Track & Field Heads to Louisville for 2026 ACC Outdoor Championships

Thursday, May 14

Louisville, KY

Pitt

ACC Outdoor Championships

Track & Field Heads to Louisville for 2026 ACC Outdoor Championships

5/13/2026 9:53:00 AM | Track & Field

Live Results ACC Championship Page

School-record holders, all-time top-five marks dot the Pitt entry list as Panthers chase medals across three days at Cardinal Track Stadium

PITTSBURGH — The University of Pittsburgh men's and women's track & field programs head south this week for the 2026 Atlantic Coast Conference Outdoor Championships, set for Thursday through Saturday, May 14-16, at Cardinal Track Stadium on the campus of host Louisville.

Action begins Thursday with the start of the decathlon and heptathlon at 11 a.m. ET, before running events get underway at 5 p.m. with the men's 400 hurdle preliminaries. The meet runs across three days and features full broadcast coverage on the ACC Network family of channels, with the finals window on Saturday slated to begin at 4 p.m. and run through the women's 1600 relay at 7:40 p.m.

The Panthers arrive in Louisville with one of the deepest groups in recent program memory. More than 20 of Pitt's individual entries sit on the program's all-time top-10 outdoor list in their respective events, headlined by a current school-record holder in the men's 1,500 and a pair of athletes who own top-three all-time marks in the women's high jump.

FOLLOWING THE PANTHERS

Live Results – CLICK HERE

ACC Outdoor Track & Field Championship Page - CLICK HERE

Social: @Pitt_TF_XC on X and Instagram

TITLE THREATS: SIMPSON, UGWU, CRAWFORD

Pitt's clearest medal contenders span the track and the throwing circle.

Senior Luke Simpson carries Pitt's school record into the men's 1,500 preliminaries on Thursday at 6 p.m. Simpson's 3:41.01, set this spring, sits atop the program's all-time outdoor list, eclipsing a mark that had stood at 3:42.36 since 2007. He'll need to navigate one of the country's most loaded 1,500 fields to reach Saturday's 4:20 p.m. final.

Sophomore Emeka Ugwu owns Pitt's highest individual seed in any event at the championships, entering the men's shot put as the No. 2 seed at 18.65 meters — a mark that also ranks No. 2 on Pitt's all-time outdoor list. He's part of a Pitt throwing group that holds three of the program's top five all-time shot put performances: Ugwu at No. 2, freshman Josiah Montgomery at No. 4 (17.71m) and senior Ryan Cook at No. 5 (17.02m). All three are entered for the Friday 3:30 p.m. final.

On the women's side, senior Niya Crawford ranks No. 3 on Pitt's all-time shot put list at 16.54 meters and enters as the No. 4 seed in Friday's 5:30 p.m. final. Crawford is also Pitt's No. 4 all-time discus thrower (48.96m) and competes in that event on Saturday.

Freshman Jaydon Isham, who joins Crawford in the discus, sits No. 6 on Pitt's all-time list at 47.46m.

SPRINT POWER ON BOTH SIDES

Junior Somiyah Braggs enters as Pitt's No. 2 all-time 100 performer at 11.38 — the highest mark on a list topped by Cambrya Jones' 11.27 from 2012. She also ranks No. 4 all-time in the 200 at 23.57 and is entered in both relays. Braggs opens her meet Thursday at 5:45 p.m. in the 200 prelims and runs the 100 prelims Friday at 6:15 p.m.

Senior Che Nwabuko mirrors that schedule on the men's side. Nwabuko is tied for No. 3 on Pitt's all-time 100-meter list at 10.28 — a mark eclipsed only by Pitt legend Lee McRae (10.04, 1988) and current teammate Darren McQueen Jr. (10.23, 2025). McQueen, the program's No. 2 all-time 100 performer and a senior in his final ACC meet, joins Nwabuko in both sprint races.

Freshman Malachi Williams already owns the No. 9 mark in program history in the 400 at 46.88, while junior Colin Kravitz (47.16) also competes in the 400 prelims. Freshman Gabrielle Layne rounds out the individual entries in Friday's 5:52 p.m. women's 400 prelims.

