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Preview: 10 College/Pro Storylines To Watch At The 66th Mt. SAC RelaysPublished by
Olympic-Sized Talent, Current And Future, Set To Compete At Hilmer Lodge Stadium; NCAA Indoor Champions Garrett Kaalund, Hana Moll, Aaliyah McCormick, Tyrice Taylor, Temitope Adeshina And Jonathan Seremes Set To Face Pros By Keenan Gray of DyeStat Corbin Smith, Logan Hannigan-Downs Photos Some of the NCAA's top collegiate athletes will get opportunities to compete against seasoned vets and the sprints are particularly loaded this weekend at Hilmer Lodge Stadium for the 66th running of the Mt. SAC Relays. Here are 10 stories to watch this weekend. WATCH THE MT. SAC RELAYS ON WEDNESDAY, THURSDAY, FRIDAY AND SATURDAY LIVE ON RUNNERSPACE+ Multis Begin The Weekend
Wednesday and Thursday’s action at Mt. SAC consists of mainly the men’s decathlon and the women’s heptathlon.
The men’s decathlon features reigning U.S. Indoor Combined Events champion Hakim McMorris making his decathlon season debut. McMorris is also the defending decathlon champion at Mt. SAC, scoring a personal best 8,258 points last year.
Another American, Harrison Williams, is also making his decathlon season debut and competing in his first multi since finishing seventh at the World Outdoor Championships last September.
NCAA All-American Grant Levesque of Houston is the top collegian in the field. Levesque was fifth at the NCAA Outdoor Championships last outdoor season. Connecticut’s Joshua Mooney is another NCAA outdoor finalist entered.
Reigning World Outdoor bronze medalist Taliyah Brooks is the top entry in the women’s heptathlon. Brooks scored a lifetime best 6,581 points in Tokyo to earn one of her two global medals from 2025. Brooks was also bronze at World Indoors in the pentathlon.
Mt. SAC defending champion Beatrice Juskeviciute of Lithuania is also entered. She scored 6,295 points to win last year’s heptathlon, which is a lifetime best.
Erin Marsh, third at the U.S. Indoor Combined Events, is another to watch.
American Record Holder Garrett Kaalund Back In Action
USC’s Garrett Kaalund, who broke the American indoor record in the 200 in 19.95 seconds at the NCAA championships, will be making his outdoor season debut for the Trojans as one of the favorites to sweep both the 100 and 200 this weekend. Last spring, Kaalund ran a wind-aided 9.93 (+2.4) and 19.85 on his way to leading USC to a share of the outdoor team title.
The men’s 100 and 200 will also feature South Florida’s Jaleel Croal, national record holder in the 200 (19.95) for the British Virgin Islands and Joseph Amoah, two-time World championship finalist in the 4x100 relay for Ghana.
The 100 will also feature Benjamin Azamati, another two-time World championship finalist in the 4x100 relay for Ghana, and collegian stars: Arkansas’ Jelani Watkins, Arizona’s Mason Lawyer and USC’s Eddie Nketia.
Anna Cockrell vs. Razorback Women In 400
2024 Olympic silver medalist Anna Cockrell is back on the track for the first time since finishing fourth in the 400 hurdles at the Tokyo World Championships last September, and her 2026 debut will be no slouch racing the 400.
Cockrell will face three of the top quarter-milers in the NCAA and they all happen to run for Arkansas: Kaylyn Brown, Analisse Batista and Sanaria Butler.
Brown, Batista and Butler were three of the four members of Arkansas’ 4x400 team that ran an early-NCAA leading 3:22.06 at the Clyde Hart Classic in late March. Brown is also a two-time Olympic medalist for the U.S.
And another athlete with Arkansas ties, Rosey Effiong, is also entered just less than three weeks after representing the U.S. at the World Indoor Championships in Poland, where she helped the U.S. claim gold in the women’s 4x400.
As if those four were not enough of a test for Cockrell, two more collegians, USC’s Madison Whyte and Iowa State’s Rachel Joseph, and two other pros, Puerto Rico’s Gianna Woodruff, a fellow 400 hurdler like Cockrell, and Shafiqua Maloney of Saint Vincent, and an Arkansas grad, all bring in incredible credentials.
Vernon Norwood Makes 400 Season Debut
Vernon Norwood has raced in some of most renowned stadiums around the world. This weekend at Mt. SAC he will race over 400 meters for the first time at Hilmer Lodge Stadium. In 2021, his last Mt. SAC appearance, he ran the 200.
The 34-year-old Norwood is expected to race in his best event, where he will face World Outdoor Championships competitor and fellow American Demarius Smith and World Outdoor finalist Yuki Joseph Nakakima of Japan.
Norwood opened his outdoor season over at Drake Stadium at UCLA running the 200 in 20.73. He only raced once during the indoor season at the New Balance Indoor Grand Prix in the 300.
Former USC Trojan Johnnie Blockburger and Arizona State’s Jayden Davis are another pair top entries listed in the men’s race.
Dalilah Muhammad In The 800 Again
When Rio Olympics golf medalist and former world record holder Dalilah Muhammad stepped on the track to run an 800 at the Clyde Hart Classic last month, it got plenty of attention.
