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Aaliyah McCormick didn’t need to dig deep to find motivation heading into her final national championship race.
The competition was elite, the stakes were high, and despite coming into the meet as the returning champion, McCormick still felt like she had something to prove.
Not anymore.
The determined Oregon senior soared to her second straight national title in the 100-meter hurdles June 13 during the final day of the NCAA Outdoor Track & Field Championships at Hayward Field.
“When I went across the line all I could think was, ‘I did it again,’” McCormick beamed. “This is the cherry on top. I can’t express how happy and blissful I am.”
Her victory helped boost the Ducks to a fourth-place finish in the team standings and the final spot on the podium. Oregon finished with 36 points, Georgia won with 50, followed by Florida (41) and Arkansas (38).
McCormick won in 12.47 seconds – three-hundredths of a second off the personal record and school record she set at NCAA West First Round meet two weeks ago.
Kentucky’s Emmi Scales initially finished second in 12.69 and UCLA’s Celeste Polzonetti was third in a photo finish over Ohio State’s Janela Spencer, 12.782-12.789.
Scales was later disqualified for falling into Polzonetti’s lane after tripping over the last hurdle, moving the Bruin sophomore into second place and the Buckeyes’ senior to third.
McCormick stayed out of the fray, and though she didn’t declare her race perfect, she was elated with another title.
“I think a lot of people weren’t expecting me to win last year,” said McCormick, who also won the NCAA indoor title in the 60 hurdles in March. “I think that lit a fire under me because I just wanted to represent Oregon. I’m here to run, I’m good at the hurdles, and I just wanted to prove that.”
Sharifa Davronova broke the Oregon record and won the Big Ten title for the Ducks in May during her first competition in an Oregon uniform.
Saturday, the sophomore from Uzbekistan came close winning Oregon’s first national championship in the women’s triple jump.
Davronova tied her PR when she jumped 46 feet, 4¼ inches on her second-attempt, then upped her record with a wind-aided sixth-attempt jump of 46-5¼ (+2.3).
But Clemson’s Shantae Foreman matched Davronova jump for jump. She first moved to the front when she jumped a wind-aided 46-4¾ (+2.6) on her second attempt and secured the title on her sixth attempt when she jumped a PR 46-8¾.
Oregon’s Cassandra Atkins got injured on her second jump and had to bow out of the competition.
Juliet Cherubet finished third and Wilma Nielsen fourth in the 1,500 final won by Washington State’s Rosemary Longisa in 4:12.10.
Nielsen, the two-time NCAA indoor mile champion, ran up front with Longisa for the majority of the race until the Cougar sophomore kicked with 150 to go.
Nielsen faded down the homestretch while Cherubet nearly churned her way into second place. Cherubet, the Big Ten 1,500 champion, finished in 4:12.99 to 4:12.89 for second-place finisher Salma Elbadra from South Carolina. Nielsen crossed in 4:13.40.
“I didn’t want to lead it like that with Rosemary because it was very windy and it’s really hot,” Nielsen said. “I don’t know. I didn’t feel great today. I didn’t have the kick I usually have, which was sad. The last 100, I can see all of them flying away from me. Obviously, I’m not happy. I wanted to win today.”
In ninth place was Oregon senior Silan Ayyildiz, who ran from the middle of the pack early on and never could break away. She finished in 4:15.47.
"We really wanted to win," Cherubet said. "I really had confidence for me because of how I have been training. I really had everything within me today."
Cherubet returned to the track later Saturday for the 5,000, which she finished in 11th place in 15:25.41, tying her PR.
Oregon started its day with an impressive showing by a pair of freshmen in the discus as Alicia Khunou and Marie Josee Bovele-Linaka finished fourth and seventh, respectively, to net the Ducks their first seven points of the meet.
Khunou, who entered the meet ranked 29th in the NCAA, threw 188 feet, 5 inches on her third attempt to set nearly a nine-foot PR and move up to No. 5 all-time at Oregon. Her previous best was 179-10.
Bovele-Linaka, threw 185-10 on her first attempt and then held on to finish in scoring position. She came into the meet with a PR of 193-7, which was No. 12 nationally.
The winner was Florida’s Alida Van Daalen, who set the meet record with a mark of 216-6.
Chris Hansen covers University of Oregon football, men’s basketball, track and field, cross country and softball for The Register-Guard. You can reach him at [email protected] and you can follow him on X @chansen_RG
This article originally appeared on Register-Guard: Oregon's Aaliyah McCormick defends her hurdles title at NCAA Outdoors
Continue reading...
The competition was elite, the stakes were high, and despite coming into the meet as the returning champion, McCormick still felt like she had something to prove.
Not anymore.
