Before a Duck touched the outdoor track in 2026, Oregon track and field had already manufactured a successful campaign. Sweeps of both the Big Ten cross country and indoor team titles gave way to four top-five finishes at the NCAA meets, including a pair of runner-up spots in indoor. Their roster is littered with All-Americans ahead of an outdoor season that will see them host the NCAA Championships at Hayward Field. The Daily Emerald recaps Oregon’s 2025-26 season so far:

In cross country, Abdel Laadjel was named the Big Ten Men’s Athlete of the Year as he romped to an individual win at the conference meet in 23:11.60 over 8K and finished ninth individually at NCAAs. Aiden Smith (No. 25) and Simeon Birnbaum (No. 33) also finished in the top 50 before the national meet, where Oregon finished fifth in its best-ever performance.

The Women of Oregon were led through a third-place finish at nationals by All-Americans Silan Ayyildiz (18:57.90 over 6K, ninth at NCAAs) and Diana Cherotich (No. 31). With her win at the conference meet, where Oregon won the team title with a conference-record-low 18 points, Ayyildiz went back-to-back as the Women’s Athlete of the Year. Cherotich was named the Big Ten Freshman of the Year in her first fall season as a Duck.

“Honestly, it’s pretty crazy, because when I first came to Oregon, we weren’t very good,” Big Ten coach of the year Shalane Flanagan told LetsRun. “We’re solid, and the fact that the men’s and women’s programs are pretty sad right now about a third and a fifth (place) means we’re in a good place, clearly.”

On the short track, Oregon now owns all four available conference titles since the Ducks joined the conference after sweeping the Big Ten meet in Indianapolis. Birnbaum, a junior, won both the 3000-meter and 5000-meter races to buoy the men’s win alongside a shot put silver medal from indoor Big Ten Men’s Freshman of the Year Ben Smith.

Ayyildiz doubled up, too, with conference victories in both the mile and 5000m. Aaliyah McCormick, the reigning 100-meter hurdles outdoor national champion, set a 7.89-second meet record in her 60-meter hurdles win, and Juliet Cherubet won the 3000m. Wilma Nielsen, the second-place miler at Big Tens, turned in a 4:40.06 race at the NCAA meet to take her second-straight national title and was named the conference’s Indoor Athlete of the Year. McCormick won the 60m hurdles race in 7.86 seconds, lowering her personal best again, and Ayyildiz finished top-13 in both the mile and 3000m. The Ducks’ distance medley relay also won the title, featuring Ayyildiz, Cherubet and Lakely Doht-Barron, and Indoor Freshman of the Year Liisa-Maria Lusti won the pentathlon with 4,498 points.

Mississippi State University transfer Peyton Bair won the indoor heptathlon with an Oregon-record 6,503 points. His mark broke Ashton Eaton’s national-title-winning score from 2010. Aiden Carter also scored a personal best, Oregon No. 5 all-time 5,908 points to finish ninth. Smith and Kobe Law- rence finished fourth and second, respectively, in the shot put while Birnbaum (second) and Benjamin Balazs (sixth) scored in the 3000m.

Since heading outside, Oregon’s season has been highlighted by Birnbaum’s NCAA-record 1500-meter finish at the Team Invi- tational in April and the DMR win he anchored at Penn Relays. Four Ducks ran a men’s school-record 38.59-second 4×100-meter at the Desert Heat Classic on May 2 ahead of this week’s Oregon Twilight meet.