Tulane University is set to compete in the 2026 American Outdoor Track and Field Championships, with events beginning May 14. The three-day meet will be hosted by North Texas at Norma Knobel Hunt Stadium in Denton, Texas.
The championships matter as Tulane aims to build on last season’s program-best finishes, where the women’s team placed fourth and the men’s team finished seventh. Multiple athletes from Tulane enter the competition holding top-100 marks nationally in NCAA Division I events.
Competition starts with Sofie Groeninger participating in the heptathlon’s first event, followed by Cara Salsberry in the women’s hammer throw and Aiden Yang in men’s javelin. On the track, Dana Rojas Vazquez, Jasper Newton, Elena Liano-Rengel, Illia Kunin, Rogerio Amaral, Paul James Pam, Gilbert Rono, Marissa Gordon, Zaria Parker, Alexander Montoro and Andrew Bamberg are among those scheduled to race on opening day. The day’s action concludes with Nahema Dumonteil Cabanas competing in women’s 400m hurdles prelims and Blezzin Kimutai running for women’s 10,000m alongside Juan Giron and Tommy Rice for men’s.
Day two will see Groeninger finish her heptathlon events while also competing in shot put. Brianna Brand participates in long jump; Presley Wolfe takes part in pole vault; Maria Alduan joins Eliza Brand along with Liano-Rengel and Newton for women’s 800m prelims; Roman Schrader leads Jalen St. Fort and Samuel Cohen for men’s heats. Additional highlights include steeplechase races featuring Petra Dos Santos, Allison Hall and Alex Sharp on the women’s side while Silas Kiptanui represents Tulane men.
Saturday wraps up competition with Salsberry throwing discus before a series of distance races involving Hall, Sharp, Dos Santos, Rojas Vazquez and Kimutai for women’s 5k—and Pam heads a large group of men racing that event as well. The meet ends with relay competitions across both genders.
After this weekend’s conference championships conclude Tulane will turn its attention to NCAA postseason opportunities: national qualifiers advance to Lexington from May 27-30 for championship first rounds before potential participation at Eugene’s NCAA Outdoor Championship June 10-13.
