in collegiate history. That mark is also an all-time best turned in at a meet at low altitude.

Sumner Takes The Throne

Welcome to the record book, Will Sumner.

The Georgia freshman galloped to the 800-meter title in a strong 1:44.26, which was the second-fastest time in meet history and made him the fourth-best performer in collegiate history.

Wednesday, June 7 – Men’s Day 1

It’s A Hot Track In Austin

They didn’t wait long to rip the straightaways on Wednesday.

The meet-opening 4×100 relay was historically fast. LSU (38.06), Texas Tech (38.20), Florida (38.22) and Florida State (38.27) clocked the four fastest prelim marks in meet history. LSU’s top qualifier was the second-fastest in meet history, regardless of round.

Then, P.J. Austin of Florida went 9.89 (+1.3) in the semifinals of the 100 meters to equal the fourth-fastest performer in collegiate history. Austin wasn’t the only one with a blistering mark: Godson Oghenbrume of LSU (9.93), Favour Ashe of Auburn (9.96), Cole Beck of Virginia Tech (9.97) amnd Shaun Maswangayi of Houston (9.99) all went sub-10.

Later, Udodi Onwuzurike of Stanford led six men under 20 seconds in the 200 meters at 19.76 to become the third-fastest performer in collegiate history. Courtney Lindsey of Texas Tech (19.88), Tarsis Orogot of Alabama (19.94), Robert Gregory of Florida (19.95), Javonte Harding of Tennessee (19.98) and Shaun Maswangayi of Houston (19.99) also dipped below.

Party Likes It’s 1999

Stanford made a habit of scoring 18 points in the Men’s 10,000 Meters at the NCAA DI Outdoor Track & Field Championships. In fact, the Cardinal went 1-2 in three different years before 2023, including a pair of 1-2-3 sweeps.

Ky Robinson and Charles Hicks added another to Stanford’s tally.

Robinson and Hicks took the top-2 spots in the 10,000 meters on Wednesday night, becoming the first teammates to do so since Edward Cheserek and Eric Jenkins of Oregon back in 2015. Go back further and Robinson and Hicks are the first two Cardinal athletes to accomplish the feat since 1999.

The Stanford duo pulled away from the field in the final 100 meters with Robinson sprinting ahead to take the crown in 28:10.96. Hicks, who won the individual title at the 2022 NCAA DI Cross Country Championships, finished runner-up in 28:12.20.

It Ain’t Over Til It’s Over

Kenneth Ikeji of Harvard and Jordan Geist of Arizona were down to their final attempts in the hammer throw and shot put, respectively, on Wednesday. They both needed a big mark in Round 6 in order to win NCAA event titles.

That’s exactly what they did.

Ikeji launched the implement 77.92m (255-8) to win Harvard’s first title in the hammer since 1962. Not only that, but Ikeji moved up to No. 6 in collegiate history with that effort.

Later in the meet, Geist trailed rival Turner Washington of Arizona State by more than one inch with one throw remaining. Geist, who finished third in the hammer earlier in the day, let one fly 21.06m (69-1¼) to edge Washington by 2cm (Washington threw 21.04m (69-0½) two rounds earlier).

Thursday, June 8 – Women’s Day 1

Jones-ing For The American U20 Record

Alyssa Jones jumped her way into the record books on Thursday.

Jones, a freshman at Stanford, soared 6.86m (22-6¼) in Round 5 of the long jump to set an American U20 all-time best. That trumped the former record of 6.83m (22-5) set by eventual NCAA champion Kate Hall back in 2015.

The Cardinal star took the lead with that mark and sat there until Ackelia Smith of Texas flew 6.88m (22-7) on her final attempt of the competition.

Friday, June 9 – Men’s Day 2

Growing Champions on The Farm

Stanford made history at the NCAA DI Outdoor Championships.

Imagine that.

The Cardinal became the first men’s program in meet history to win 200- and 5000-meter titles at the same Championships. Udodi Onwuzurike got the party started with a 19.84 winner in the half-lapper, then Ky Robinson followed with his 14:04.77 victory in the 5000 meters.

When you add in the 10,000-meter crown Robinson won on the first day, Stanford is the second program in meet history to accomplish that particular double victory: Arkansas did it first in 2004.

Saturday, June 10 – Women’s Day 2

Texas Brings The Heat

It’s wild when 41.60 isn’t the collegiate record in the 4×100 relay.

That’s because 41.55 is, which is what Texas ran in the semifinals on Day 1.

41.60 is what the Longhorns ran on Saturday evening to win the first event on the track and add another all-time top-5 mark to their ledger.

Speaking of fast, Texas phenom Julien Alfred – who led off the 4×100 relay – won the 100 meters later in the evening at a wind-aided 10.72.