Track & Field Sets Sights on 2026 SEC Outdoor Championships

Thursday, May 14

Auburn, Ala.

Florida Gators

SEC Outdoor Championships

A male is in the starting blocks in a black uniform that says Gators

The Gators are looking for their first SEC outdoor title since 2022 on the women's side, and 2018 on the men's. // Credit: Victoria Riccobono | UAA Athletics

Track & Field Sets Sights on 2026 SEC Outdoor Championships

Wednesday, May 13, 2026 | Track and Field

The Gators will make the trek to Auburn, Ala., as they begin their journey for a pair of SEC team titles.

By: Andrew Hile

2026 SEC Outdoor Championships
Date	Thurs., May 14 – Sat., May 16
Location	Auburn, Ala. \| Hutsell-Rosen Track
Meet Info	Championship Central \| Live Results \| Schedule \| Championship History \| Meet Notes
Watch	Thursday Session 1 \| Thursday Session 2 \| Friday Session 1 \| Friday Session 2 Saturday Session 1 \| Saturday Session 2
Outdoor Records	Record Book \| Men's Performance List \| Women's Performance List
National Rankings	Rankings Central \| Men's National \| Women's National \| Men's East \| Women's East
SEC Info	Men's Home \| Women's Home \| Men's Records \| Women's Records \| Performance List
Track News	USTFCCCA \|Track & Field News
Social Media	Instagram: @GatorsTF \| X: @GatorsTF

AUBURN, Ala.– Florida track & field will look to bring some hardware back to Gainesville as the program begins its pursuit of a pair of Southeastern Conference team titles at the 2026 SEC Outdoor Championships, hosted by Auburn.

Last Time Out
Thunderstorms rocked Hodges Stadium in Jacksonville, Fla., at the East Coast Relays, but that didn't stop the Gators from putting on several impressive performances on the campus of North Florida. Alida van Daalen wasted no time moving back to the top of the NCAA performance list in her first discus competition of the year, winning the discus with the top throw in the nation of 63.97m/209-10, which leads the country by six feet.

The women were dominant in the 200-meter dash on day one of the East Coast Relays, led by freshman Sydney Sutton who clocked the fourth-fastest time in UF outdoor history at 22.55 (+1.8), good for the top time in the event and now the No. 10 time in the NCAA this season. Not far behind, Quincy Penn (+1.7) crossed the line in third with a personal-best and fifth overall time in the Florida outdoor record book of 22.74, moving her to 23rd in the NCAA. On the men's side, Wanya McCoy made his season debut with a time of 20.47 (+1.3) to enter the national performance list at No. 23.

The Barbados national record in the women's 1500-meter run fell under the lights at UNF. Layla Haynes, a native of Workmans, Barbados, cruised to victory inside Hodges Stadium behind a 4:16.85 effort in her first collegiate 1500-meters to claim the record. Her time overtook the previous record (4:25.61) by nearly nine seconds. She also holds the Barbados national record for the indoor 800-meter run with a time of 2:03.89.

Basel Abosina was the first Gator to compete in Jacksonville, representing UF in the hammer throw. On his second throw of the competition, Abosina recorded a new personal-best toss of 67.50m/221-05 en route to a second-place finish, increasing his sixth-best mark in school history and moving up to 20th in the NCAA.

Also in the field, Jarno van Daalen improved his already fifth-overall mark in UF outdoor history in the shot put behind a dominant victory, recording a mark of 19.53m/64-01 to keep him at No. 11 in the NCAA for the event.

The Hollo-Way
Head coach Mike Holloway and the Florida men's track & field team have totaled seven SEC championships and 16 runner-up finishes since he took over the program in 2002. In addition, the UF women have accumulated seven titles under Holloway's leadership, including the most recent victory at the 2026 SEC Indoor Championships. Under Holloway's guidance, UF athletes have tallied 102 individual SEC championships on the men's side and 93 on the women's side.

Chance at History
Florida's women have a chance to make history at the 2026 SEC Outdoor Championships. After claiming SEC titles in cross country and indoor track & field, the Gators can complete the triple crown for the first time since 1996-1997 with a victory at the Hutsell-Rosen Track. The Orange & Blue would join Arkansas as the only programs in the SEC to win multiple triple crowns.

Among the World's Best
Alida van Daalen etched her name among the best all-time collegiate throwers at the 2026 Oklahoma Throws Series. The senior recorded a school record toss of 69.17m/226-11 in the discus throw, giving her the third-best mark in collegiate history and the third-best throw in the world this year. At the East Coast Relays, van Daalen finished with an NCAA-leading mark of 63.97m/209-10.

Gators at the SEC Outdoor Championships
Florida's track & field programs have claimed a combined 13 SEC Team Outdoor Championships with the men winning titles in 2018, 2015, 2010, 1987, 1956 and 1953, and the women claiming victory in 2022, 2018, 2009, 2003, 1998, 1997 and 1992.
Individually, the Gator men have won 214 individual titles, with the women earning 117 individual titles. A breakdown of currently contested events can be found below:

Event	Men's Titles	Women's Titles
100-Meter Dash	9	3
200-Meter Dash	6	3
400-Meter Dash	10	6
800-Meters	6	7
1500-Meters	3	7
5000-Meters	1	5
10,000-Meters	6	5
100/110m Hurdles	5	4
400-Meter Hurdles	9	4
3000-Meter Steeple	4	3
4x100-Meter Relay	10	0
4x400-Meter Relay	12	8
High Jump	17	4
Long Jump	8	10
Triple Jump	10	12
Pole Vault	20	2
Discus Throw	9	10
Hammer Throw	5	3
Javelin Throw	12	11
Shot Put	12	10
Decathlon/Heptathlon	3	4

Notables

The Gators remain prominently featured in the USTFCCCA coaches poll this week, coming in at No. 2 on the women's side and No. 16 on the men's.
Entering the SEC Outdoor Championships, UF track & field owns 32 national top 25 marks in the country (10 from the men, 22 from the women).
Van Daalen (Discus), Phillips (triple jump) and the school record 4x400-meter relay squad of Penn, Cox, Matthews and Sutton own marks in the top five of the NCAA for the women.
40 Gators are in position to qualify for the NCAA East Regional Preliminary round. On the men's side, 21 would qualify across 16 events, while 19 women are in position to qualify in 15 events.

