2025 D3 Outdoor Track and Field Nationals: Field Preview
We’re here to get you ready for all things D3 Track and Field. This time we focus on the field events. From record holders to multi-time national champions to those competing at the national meet, the field has it all. Read about your favorite field event here.
Men’s Long Jump
How far can Josh Rivers jump? He became the first man in D3 history to jump over eight meters indoors and outdoors. He’s won three straight long jump titles and now enters the competition with a near half meter lead.
With a personal best of 8.13 meters Indoors, Rivers has a chance to match it one more time. Having jumped 8.04m outdoors, can Rivers eclipse his mark from the indoor season?
With this type of generational talent, enjoy his jumps while we still have him in the division.
The battle behind Josh will be interesting. From indoors, runner-up Henry Brandstadter of Emory and third-place Dontre Sinegal of McMurry return and look to go after Rivers. Sinegal will have another busy weekend on deck as he competes in the 60mH and the triple jump.
One to look for to have a breakthrough meet is Caleb Wright of UW-Oshkosh. He was seeded 15th heading into Indoor Nationals and finished ninth. Now, he sits third after jumping a huge personal best of 7.50m at the WIAC meet.
The field features four freshmen: Lincoln Begin of UW-Whitewater, Brandon Konieczki of PSU-Behrend, Max Reis of St. John's, and Tommy Schreiner of Concordia-Moorhead.
Women’s Long Jump
The Women’s long jump will be an interesting competition. Many events saw the majority of the top marks happen in the month of May, and six of the top ten happened in either March or April. After locking in their spots, athletes could have competed in other events, which brings a sense of mystery in regards to how they will compete this weekend.
Kennedy Kirkland of Bowdoin got her season started off with a bang. After finishing sixth in the indoor long jump, she opened up the outdoor season in 6.28m, which is No. 3 All-Time. She’ll enter the meet as the top seed.
Despite the lack of recent far jumps among the top 10, this field is the deepest field in D3 history. It took 5.80m to get in and the last time it was this difficult to make the meet was 2022 when the last mark in was 5.76m.
With Rainah Dunham not competing this spring, there will be a new outdoor long jump champion. Amongst the field are three national champions to watch for. Indoor Champion Emma Seipel of Loras looks to add another title from her indoor season. Seipel is looking for an outdoor title to go along with her two from indoors. She was fifth last year and finished runner-up in 2023 when she was competing for Dubuque.
Nikki Boon of Emory will add another event to the Heptathlon. The current heptathlon record holder will make her weekend even busier. She is currently seeded 10th and can make a case to be in the top eight.
Aurielle Brunner of Chatham has been a long jump All-American in the past four consecutive national meets. She has the experience to get to the top of podium and just jumped a new personal best of 6.07m in her heptathlon. She will be competing in the triple jump and heptathlon so if can continue to handle the workload well, which she likely can as a multi athlete, expect her to be competing for the win.
After an incredible win indoors in the triple jump, Elysse Cumberland of Tufts looks to add another trophy to her stellar first-year in D3. She enters the competition as the fifth seed and looks to be jumping like a seasoned vet.
Four freshmen are in the field: Givanni Perry of Eastern Conn. St., Elysse Cumberland of Tufts, Annabelle Lanik of Trinity (Tex.), and Chloe Selmer of Elmhurst.
Men's Triple Jump
The men's triple jump at the D3 Outdoor National Championships consistently delivers thrilling finishes, with the top two jumps in each of the last three national meets occurring in the dramatic sixth and final round. This weekend promises to continue that tradition of excitement.
Cortland State's Amarian Hughes enters the competition looking to make history. He clinched the indoor title this past season with a 15.35m final jump, and with a 15.13m outdoor mark, he's currently seeded sixth. Should he win, Hughes would be the first back-to-back triple jump champion since before COVID-19.
Hot on his heels is Dontre Sinegal of McMurray, who finished second indoors. Sinegal's impressive 15.76m jump in April ranks him No. 6 all-time in D3 history, a mark that is tied for the farthest jump in the men’s triple jump since 2017. A ten-time All-American, Sinegal is still seeking his first national title, having placed third, fourth, and second in his last three triple jump national meets.
