Auburn track and field athletes Ja’Kobe Tharp and Kayinsola Ajayi won individual national championships on March 14, helping the Tigers tie for fourth place in the men’s team standings at the NCAA Indoor Track and Field Championships in Fayetteville, Arkansas.
The achievements mark a significant milestone for Auburn’s program, with both athletes setting or matching records during their performances. Tharp secured his second consecutive indoor title in the men’s 60-meter hurdles with a time of 7.32 seconds, breaking collegiate, meet, and facility records previously held by Grant Holloway. His time is now the third fastest ever recorded globally and the second fastest by an American hurdler.
Tharp’s victory brings his total to three individual national titles—matching James Walker’s school record and coming within one of Harvey Glance’s all-time Auburn record of four. He also joins Willie Smith as the only Auburn men to win back-to-back indoor titles in this event.
Ajayi claimed his first national title by winning the men’s 60-meter dash in 6.45 seconds, equaling the collegiate record he tied two weeks earlier at the Southeastern Conference championship. The Nigerian native is Auburn’s first male sprinter to win a national title since Bryan Howard in 1997. Teammate Israel Okon contributed to Auburn’s team score with a fifth-place finish in the same event.
On the women’s side, Auburn finished tied for 22nd overall—their best indoor result since 2021—thanks to Ana-Liese Torian’s third-place finish in the 60-meter hurdles and Megan Hague’s fourth place in shot put. Hague broke her own school record five times during the season and ended with nine of Auburn’s top ten marks ever in women’s shot put.
Looking ahead, Auburn will begin its outdoor track season at the Yellow Jacket Invitational on March 13-14 at Georgia Tech.
