Joash Ruto at the NCAA Championships (© WU20 Oregon 26)
The 2025 NCAA Division I Outdoor Track & Field Championships saw a number of U20 athletes representing their respective universities on collegiate athletics’ largest stage. Over the course of the four-day meeting at Hayward Field in Eugene, Oregon, U20 athletes recorded podium finishes and 2025 U20 top 10 marks as their teams fought for the team title.
U20 athletes are defined as being 18 or 19 years of age on 31 December in the year of the competition. The World Athletics U20 Championships takes place every other year, with the next iteration coming to Hayward Field in the summer of 2026 from 5-9 August.
The first day of NCAA Championships competition featured qualifying rounds for the men’s events, and saw Kenya’s Joash Ruto record the fifth-fastest U20 time in the world so far this year for the 3000m steeplechase. His 8:22.94 was the fastest time of the day and a personal best by almost three seconds. Ruto followed his qualifier by clocking 8:20.47 in the final two days later, a personal best that puts him second on this season’s world U20 top list and was good enough for fourth place for the Iowa State Cyclone.
University of Southern California’s Brianna Selby was the U20 highlight of the second day of the NCAA Championships. She blazed a 100m PB of 11.01 – the fastest U20 time in the world this year. Going into the meeting, the US sprinter had the third-fastest time in the U20 100m this year (11.03). Selby returned to the track for her final on Saturday, running 11.25 and earning eighth place.
Day two also saw Duke University’s Braelyn Baker notch a PB in the women’s 400m hurdles. Her 56.35 makes her the third-fastest U20 athlete in the world this year. The 19-year-old returned for the final on the fourth day of competition and she ran 56.54 to earn ninth place.
Braelyn Baker in the 400m hurdles at the NCAA Championships (© WU20 Oregon 26)
On the final day of action, USA’s Valentina Fakrogha jumped a PB of 1.84m, a mark that moves her into the U20 top 10 this year in the high jump. That mark earned her an eighth-place finish – All-American status for the UCLA Bruin.
The final athlete to post a top 10 U20 mark for the year at the NCAA Championships was heptathlete Maresa Hense, a freshman from the University of Connecticut. Her 5608 points was a personal best for the 19-year-old German athlete, and is the 10th-best U20 score in the event so far this year.
Other notable performances by U20 athletes included Samuel Ogazi’s NCAA title-winning 400m run in 44.84. The 19-year-old Nigerian athlete had previously run the second-best U20 time in the world this year (44.43). Xavier Butler also performed well, with a seventh-place finish in the men’s 200m in 20.39. Butler currently has the fastest U20 time in the 200m this year (20.02). On the field, Prestina Ochonogor – the second-best U20 long jumper this year – finished in eighth place with a 6.41m leap. Her 2025 world No.2 U20 jump is 6.67m. Anna Willis vaulted to a fourth-place finish, clearing 4.44m. She has the current No.1 U20 pole vault mark in the world this year at 4.52m.
The U20 action at Hayward Field resumes with the USATF U20 Championships on 19-20 June. The European U20 Championships are next on the global calendar, occurring on 7-10 August.