Though seeded lower on the entry list, Rochester’s Cole Goodman, the 2024 outdoor champion, will be looking to rebound from a disappointing indoor national meet and defend his outdoor title. Goodman's winning jump of 15.76m at last year's outdoor nationals was good for No. 6 all-time, which ties Hughes’s mark from 2025.
A rising star to watch is freshman Hiven Biffot of Montclair State, who burst onto the D3 jumping scene indoors with a third place national finish. He's no longer a surprise, entering this outdoor championship seeded second with a 15.34m mark from last week. Expect Biffot to start strong, as his three best marks this season have all been opening jumps.
Rounding out the top contenders is Widener’s Matayo McGraw, who placed third last year outdoors and 5th this past indoors. He is currently seeded third after a jump of 15.25m.
Women's Triple Jump
If the men's indoor triple jump competition was riveting in March, the women's competition may have surpassed it–Tufts’s Elysse Cumberland soared from the tenth seed to win the indoor title by a single centimeter with a 12.60m final jump. Cumberland will enter the outdoor national meet as the third seed with a 12.66m jump from April. She hopes to repeat as a national champion and follow in the footsteps of John Hopkins’s Victoria Kadiri, who won the previous five national triple jump competitions.
Wash U’s Ebunoluwa Opata continues her pursuit of an elusive triple jump national title–she has finished in the top five in each of the past seven national triple jump competitions, including runner-up finishes in 2023 indoors/outdoors, and 2025 indoors. Opata hopes to secure the title this weekend as she enters as the top seed, boasting a 12.82m jump that ranks No. 5 all-time in D3 history. She has also jumped 12.80m this outdoor season.
Freshman Sarai Sealy of Brandeis, who placed 5th indoors, is another strong contender. Her outdoor jump of 12.73m makes her the second seed heading into the weekend.
With the top three returners from last year’s outdoor meet not competing this year, Chatham’s Aurielle Brunner stands as the top returner. She finished fourth last year and in 2023 outdoors, and sixth this past indoors. Currently seeded seventh in the triple jump, Brunner will be busy this weekend where she will also be competing in the long jump (seeded third) and the heptathlon (seeded fifth).
Men’s High Jump
Football is a game of inches, but high jump is an event of centimeters. The top seven are all separated by 3 centimeters which will make this a fun competition to keep an eye on. The defending national champion Jackson Bliey of MIT leads the field with a 2.12m jump. He has only jumped twice this outdoor season and by the time he competes, it’ll be close to a month since he last jumped. But don’t worry; he only competed in three indoor meets prior to the national meet and came out with the win.
He’ll have to contend with a field that features two former champions. Christian Pfeiffer of Baldwin Wallace won the Indoor title in 2024 and Wilmington’s Brady Vilvens was the co-winner at the 2023 Outdoor National Meet.
On top of those two champions in the field, Caleb Cornelius of UW-Oshkosh, Anthony Meng of MIT, Jamile Gantt of Rowan, and Jackson McDowell of St. John’s were all All-Americans last year and will jump for another spot on the podium this weekend.
The final All-American spots are going to be an absolute battle. 7-22 is separated by just three centimeters. The entire field is separated by six centimeters!
On the team battle side of things, Rowan is projected sixth place based on their entries. They have three high jumpers in the field and could get some huge points if they score.
Women’s High Jump
The reigning outdoor champ will face off against the indoor champ! Sara Hoskins of Loras won last year in Myrtle Beach by jumping 1.74m. Standing in her way of another outdoor title is Allie Wildsmith of Coast Guard. Wildsmith won indoors jumping 1.77m and has jumped 1.78m twice this year. Since finishing 13th last outdoor nationals, Wildsmith has yet to lose a competition.
Wildsmith enters as the top seed by five centimeters over Olivia Jameson of Illinois Tech.
Ebunoluwa Opata of WashU started high jumping last year and ended with a personal best of 1.58m. She just set a new personal best at the UAA meet jumping 1.72m. She was an indoor All-American and has multiple All-American awards in the horizontal jumps. Look for her to carry her national experience into this competition. She’ll also be doing the long and triple jump.
