Keaton Daniel and Tarik Robinson-O'Hagan dominated the competition in Oregon. Both have won the indoor and outdoor track and field titles this season. And they did it in convincing fashion, proving that they were the best of the season. Daniel completed the sweep the pole vault, by securing the best championships scores.

Daniel cleared 18 feet, 7 1/4 inches and became the first Wildcat athlete to win both championships. His future looks bright.

The Kentucky senior secured the title with his best outdoor mark of the season after entering the competition with a height of 17'7.25" / 5.37 metres. He cleared the bar on his first attempt after failing to clear the first two heights.  The athlete went on to clear the next three heights.  No one could beat him, not even his main rival, Clayton Simms from Kansas.

The title is Daniel's first NCAA outdoor championship. He finished third in 2022 and eighth in 2023. Daniel won his first NCAA championship title earlier this year at the NCAA Indoor Championships in Boston, Massachusetts.

He shared a memorable performance with Mississippi shot putter Tarik Robinson-O'Hagan. With a mark of 68-6 on his final throw, Robinson-O'Hagan became the 17th thrower in Division I history to win both indoor and outdoor titles in a single season.

His performance steadily improved throughout the tournament. The final throw cemented his place in the standings.
USC won the team championship with 19 points, ahead of Georgia with 13 points and California with 12.5 points.

As well as the strong performances from Daniel and Robinson-O'Hagan, Wednesday also saw USC's JC Stevenson set a personal best to win the long jump with a leap of 26-11 3/4. It was a complete comeback. It was the third best mark in the history of the programme, according to the Associated Press. 

There were other records and notable performances. Rowan Hamilton became the men's hammer champion by surpassing himself with his best throw ever. It was his fourth national collegiate title.

Finally, what better debut than that of Habtom Samuel? Despite suffering a fall, he finished the 10,000 metres in a time of 28 minutes and 7.82 seconds. Not only did he win the race, but Samuel became the first man in New Mexico school history to win an NCAA outdoor 5,000 or 10,000m title.  Weini Kelati did it in 2019 when she won the women's 10,000 metres.

Georgia's Marc Minichello led from the first throw of the javelin and secured his second NCAA title. At the halfway point, Texas' Leo Neugebauer led the decathlon with 4,685 points.