Seven UNC athletes advanced to the NCAA Track & Field Outdoor National Championships next week with their performances in the regional round held in Jacksonville, Fla.

Star distance runner Ethan Strand qualified for a pair of championship events on Friday, May 30, winning a heat in the 1,500m event to automatically qualify and return to Eugene, Or. after placing ninth in 2024’s title race. He also finished second in his heat for the 5,000m run, putting up a 14:06:.41 time to qualify in that event — alongside UNC senior Colton Sands (14:08.96) who finished fifth and also earned a spot in national 5,000m run. It marks Sands’ first career bid for an outdoor national championship.

Preceding the runners was a pair of UNC throwers, who clinched their spots on May 29. Grad transfer shot-putter Tommy Kitchell continued his strong season for the Tar Heels, using his final shot to move into the top twelve of the meet and finished ninth to qualify for the shot put national championship event. Meanwhile, grad transfer Kate Joyce’s first throw of the day in javelin was good enough to qualify for the nationals — as she punched her second career ticket to the NCAA finals with a tenth place finish.

Day 3 of the regional events featured a trio of Tar Heels rounding out Carolina’s contingency headed to Eugene. Grad student runner Taryn Parks was the first to qualify, earning an automatic spot based on her fifth-place finish in a 1,500m heat. She was followed by senior and steeplechase star Sydney Masciarelli, who continued her run of consecutive time improvements at each meet this season by finishing with a 9:48.21 in the 3,000m steeplechase. Defending 800m indoor champion Makalya Paige also continued to rewrite the record books, lowering the UNC record in the event for a third time this season. She finished in third place in Saturday’s run, putting up a sub-two-minute time (1:59.73) and returning to Eugene after finishing 14th overall in last year’s national championship race.

Makayla Paige, Sydney Masciarelli and Taryn Parks each earned spots in the NCAA Championships at their respective events on Saturday. (Photo via UNC Athletics Communications.)

A notable absence for the Tar Heel program is one of their stars: Parker Wolfe, who is the defending 5,000m NCAA champion. After winning the 5,000m and 10,000m titles in the ACC Championships two weeks prior, Wolfe suffered an injury that required further recovery during the regional championship. The team account posted on Thursday that Wolfe would not run and posted a tribute to his accomplishments in four years with the Carolina program.

The 2025 NCAA Division I Outdoor Track & Field Championships will take place from Wednesday, June 11 to Saturday, June 14 in Eugene. See the full schedule of events, and buy tickets to the meets, on the NCAA’s website.

 

Featured image via UNC Athletics Communications.

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