Similar to the men’s field, there is a log jam at the backend of the All-American positions. Seventh place is seeded at 1.70m and 18th is seeded at 1.68m. A lot can happen in this competition that can change the seedings around.
We’ll see how the cold rainy weather affects these jumpers as well.
Three first-years look to continue their strong start to their college careers. Alexa Belanger of Houghton, Marin Simons of Southern Virginia, and Mari Evonuk of Redlands will be representing the freshman class.
Men's Pole Vault
The men's pole vault competition at the D3 Outdoor National Championships is set to be a thrilling event, featuring a mix of seasoned veterans and rising stars.
Millikin's Kyle Hensley enters the competition tied for the top seed with WashU’s Tommaso Maiocco. Hensley brings a wealth of experience to the event despite being just a sophomore. He is no stranger to success on the national stage, with an impressive record of 1st, 2nd, and 4th place finishes in his previous three national championship appearances.
Wash U appears to have a strong presence in the event, with three of the top five seeds hailing from St. Louis, Missouri, led by Maiocco. This will be Maiocco's sixth national meet, with his highest finish being sixth at the most recent indoor championships. Perhaps his biggest competition at nationals will be his own teammates. At last week’s last chance meet in Augustana, IL, three of Maiocco’s teammates finished ahead of him, including Peter Lichtenberger, a 3x All-American who placed third at both the last outdoor national meet and this past indoor meet.
The competition will also feature St. Norbert’s Aiden Anderson, who is looking to replicate his somewhat surprise victory from March at the indoor national meet. Anderson has maintained his strong performance into the outdoor season, entering the meet with the third highest vault at 5.13m.
Other notable contenders include Ben Drummey of Southern Maine, a formidable competitor with indoor pole vault titles from 2022 and 2023 and a personal best of 5.20m from 2021. Jesse McMillan of Chapman, who finished second indoors, will also be a key athlete to watch as he participates in his fifth national meet.
Women's Pole Vault
The women's pole vault is among the first events of the weekend and features Yasmin Ruff as the dominant force in recent years.
Ruff is the defending champion from the past two national meets and has been nearly unbeatable since the start of last year, winning 17 of her past 18 pole vault competitions with her only loss to a D1 competitor. This will be her eighth national meet. Her personal best of 4.17m ranks 5th all-time in D3 history and is the highest vault in the event since 2018.
The high level of competition in the field is underscored by the final qualifying mark for the national meet being 3.82m, the highest in D3 history, surpassing the previous high from 2016. This indicates a strong and deep field of competitors.
Gracie Holland is another athlete to watch, entering the meet with the 3rd highest mark this outdoor season. Holland finished second in a close competition against Ruff at last year’s meet. Her past achievements include winning the 2023 indoor title and securing runner-up finishes at the 2022 and 2024 outdoor championships.
MIT’s Katelyn Howard has recorded the second highest vault this outdoor season and is peaking at the right time, with vaults of 4.07m and 4.08m in her final two meets.
Other significant competitors include Gwen Berenyi of North Central, who finished fifth indoors and eighth last outdoor season, and the La-Crosse duo of Gabby Habberstad and Araceli De Leo Lopez, both of whom are multi-time All-Americans. Hailey Surace of MIT, who placed third last outdoor season and tied for second this past indoor season, is currently seeded third for this outdoor competition.
Men’s Shot Put
The top three finishers in the men’s shot put last year have all moved on from D3, which means a new champion could be crowned in 2025. However, though not coming in as the top seed, a previous champion lurks among the field: Eau Claire’s Yakob Ekuoe won the outdoor men’s shot put in 2023, defended his title indoors in 2024, then missed the final outdoors last year. Now, he comes in as the No. 7 seed with a vengeance and perhaps the most experience of anyone else in this field. Ekuoe has been to seven nationals meets and has ten All-American honors to show for it. He holds a PR from last indoor season of 18.79 meters. Do not count him out in any national throwing field.