A PAIR OF ALL-TIME TOP-THREE HIGH JUMPERS

Pitt has not entered two athletes ranked among the program's all-time top three in the women's high jump at the same ACC Championships in recent memory. The Panthers do this year.

Senior Eva Baldursdottir, the No. 2 all-time Pitt women's high jumper at 1.84 meters, returns to the meet as the No. 5 seed at 1.76m. The Reykjavik, Iceland, native earned NCAA Second Team All-America honors at the 2025 NCAA Outdoor Championships. She'll be joined in the flight by classmate Alesia Rengle, who sits No. 3 all-time at 1.78m and just claimed silver in the event at the 2026 ACC Indoor Championships. The women's high jump final is set for Saturday at 4 p.m.

DISTANCE AND STEEPLECHASE

Senior Ellen Baker is entered in the women's 10,000 final, an event that opens Thursday night at 7:20 p.m. Baker's 34:16.82 ranks No. 3 on Pitt's all-time outdoor list, trailing only Winnie Incorvaia (2024) and Gillian Schriever (2017).

The men's 3,000-meter steeplechase final on Friday at 7 p.m. features two Panthers who've climbed Pitt's all-time list this spring. Freshman Graham Heinrich ranks No. 6 in program history at 8:52.61, while senior Quintin Gatons sits tied for No. 7 at 8:57.70 — both personal-best efforts set at the Larry Ellis Invitational in Princeton on May 2.

HURDLES

Junior Maliah Edwards carries Pitt's No. 6 all-time 100 hurdle mark (13.74) into Friday's 5:25 p.m. prelims. In the 400 hurdles, sophomore Alexandria Scott (58.24) is the No. 6 all-time Pitt performer and senior Jana Bruses (58.96) is tied for No. 9 — both entered in Thursday's 5:20 p.m. prelims. Junior Antwan James (110mH, 14.22), senior Jaden Shelton (110mH, 13.84) and junior Josue Richardson Salazar (400mH, 52.59) round out the Pitt hurdle contingent.

FIELD EVENTS

Senior Uri Arnon is Pitt's No. 5 all-time men's triple jumper and competes in Saturday afternoon's 2 p.m. final. Junior Maddie Lewis is Pitt's No. 9 all-time long jumper at 5.91 meters and is entered in Friday's 6 p.m. final.

RELAYS LOADED WITH ALL-TIME MARKS

Both Pitt 400 relay squads occupy spots on the program's all-time top 10. The men's quartet of McQueen Jr., Nwabuko, Shelton and Williams sits No. 5 all-time at 39.99, while the women's relay of Dennis, Braggs, Lane and Evuna Eki ranks No. 8 at 45.12. The men's 400 relay is seeded fifth among the nine ACC teams entered; the women's 400 relay is seeded ninth.

The women's 1600 relay of Scott, Evuna Eki, Bruses and Dennis also sits No. 10 on Pitt's all-time list at 3:37.60. Both 1600 relay squads run as part of Saturday's Section 2 in the championship finals — men at 7:35 p.m., women at 7:45 p.m.

FOLLOWING THE ACTION

The championships will be carried across the ACC Network platforms throughout the three-day event, with Saturday's finals window televised on ACC Network beginning at 4 p.m. ET. Live results will be available via FlashResults and links to the broadcast can be found on theACC.com.

Fans can follow along throughout the weekend on social media at @Pitt_TF_XC on X and Instagram, with live updates, photos and highlights available across all platforms.

ACC OUTDOOR CHAMPIONSHIPS SCHEDULE OF EVENTS

Thursday

5:00 pm – 400 hurdles men prelims (Josue Richardson Salazar)

5:20 pm – 400 hurdles women prelims (Jana Bruses, Alexandria Scott)

5:35 pm – 200 men prelims (Che Nwabuko, Darren McQueen Jr.)

5:45 pm – 200 women prelims (Alma Evuna Eki, Somiyah Braggs)

6:00 pm – 1500 men prelims (Luke Simpson)

7:20 pm – 10000 women (Ellen Baker)

Friday

3:30 pm – Shot put men (Ryan Cook, Emeka Ugwu, Josiah Montgomery)

5:00 pm – 110 hurdles men prelims (Antwan James, Jaden Shelton)

5:25 pm – 100 hurdles women prelims (Maliah Edwards)