EUGENE, Ore. – Action got underway Wednesday at the 2026 NCAA Division I Outdoor Track and Field Championships at Hayward Field hosted by the University of Oregon.
 
DePaul’s Alex Bernstein opened things up for the six BIG EAST male athletes competing in Wednesday’s events, earning a top 10 finish in the Hammer Throw. The senior threw a distance of 70.71 meters, placing ninth and earning Second Team All-America honors.
 
In Wednesday’s other final, Butler junior William Zegarski finished 10th in the men’s 10,000-meter race with a personal best time of 28:19.38. Pacing the runners at the 10-minute mark, and shuffling among the top 10 throughout the race, Zegarski earned Second Team All-America honors.
 
Three BIG EAST competitors hit the track in the qualifying rounds, with Georgetown sophomore Jaden Marchan earning a spot in Friday’s 400m final with a blazing time of 45.26 seconds to finish seventh.
 
Marchan’s junior teammate Tinoda Matsata competed in the 800-meter event, collecting a top 10 time of 1:45.92, just missing the cut for Friday’s final.
 
Competing in the 1500-meter qualifier, Providence freshman Elliott Pugh placed 20th with a time of 3:41.24.
 
Wrapping up Wednesday’s action, UConn’s Joshua Mooney currently sits in 18^th-place through five events in the Decathlon, with a score of 3,847 points. He sits 567 points behind the leader, heading into Thursday’s final five events. Mooney will return to the track at 1:45 p.m. ET on Thursday in the 110-meter hurdles.
 
The BIG EAST female athletes will make their debut at Hayward Field on Thursday, with St. John’s Jamora Alves in the discus, Creighton’s Trinity Shadd-Ceres in the long jump, Providence’s Maeve O’Neill in the 800-meter, and Georgetown’s Charlotte Tomkinson (1500 meters) and Barrett Justema (3000-meter steeplechase).
 
On Friday, Villanova’s Marco Langon will compete in the 5000-meter final, while UConn’s Maresa Hense will kickstart the women’s heptathlon.