The road to victory will be challenging–Concordia Moorhead’s Cooper Folkestad comes in as the No. 1 seed with a toss of 18.62 meters, the No. 14 farthest outdoor throw in D3 history. Some may recognize Folkestad from 2022, when he earned sixth place All-American indoors. Since then, he’s missed the podium until this past indoor season when he placed fourth. With yearlong momentum headed to this moment, the key for Folkestad will be keeping calm in the ring.
Eau Claire duo Adam Strouf and Gage Stankiewicz join Ekuoe in the top 8 and will look to add big points to the Blugolds’ team score. Indoors in 2024, the trio went 1-4-5 in this event to help lead their team to a runner-up finish. Strouf has had a great year following his indoor national title in this event and will certainly be a contender for the outdoor title as well.
Eau Claire also adds to this year’s bomb squad freshman Curtis Johnson, who will look to gain some valuable nationals meet experience. Nebraska Wesleyan’s Samuel Clements is the only other freshman in this field.
Other recent returning All-Americans include UWL’s Ben Youngworth, who took fourth last year, as well as Stout’s Karter Rashke, Dubuque’s Jacob Edwards-Palmerio, Loras’s DreAnthony Jackson, York’s Andrew Mott, and Cortland State’s Isaiah Brunache from indoors.
Women’s Shot Put
Before MIT’s Alexis Boykin became a seven-time throws national champion, she earned her very first All-American honors in the shot put. Her 2022 fifth-place humble beginning laid the groundwork for what is now one of the most accomplished throwing resumes in D3 history. Boykin hasn’t lost a shot put competition in three straight national meets and looks to do the same this Friday as she leads the field by almost a full meter.
Momentum is clearly headed in the right direction at the right time, as she just threw a massive 15.86 meters at MIT’s final qualifier to move to No. 4 in D3 history. Only two athletes in D3 history have thrown over 16 meters in the women’s shot put and, though she will have a busy weekend in three throwing events, Boykin could become the third this weekend in Geneva.
Carroll’s Maria Falk comes in as the biggest threat, seeded second in 14.89 meters, which she threw at Augustana just last week. Two weeks prior, she took down four-time shot put All-American and teammate Vanessa Uitenbroek to win the CCIW Championships, showing she can hang with top competition. She will look to improve upon her eighth-place finish from the indoor season, her first All-American honor.
WashU’s Jenae Bothe took runner-up in this event indoors and will be another contender, as will returning indoor All-Americans Emmily Berglund of Nebraska Wesleyan, Amblessed Okemgbo of Whitworth, and Carley Camp of Manchester. Look for some potentially new faces on the podium as well, such as Greenville’s Talahiva Talanoa, Dubuque’s Chloe Reiser, and Ohio Northern’s Izzy Burman.
This year’s field is extremely senior-heavy, with 14 seniors and no freshmen. Each senior is a testament to what can be accomplished in a college career, even with humble beginnings.
Men’s Discus
It is impossible to talk about D3 throwing without mentioning the name Yakob Ekoue. The UW Eau-Claire senior has ten All-American honors to his name and three national titles, including last year’s discus crown. He will almost certainly add to that tally.
He comes in as the undisputed favorite in this event. His season’s best of 60.25m is third all-time in D3 history, a position he had already claimed last year. This mark is also almost five meters further than the rest of the field.
Andrew Mott of York (Pa.) is the second seed, and is likely to hold onto that runner-up position, as he sits over two meters ahead of the third seed. The MAC champion in discus and shot put also finished seventh in shot put at the indoor championships this year. He will look to add to his three All-American honors in both discus and shot put this weekend.
The rest of the podium is up for grabs, as less than a meter separates third from twelfth. Platteville’s McKade Jelinek and PSU-Behrend’s Dan Dabrowski come into the ring returning All-Americans, which shows with their No. 3 and No. 4 seeds, respectively. One thing is for sure, though. Yakob Ekoue’s name will go down in the history books -- how will this meet be part of that story?
Women’s Discus
Women’s discus is set to give us a matchup of two of D3 throwing’s greats. Charlotte Frere of Augustana (Ill.) and Alexis Boykin of MIT will go head to head in what could be one of the best discus competitions in D3 history. Frere is the reigning discus champion from last year, where she beat Boykin by just one centimeter. Frere’s seed of 53.10m is the third best in D3 history. Boykin’s 51.93m makes her the seventh best discus thrower all-time in D3.
