UNC Track & Field: NCAA Championships roundup

Over the weekend, the NCAA Outdoor Track and Field Championships were held in Eugene, Oregon. While North Carolina weren’t a factor in the team championships and no individual Tar Heels ended up winning a national championship in any event, let’s check in on how the seven Carolina representatives did.

UNC’s competitors were led by Madison Wiltrout who finished third in the national in the women’s javelin. The grad senior has been dominant this year, winning every meet prior to Eugene, and setting the school record several times over the course of the season. She continued that at NCAAs and came away with bronze, a 13 spot improvement from 2021.

Distance running Alex Ostberg led the way on the men’s side for UNC, finishing eighth in the 5000 meters. His time of 13:31.60 was a personal best, and a near 13 second improvement over the time from the NCAA Championships preliminary meet a couple weeks ago.

Despite winning the ACC championship and coming first in her region in the opening rounds of the NCAA championships, Jill Shippee ended up coming ninth in Eugene in the women’s hammer throw. She put up a good distance, but it was a tough field. Cal’s Camryn Rogers set a college record en route to winning the gold.

Anna Keefer also recorded a top ten finish, coming 10th in the women’s long jump.

Men’s hammer throw ACC runner-up James Joycey came 15th in a tough championships that saw seven competitors set a personal best.

As a result of their finishes, all five of those Tar Heels have made the All-American team for this season. Wiltrout and Ostberg made the first team in their respective events, while Shippee, Keefer, and Joycey made second team All-American.

Two others also went to Eugene, but fell short of getting the All-American status.

Jesse Hunt just finished 18th in the nation in the men’s 1500 meters, falling in the semifinal round of that event. He came up just a few seconds short of getting into the final.

Sophomore Sasha Neglia made her NCAA outdoor championships debut this year, and finished 20th in the women’s 3000 meter steeplechase.

Despite not qualifying as a team and only having a couple athletes even make the NCAAs, the UNC women did end up finishing 37th in the team event.

Congrats to all the Tar Heels who competed in Eugene.