TrackTown USA got its headliner last weekend as the NCAA Track and Field Outdoor Championships and the nation’s top athletes rolled into Hayward Field for a chance at collegiate glory. 

 The overall men’s and women’s champions were the University of Arkansas men’s team, and the University of Georgia women’s team. The Oregon women’s team placed fourth with 36 overall points, while the men placed fifth with 40 points. 

Adaejah Hodge, who ran for Georgia, took home two NCAA record finishes en route to the first-place finish for the Bulldogs. Hodge ran the women’s 100-meter in 10.63 seconds, the fifth-best time in NCAA history, and ran the NCAA record for the women’s 200-meter with a blazing time of  21.68.

Amanda Moll, of the University of Washington, took the NCAA poll vault record away from her fellow Husky and twin sister, Hana Moll. Amanda Moll beat Hana Moll’s previous by 0.01 meters as Amanda Moll got over the bar at 4.84m. Hana Moll placed second in the event.

The last of the record-setting performances for the women was Dejanea Oakley for Georgia. She ran the women’s 400-meter in 48.79.

Ja’Kobe Tharp, for Auburn University, set a new world record for the men’s 110-meter hurdles, running the event in a scorching time of 12.75.

The rest of the record-setting performances for the men were:

• Samuel Ogazi, for the University of Alabama, ran the 400m in 43.38.
• Jaiden Reid, for Louisiana State University, ran the 200m in 19.63. 
• Auburn took the 4×100-meter relay in 37.75. 

For the Ducks, Simeon Birnbaum, who, going back to the indoor season, had been on cruise control, absolutely dominated the competition. He kept up that domination in the Championships Coming around the final turn in the 1500-meter, Birnbaum separated himself from the pack and took home first place for the Ducks. 

The other Oregon track athlete who placed first was Aaliyah McCormick. She had a lot on the line for her event as she had to defend her title from the previous year. McCormick did just that with a time of 12.47, beating UCLA’s Celeste Polzonetti by 0.32 to become the first to repeat in the event since Tiffany Ofili did so in 2007 and 2008.

The final Oregon athlete who placed first in the events was Ben Smith. Smith had a great indoor and outdoor season, but it culminated in an NCAA Track and Field first-place finish. He threw 21.04m, 0.71m farther than the second-place finisher, JL Van Rensburg of the University of Tennessee. 

That was a wrap for the NCAA Outdoor season. The Ducks had a solid showing in both the regular season and the Championships, and Hayward Field saw more records set and broken. Now the athletes will have time to rest and recuperate before the next indoor season kicks off in December.