More HBCU athletes qualify for finals at the NAIA Outdoor Track & Field Championships

Day 2 of the NAIA Outdoor Track & Field Championships continued the trend of HBCU athletes qualifying for the finals of their respective events.

The star of the day was Xavier University of Louisiana’s men’s 4×400 relay team, posting the top time in the preliminaries of 3:09.42 to coast into the finals.

Karri Noel, the anchor for XULA’s 4×400 relay team, advanced to the finals of the men’s 400m earlier in the day, posting the sixth-fastest time of the event in a personal-best 46.84 seconds.

The best finish of the day for an individual athlete came from XULA’s Rochelle Jeffries, making it into the finals of the women’s 100m hurdles in a personal best time of 13.73 seconds.

Jeffries was one of two HBCU track athletes to finish in the top three of their respective event, joined by Huston-Tillotson’s Chaleica Booker, who clocked the third-best time in the women’s 400m field in 54.11 seconds.

Rust’s Kaden Andrus moved one step closer to claiming a National Championship, finishing fifth overall in the men’s 110 hurdles preliminaries in 14-seconds flat.

Rounding out the list of finals qualifiers is Talladega College’s Anthony Gentles, snagging the last spot in the men’s 100m field with a 10.48-second time, .01 seconds ahead of the first athlete out of contention.

The track events were not the only ones that were a source of pride for HBCU participants, as we also saw Voorhees’ Jaylen Burris produce a top-five finish in the men’s long jump.

Burris came within .01 meters of a National Championship, posting a 7.68m mark in his best attempt in the event, claiming the second-place spot on the podium.

Moving into the final day of competition at the 2026 NAIA Outdoor Track & Field Championships, here is a list of every HBCU athlete who will vie for a National Title.