Day One Entries (all times ET)
Time	Event	Athletes
1:00 PM	Women's Hammer Throw	Imani Washington
1:00 PM	Women's Hep. 100m Hurdles	Pauline Bikembo Eden Robinson
1:45 PM	Women's Hep. High Jump	Pauline Bikembo Eden Robinson
3:15 PM	Men's Hammer Throw	Basel Abosina
3:45 PM	Women's Hep. Shot Put	Pauline Bikembo Eden Robinson
5:00 PM	Women's Hep. 200m	Pauline Bikembo Eden Robinson
6:30 PM	Women's 800m - Prelims	Layla Haynes Claire Stegall
6:50 PM	Men's 800m - Prelims	Jonah Kirspel Gavin Nelson Miguel Pantojas
7:10 PM	Women's 200m - Prelims	Tyra Cox Gabrielle Matthews Quincy Penn Sydney Sutton
7:35 PM	Men's 200m - Prelims	Ja'Neil Harris Trenton Howard Jesse Myers
7:45 PM	Men's Javelin Throw	Leikel Cabrera Gay Ayden Campbell
8:00 PM	Women's 400m Hurdles - Prelims	Marianna Wright
8:20 PM	Men's 400m Hurdles - Prelims	Vance Nilsson Daneil Wright
8:40 PM	Women's 10K	Desma Chepkoech Judy Chepkoech Reagan Gilmore Hilda Olemomoi
9:15 PM	Men's 10K	Kelvin Cheruiyot Jonathan Leon Geofrey Ronoh
Day Two Entries (all times ET)
12:45 PM	Women's Hep. Long Jump	Pauline Bikembo Eden Robinson
2:00 PM	Women's Hep. Javelin Throw	Pauline Bikembo Eden Robinson
3:45 PM	Women's Hep. 800m	Pauline Bikembo Eden Robinson
4:30 PM	Women's Shot Put	Gracelyn Leiseth Alida van Daalen
5:00 PM	Women's Long Jump	India Alix
6:15 PM	Women's 100m Hurdles - Prelims	Aleesa Samuel
6:45 PM	Men's Shot Put	Jarno van Daalen
6:45 PM	Women's 1500m - Prelims	Isobelle Jones Claire Stegall Tia Wilson
7:10 PM	Men's 1500m - Prelims	Oussama Allaoui Riley Novack Riley Smith
7:30 PM	Women's 400m - Prelims	Tyra Cox Malia Campbell Quincy Penn Sydney Sutton
7:45 PM	Men's Long Jump	Temoso Masikane
7:55 PM	Men's 400m - Prelims	Justin Braun Jayden Horton-Mims Rios Prude Malique Smith-Band Nicholas Spikes
8:20 PM	Women's 100m – Prelims	Jade Brown Gabrielle Matthews Payton Payne
8:40 PM	Men's 100m - Prelims	Trenton Howard Jaden Wiley
9:30 PM	Men's 3000m Steeplechase	Graham Myers
Day Three Entries (all times ET)
2:30 PM	Women's Discus Throw	Akari Isaac Gracelyn Leiseth Alida van Daalen
4:00 PM	Women's Triple Jump	Asia Phillips Gabrielle Pierre
5:15 PM	Men's Discus Throw	Jarno van Daalen
5:30 PM	Men's Triple Jump	Jaden Lippett Temoso Masikane
6:05 PM	Women's 4x100m Relay	Payton Payne, Jade Brown, Gabrielle Matthews, Sydney Sutton
6:15 PM	Men's 4x100m Relay	Ja'Neil Harris, Jaden Wiley, Trenton Howard, Malique Smith-Band, Wanya McCoy
6:25 PM	Women's 1500m Final	TBD
6:35 PM	Men's 1500m Final	TBD
6:45 PM	Women's 100m Hurdles Final	TBD
7:05 PM	Women's 400m Final	TBD
7:15 PM	Men's 400m Final	TBD
7:25 PM	Women's 100m Final	TBD
7:35 PM	Men's 100m Final	TBD
7:45 PM	Women's 800m Final	TBD
7:55 PM	Men's 800m Final	TBD
8:05 PM	Women's 400m Hurdles Final	TBD
8:15 PM	Men's 400m Hurdles Final	TBD
8:25 PM	Women's 200m Final	TBD
8:35 PM	Men's 200m Final	TBD
8:45 PM	Women's 5K	Judy Chepkoech Reagan Gilmore Isobelle Jones Hilda Olemomoi Tia Wilson
9:05 PM	Men's 5K	Oussama Allaoui Kelvin Cheruiyot Jonathan Leon Graham Myers Gavin Nelson Riley Novack Geofrey Ronoh Josh Ruiz Riley Smith
9:30 PM	Women's 4x400m Relay	Quincy Penn, Tyra Cox, Gabrielle Matthews, Sydney Sutton, Malia Campbell
9:40 PM	Men's 4x400m Relay	Jayden Horton-Mims, Nicholas Spikes, Daneil Wright, Justin Braun