The 36-year-old Muhammad, who announced 2025 would be her final year as a professional hurdler, has clearly shown she’s not ready to hang up the spikes quite yet.
Muhammad, who entered the Clyde Hart Classic with a lifetime 800 best of 2:14.90, took off 10 seconds to run 2:04.51 in her 800 in almost 11 years.
Muhammad is entered in the 800 again at Mt. SAC where she’ll look to improve upon her time.
The competition this weekend will be much quicker than the race in Waco, Texas. Arkansas’ Sanu Jallow-Lockhart, American Samantha Watson and Saint Vincent’s Shafiqua Maloney all bring in sub-2-minute credentials.
Freddie Crittenden Makes Return To Mt. SAC
It’s been some time since Freddie Crittenden has raced at Hilmer Lodge Stadium, but the U.S. Olympian is back at Mt. SAC for the first time in eight years.
As his season opener, this will be Crittenden’s second time racing the 110 hurdles at Mt. SAC in his career, with his 2018 effort being a third-place effort
Crittenden is slated to race Great Britian’s Tade Ojora, France’s Theo Pedre and former USC standout Johnny Brackins, now with On Athletics. Jerome Campbell of Arkansas is the top collegian.
Keni Harrison Continuing To Build Back Up
American Keni Harrison, 33, is another athlete who still feels like she has more to prove.
After failing to make the U.S. team the last two global championships, finishing sixth at the U.S. Olympic Trials in 2024 and fourth at the World Championship trials in 2025, Harrison is continuing to show up and show out, believing she is still among the best hurdlers in the world.
The former American 100 hurdles record holder will make her season debut at Mt. SAC for the third consecutive year in a row. Last spring, she won the 100 hurdles in 12.70 seconds and is a favorite to defend her title this weekend.
Former UCLA Bruin Yanla Ndjip-Nyemeck was last year’s runner-up and is back to challenge Harrison again. The two-time Belgian champion reached the semifinals of the World Indoor Championships in the 60 hurdles back in March.
Oregon’s Aaliyah McCormick, the reigning NCAA 60 and 100 hurdles champion, will look to improve her season’s best 12.99 from the UNLV Rebel Elite meet. Former Washington State All-American Micaela De Mello will make her hurdles debut for the Ducks.
Arkansas Duo Tyrice Taylor, Rivaldo Marshall Lead Men’s 800
Eighteen points from Tyrice Taylor and Rivaldo Marshall helped carry Arkansas to the NCAA Indoor team title on its home track.
The Jamaican duo are making their outdoor 800 debuts this weekend as favorites to go 1-2 in the men’s 800 at Mt. SAC.
It was Marshall and Taylor 1-2 in last year’s 800 at Mt. SAC but this year will have to hold off American Isaiah Jewett and former Iowa State standout Finley McLear from breaking them up.
800 Specialists Allie Wilson, Raevyn Rogers Stepping Up To 1,500
Allie Wilson and Raevyn Rogers aren’t strangers to racing the 1,500 but it’s not exactly common, especially for Rogers.
Unlike Wilson who will race at least one or two 1,500 races a year, the 2021 Olympic bronze medalist Rogers hasn’t raced a 1,500 in almost four years, which is when she ran a lifetime best 4:12.54.
Wilson’s lifetime best is 4:04.02, which was also set nearly four years ago and the last time she broke 4:10 in a 1,500.
Both Wilson and Rogers should be pulled towards running under 4:10 with the help of BYU’s Carmen Alder and Carlee Hansen, who ran an NCAA#3 4:08.56 and an NCAA#8 4:11.11, respectively, at the Stanford Invitational.
College Talent Meets World-Class Talent In Elite Field Events
From NCAA champions to global championship competitors, this weekend’s field events at Mt. SAC are showcasing some of the best talent at both the collegiate and professional levels.
Washington’s Hana and Amanda Moll are back on the pole vault runway again after both competing in Australia at the Maurie Plant Meet in late March. Hana Moll is the reigning NCAA indoor and outdoor women’s champion.
Vashti Cunnigham, a 16-time U.S. champion, will match-up with NCAA indoor champion Temitope Adeshina of Texas Tech in the women’s high jump. Cunningham is entered in her second competition of the year and her first since finishing second at U.S. Indoors in February, which is the first time she hadn’t won a U.S. title in 10 years.
Canadian discus record holder and 19-year-old Julia Tunks is among the youngest competitors on Saturday but will be a favorite in the women’s field. Tunks has thrown 62.95 meters (206-6) and competed at her first global senior championships in Tokyo this last September.
USC’s Racquil Broderick and Oklahoma’s Ralford Mullings, who both represent Jamacia on the global stage, are the top two discus throwers in the NCAA this season and are scheduled to meet in the ring. Broderick opened with an NCAA-leading 62.87m (206-3) and Mullings, the reigning NCAA champion, threw 62.82m (206-1) for his opener.
Russell Robinson, the reigning U.S. indoor and outdoor triple jump champion, is taking on French Olympian Thomas Gogois and NCAA indoor champion Jonathan Seremes of Texas Tech in men’s triple jump.
Reigning U.S. hammer runner-up Trey Knight leads the men’s field against fellow Americans Rory Devaney and Daniel Reynolds. Devaney and Reynolds were NCAA finalists in the hammer last spring. More news |