This is only Frere’s third trip to a national meet, however. Boykin brings much more experience to the table with her seven national titles and thirteen All-American honors. Her national titles span indoor shot put, outdoor shot put, weight throw, and hammer throw, but the discus crown is the only one missing from her collection. She’s been runner-up twice before in this event. Is this the year she finally claims discus gold? MIT is counting on her to pick up big points across shot put, hammer, and discus as they come in projected to take the team title.
Nai'lah Anders, a sophomore from Dubuque, rounds out the top three seeds. She is the only other thrower in this field to have broken the 50 meter barrier this year. She has consistently thrown above 47 meters this season, which will likely be enough for a podium position, but she will need something special to rival the likes of Boykin and Frere.
Abby Veld of Wartburg is the lone freshman in the field.
Men’s Hammer Throw
Wilmington of Ohio is only sending four men to these outdoor championships, but hammer throw alone could put them in the top half of team scores. The top two throwers in the field this year are both seniors at Wilmington. Nathen Borgan has the top mark of 66.12m. His teammate, JJ Durr, is just behind at 64.33m.
Borgan is the highest returning performer from last year’s championships, where he placed second. Who was right behind him in third? Durr.
Durr was the indoor weight throw champion, with Borgan finishing fourth. Both of their season’s bests -- which were also personal bests -- came at the Midwest Twilight Final Qualifier on May 14th, so it seems they are peaking at just the right time.
Those 18 team points are not certain, however. UW Eau-Claire’s Yakob Ekoue comes in as the third seed, and he brings with him an impressive resume. He is a ten-time All-American and a three-time national champion, but the hammer throw crown is one that has eluded him. He will also be throwing shot put and attempting to defend his discus title this weekend, so has a heavy load.
Claremont-Mudd-Scripps’s Cassidy James is one more name to look out for. This is the sophomore’s first ever NCAA Championship, but the young thrower could carve out his place in this group of D3 throwing greats.
Women’s Hammer Throw
If you made it this far then you know a lot about Alexis Boykin. She enters the competition as the top seed with the fourth best throw in D3 History. At 62.50m, she’s just 1.53m away from the record. My throws sources are telling me that may be a tall ask for someone to throw over a meter personal best at nationals, but my sources don’t know the career of Alexis Boykin.
However, the field is loaded. Five All-Americans from last year’s field are back again this year, and Boykin only won by two centimeters over Teagan Jones of UW-Eau Claire. Jones sits fifth All-Time and is seeded fourth.
Just ahead of Jones is Emma True of Wartburg. She’s 11th All-Time and finished sixth last year. She’s coming off a fourth place indoor performance in the weight throw.
Entering the competition as the second seed is Brenna Masloroff of Wis.-Oshkosh. She was fourth last year and just threw a new personal best of 59.34m to claim the WIAC title.
A big shout out to Cheyenne McPeek of Cortland State for being the only underclassmen in the field. She threw a new personal best of 53.66m to win the SUNYAC title and now is competing against some of the sport’s best throwers ever. This will be her national debut.
If you’re in Geneva, Ohio, get over to the throws area. The hammer is going to be an event you won’t want to miss.
Men’s Javelin
We are set to see a showdown of two heavy hitters in the men’s javelin. Liam Bourassa, the junior from Fitchburg State, will face off against Bridgewater State senior Corey Stalters. These two come in as the top two seeds and the only ones to have thrown 225 feet or farther this year. They both set their season’s bests at the New England Championships, where Bourassa took the win and Stalters finished only five centimeters behind in second place.
Jayden McKeen, the sophomore from Ursinas, comes in as the third seed and the only other thrower over 68 meters. He set his personal best back at the start of April but hasn’t come close to it since then -- could he pull off a surprise upset?
Keep an eye out for the two freshmen in the field: Scott Sloan of Wheaton (Mass.) and Darrin Campbell of George Fox. Scott has only thrown javelin three times in his collegiate career, but one of those times was to win the NEWMAC Championship. That performance of 66.53m has him as the fifth seed. Campbell sits slightly lower as the ninth seed but still within striking distance of the podium. He also already has a conference championship to his name. His seed mark of 65.14m won him the Northwest Conference Championship.