The determined Oregon senior soared to her second straight national title in the 100-meter hurdles June 13 during the final day of the NCAA Outdoor Track & Field Championships at Hayward Field.
“When I went across the line all I could think was, ‘I did it again,’” McCormick beamed. “This is the cherry on top. I can’t express how happy and blissful I am.”
Her victory helped boost the Ducks to a fourth-place finish in the team standings and the final spot on the podium. Oregon finished with 36 points, Georgia won with 50, followed by Florida (41) and Arkansas (38).
McCormick won in 12.47 seconds – three-hundredths of a second off the personal record and school record she set at NCAA West First Round meet two weeks ago.
Hurdle Queen ran it back at Hayward Field
Aaliyah McCormick
12.47#GoDucks
ESPN2 pic.twitter.com/u0hMcb1BXP
— oregontf (@OregonTF) June 14, 2026
Kentucky’s Emmi Scales initially finished second in 12.69 and UCLA’s Celeste Polzonetti was third in a photo finish over Ohio State’s Janela Spencer, 12.782-12.789.
Scales was later disqualified for falling into Polzonetti’s lane after tripping over the last hurdle, moving the Bruin sophomore into second place and the Buckeyes’ senior to third.
McCormick stayed out of the fray, and though she didn’t declare her race perfect, she was elated with another title.
“I think a lot of people weren’t expecting me to win last year,” said McCormick, who also won the NCAA indoor title in the 60 hurdles in March. “I think that lit a fire under me because I just wanted to represent Oregon. I’m here to run, I’m good at the hurdles, and I just wanted to prove that.”
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Ducks come close to triple jump title
Sharifa Davronova broke the Oregon record and won the Big Ten title for the Ducks in May during her first competition in an Oregon uniform.
Saturday, the sophomore from Uzbekistan came close winning Oregon’s first national championship in the women’s triple jump.
Davronova tied her PR when she jumped 46 feet, 4¼ inches on her second-attempt, then upped her record with a wind-aided sixth-attempt jump of 46-5¼ (+2.3).
But Clemson’s Shantae Foreman matched Davronova jump for jump. She first moved to the front when she jumped a wind-aided 46-4¾ (+2.6) on her second attempt and secured the title on her sixth attempt when she jumped a PR 46-8¾.
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Oregon’s Cassandra Atkins got injured on her second jump and had to bow out of the competition.
Ducks pile up points in 1,500 final
Juliet Cherubet finished third and Wilma Nielsen fourth in the 1,500 final won by Washington State’s Rosemary Longisa in 4:12.10.
Nielsen, the two-time NCAA indoor mile champion, ran up front with Longisa for the majority of the race until the Cougar sophomore kicked with 150 to go.
Nielsen faded down the homestretch while Cherubet nearly churned her way into second place. Cherubet, the Big Ten 1,500 champion, finished in 4:12.99 to 4:12.89 for second-place finisher Salma Elbadra from South Carolina. Nielsen crossed in 4:13.40.
You must be registered for see images attach
“I didn’t want to lead it like that with Rosemary because it was very windy and it’s really hot,” Nielsen said. “I don’t know. I didn’t feel great today. I didn’t have the kick I usually have, which was sad. The last 100, I can see all of them flying away from me. Obviously, I’m not happy. I wanted to win today.”
In ninth place was Oregon senior Silan Ayyildiz, who ran from the middle of the pack early on and never could break away. She finished in 4:15.47.
"We really wanted to win," Cherubet said. "I really had confidence for me because of how I have been training. I really had everything within me today."
Cherubet returned to the track later Saturday for the 5,000, which she finished in 11th place in 15:25.41, tying her PR.
Oregon discus throwers get first points
Oregon started its day with an impressive showing by a pair of freshmen in the discus as Alicia Khunou and Marie Josee Bovele-Linaka finished fourth and seventh, respectively, to net the Ducks their first seven points of the meet.
Khunou, who entered the meet ranked 29th in the NCAA, threw 188 feet, 5 inches on her third attempt to set nearly a nine-foot PR and move up to No. 5 all-time at Oregon. Her previous best was 179-10.
Bovele-Linaka, threw 185-10 on her first attempt and then held on to finish in scoring position. She came into the meet with a PR of 193-7, which was No. 12 nationally.
The winner was Florida’s Alida Van Daalen, who set the meet record with a mark of 216-6.
You must be registered for see images attach
Chris Hansen covers University of Oregon football, men’s basketball, track and field, cross country and softball for The Register-Guard. You can reach him at [email protected] and you can follow him on X @chansen_RG
This article originally appeared on Register-Guard: Oregon's Aaliyah McCormick defends her hurdles title at NCAA Outdoors
Continue reading...
