NCAA Outdoor Track & Field Championships 2023 preview: Full schedule & how to watch
The best in collegiate athletics are set to tangle for national bragging rights at the University of Texas campus, 7-10 June. A host of Olympic hopefuls are set to compete.
Athletics
Which collegiate athletics stars could shine at next year’s Olympic Games Paris 2024?
We’ll get our clearest picture yet of that at the 2023 NCAA Outdoor Track and Field Championships, set for Austin, Texas, for an eighth time (and first since 2019), with the Mike A. Myers Stadium at the University of Texas hosting the action 7-10 June.
NCAA Division I team titles will be on the line for both the men and the women, as well as individual bragging rights.
Arkansas won both the men’s and women’s indoor national titles in February, and will factor among the favourites in Austin. The Texas women should push the Razorbacks, with Florida and Oregon also among the contenders.
On the men’s side, Arkansas just won the SEC title and will Florida and Georgia as challengers.
The women’s hurdles are set to be must-see events in both the 100m and 400m hurdles. Masai Russell of Kentucky and LSU's Alia Armstrong will go head-to-head in the 100m, while Arkansas’ Britton Wilson (pictured above) will look to set another collegiate record in the 400m.
Wilson will go after records in both the 400m hurdles and flat, which should put her in the runner for the Bowerman award, given to the most outstanding man and woman at the event.
Earlier this season Olympics.com took a look at five athletes to watch, which included Texas’ Julien Alfred (St. Lucia), Katelyn Tuohy of North Carolina State (USA), Texas Tech’s Terrence Jones (Bahamas), Favour Ofili of LSU (Nigeria) and Alabama’s Tarsis Orogot (Uganda).
The indoor season saw 27 NCAA records fall and the outdoor season has also been a memorable one as the class of 2023 show their form a year and change out from the Paris Games.
NCAA Track & Field Championships: What to watch for
In addition to those already mentioned, there are several must-see events and athletes set to showcase in Austin.
On the men’s side, Kyle Garland of Georgia will look to break his own record in the decathlon, and in the 100m, Godsend Oge Oghenebrume of LSU (Nigeria) will lead the way.
Arkansas triple jumper Jaydon Hibbert (Jamaica) is just a freshman, but he already has the indoor and outdoor collegiate records. He also set the world Under 20 record in May with his jump at the SEC Championships (17.87m).
That mark by Hibbert is also the world lead globally among World Athletics competitors.
Jones (100 and 200m) and Orogot (200m) are to watch in the sprint events and relays, too.
Home hope Alfred of Texas is the favourite in the women’s 100m, where she could contend for the collegiate record. She’s also one to watch in the 200m, as well, as is Ofili, who is likely for both relays, too.
The aforementioned Tuohy could contend for both the 1500m and 5000m, the latter where she is the collegiate record holder.
NCAA Track & Field Championships: Full schedule
The national championships are being held at the University of Texas at the Mike A. Myers stadium. All times listed are Central U.S. (GMT-6).
Wednesday, 7 June – Men's Day 1
1430 – Field & combined events
1830 local – Track events, preliminaries (10,000m final)
Thursday, 8 June – Women's Day 11230 – Combined events, men
1530 – Field events
1930 – Track events, preliminaries (10,000m final)
Friday, 9 June – Men’s Day 2
1445 – Combined events, women
1930 – Field events, finals
2000 – Track events, finals
Saturday, 10 June – Women’s Day 2
1600 – Combined events, women
1930 – Field events
2000 – Track events, finals
See the full schedule on the NCAA event page here. A full event-by-event PDF is here.
NCAA Track & Field Championships: How to watch
ESPN2 will carry the action for each of the evening sessions for American viewers.
_ESPN2 schedule:
_Wednesday, 7 June – 1830
Thursday, 8 June – 1930
Friday, 9 June – 2000
Saturday, 10 June – 2000
ESPN+, the network’s streaming platform, will have live coverage beginning on 7 June from 1430, and will provide simultaneous coverage of the field events during the evening as ESPN2 focuses on the track.
See the full broadcast schedule here.