Both Bourassa and Stalters have been on the podium, but neither has been on top. Unless McKeen has anything to say about it, we should expect that to change by Thursday evening.
Women’s Javelin
Nebraska Wesleyan’s Avery Decker sits at the top of the javelin qualifier list, with a season’s best of 47.50m -- more than two and a half meters further than the next best competitor. That difference isn’t enough to claim that her title is certain, but her six most recent competitions have all been over 45 meters. This consistency points towards what could be her first ever title. That would cap off her already impressive resume of a podium all three years she has competed at the national championship, including a runner-up finish last year.
UW Eau-Claire sophomore Laura Bertrang will try to throw a wrench in those plans. After competing in high jump at the indoor championships -- a rare pairing for a national level javelin thrower -- Bertrang now shifts her focus exclusively to throwing at these outdoor championships.
North Central’s Faith Ladin is also a strong contender. She was fifth in this event at last year’s championships. She is also competing in the heptathlon, making quite a busy weekend for her. Based on the timing of the multi, she might have to throw shortly after running the 200m, the fourth event of the day for the heptathletes. Will she have enough left in the tank?
Decker is poised to claim her first ever title to wrap up her collegiate career. She can’t get too comfortable, though. Betrang, Ladin, and a handful of others will be looking to pounce on any opportunity Decker gives them.
Heptathlon
Nikki. Boon. She owns the current moment of D3 women’s multis. Her statement pentathlon victory at the indoor championships wrote her into the history books, setting a new D3 record. Thirteen days later, she broke the heptathlon record. At her last ever collegiate meet, the Emory senior looks to secure her second national championship. Barring a catastrophic error, we can expect just that.
Sitting some 500 points behind Boon is the rest of the field, and it’s going to be a dogfight for the other seven spots on the podium. Two-time All-American Emilee Booker from UW Eau-Claire is the second seed. After a third place finish at the indoor championships, the senior will expect to be adding to her hardware collection.
Central College junior Olivia Bohlen and North Central senior Faith Ladin round out the top four and those with a season best of at least 5,000 points. Ladin’s qualifying heptathlon was May 13th, though, with the other three having punched their tickets much earlier in the season. Will she be fresh for this weekend? We could ask the same of Aurielle Brunner, the multi and jumper powerhouse that will come in as the fifth seed. Competing in long jump and triple jump as well, the Chatham senior will have a busy few days.
Boon will be chasing her own record to cap off an incredible collegiate career. The rest of the field will duke it out for podium positions. This is going to be an exciting -- and potentially historic -- heptathlon.
Decathlon
This championship marks the end of an era for men’s multis, as this will be Mitch Stegeman’s last ever collegiate meet. The UW Eau-Claire decathlete carries the legacy of “Multi U,” the UWEC program which has produced greats like Marcus Weaver, Dylan Cooper, Abe Schroedl, and Casey Chadwick. Stegeman has enjoyed his tenure in D3 -- since starting his freshman season way back in 2020, he has amassed two multi titles, two multi runner-ups, and seven total appearances on the podium.
After dealing with injury throughout the indoor and outdoor season, however, Stegeman comes in only as the fifth seed. You can’t attribute too much to seeding in a decathlon because many of these men have only done one or two full multis this season. Sitting above him, though, are some formidable opponents.
Charlie Nolan of UW-Oshkosh is the top seed, a full 200 points higher than Central’s Kale Hobart as the second seed. Nolan was a top contender going into the indoor championships this year but forewent competing -- this could be his chance to finally claim the multi crown.
River Falls’s Jacob Balcome, the most recent heptathlon champion from March, will look to stand atop the podium again. He comes in as the third seed, but don’t be surprised if he finishes higher than that.
Will Stegeman get to have his swan song? Will Nolan prove he is the best decathlete in D3 this year? Will Balcome complete the coveted heptathlon-decathlon double? Or will another decathlete usher in a new era of multi dominance? Ten events and two grueling days will give us our answer.