Rapid relays and a raft of records made the first major weekend of the 2026 outdoor track and field season in the U.S. a memorable one, with stunning performances and season debuts from Team USATF's top athletes. It also marked the continuation of the Abbott World Marathon Majors series with its first U.S. stop at the Boston Marathon where Americans turned in historic performances.
Boston Marathon Crowns Fastest Americans
Cool temperatures and a beneficial tailwind greeted the runners lined up for the 130th running of the Boston Marathon. Despite a tactically average start to the women’s race, the final five miles saw a dramatic acceleration of the pace. The shift in gears included Jess McClain who steadily moved her way up to fifth place to finish in 2:20:49, the fastest time ever by an American woman. Annie Frisbie came in eighth, and second in the American field. Her finishing time of 2:22:00 also bettered Shalane Flanagan’s 2:22:02 set in 2014. In all, four American women – McClain, Frisbie, Emily Sisson and Carrie Ellwood – finished in the top 10, the most since 2018.
The men’s race was historically fast with John Korir of Kenya shattering the course record with his winning time of 2:01:52. Zouhair Talbi crossed the line in fifth place with a time of 2:03:45, bettering Ryan Hall’s 2011 record of 2:04:58 by more than a minute. Talbi’s time is the fastest ever run by an American man, but Boston is not a record-eligible course because it is point to point. Conner Mantz remains the American record holder with his 2:04:43 set in Chicago last year. Charles Hicks, who took seventh, also topped the old course record running 2:04:35.
Relays scorch Florida oval at Jones Memorial
Half of the American women's 4x100 team that won gold at the 2024 Paris Olympic Games were in action at the Tom Jones Memorial meet at Florida. Reigning world 100 and 200 champion Melissa Jefferson-Wooden ran the leadoff leg for the USA White quartet, as she did at Paris, with Anavia Battle and Kayla White handling the second and third carries before Paris anchor Sha'Carri Richardson ran a storming final stretch to stop the clock at 41.70, the fastest time ever run before June.
The men's race was much closer, with three teams cracking the 38-second barrier. Gainesville Elite won in 37.78, the fastest time ever run as early as April, as Jordan Anthony, Trayvon Bromell, Britain's Jake Odey-Jordan, and Noah Lyles held off USA Red and USA White squads. Courtney Lindsey, Kenny Bednarek, Kyree King, and Max Thomas grabbed second in 37.86, and a foursome of Christian Coleman, Ronnie Baker, Tate Taylor, and Pjai Austin took third in 37.97.
Anthony, who was coming off a World Indoor Championships gold in the 60 last month, won the men's 100 in a PB of 9.91, and four-time world champion and American record holder Lyles captured the 200 title in 19.91 in front of a 19.98 PB from Thomas. Taylor broke the national high school record in another heat of the 200, clocking 20.05 to take down the 20.09 set by Lyles in 2016. Taylor's time also made him the No. 2 all-time U.S. U20 performer, and No. 7 on the all-time world U20 performer list.
Lex Brown, the 2025 NCAA Indoor champion for Baylor, sailed out to a world-leading 7.07/23-2.5 in the women's long jump to become the No. 7 all-time U.S. performer, and Texas high schooler Mariah Maxwell clocked 22.44 in the 200 to move to No. 9 on the all-time U.S. U20 performer list.
In the men's 400 hurdles, 2022 World Championships bronze medalist Trevor Bassitt ran a world-leading 47.82, his fastest season-opening race ever. The sprint hurdles saw Auburn's Ja'Kobe Tharp skim to a 13.09 in the heats, the 10th-fastest time ever by a collegian, and Samford's Bradley Franklin won the final in a wind-aided 13.07 (+2.7), making him the sixth fastest collegiate performer in any conditions.
McMorris dec win highlights USATF Tour stop at Mt. SAC Relays
Hakim McMorris continued his streak of big improvements in the combined events, scoring a world-leading PB of 8,420 points to take the decathlon title at the Mt. SAC Relays, the fourth stop on the 2026 USATF Tour and a World Athletics Continental Tour meet. McMorris, who won the USATF Indoor Combined Events title in the heptathlon in February, zipped to a 10.49 in the 100 to open the ten-eventer, and he added a 46.50 in the 400 and a 13.91 in the 110H as he added more than 150 points to his lifetime best and defended his meet title.
In other Tour events, Washington's Hana Moll soared over 4.80/15-9 to win the women's pole vault. It was an outdoor personal best for Moll, the NCAA indoor champion, and the highest bar ever cleared by a collegian outdoors. Her Huskies teammate, James Rhoads, won the men's pole vault at 5.70/18-8.25.
A pair of wind-aided 200s were won by NCAA indoor champion and American indoor record holder Garrett Kaalund of USC, who clocked 20.10w for the men's victory, and two-time Olympian Jenna Prandini, who took the women's title in 22.43w. Saira Prince of Arkansas won the women's 400 hurdles in 55.86, with Reyte Rash taking the men's race in 49.35.
Field event wins went to Scottie Vines of Arkansas with a 2.26/7-5 clearance in the men's high jump, and Russell Robinson with a wind-aided 17.16/56-3.75 in the men's triple jump. Tamiah Washington won the women's triple jump with a windy 13.41/44-0.
Non-Tour events saw a pair of speedy one-lap runs. Arizona State's Jayden Davis cruised to a world-leading 44.29 to become the No. 10 all-time American collegiate performer in the men's 400, and Madison Whyte of USC moved to No. 10 on the women's collegiate all-time performer list with a 49.64. Just behind her at 49.86 was Sanaria Butler of Arkansas, who became the No. 10 all-time American collegiate performer. Another Arkansas sprint standout, Jelani Watkins, ran the eighth-fastest collegiate men's 100 in any conditions, riding a +2.8 breeze to a 9.82.
Hedengren adds another record at Clay Invitational
BYU's freshman distance phenom Jane Hedengren added another collegiate record to her already burgeoning résumé, winning the women's 5000 in 14:50.50 to clip more than a second off the previous mark of 14:52.18 that was set by Parker Valby of Florida in 2024. Hedengren already owned the indoor collegiate record in the 5000, and she ran away from a talented field to win by more than eight seconds.
Sophie Novak of Notre Dame became the No. 8 all-time collegiate performer in the women's 3000 steeplechase with a 9:24.95 victory, and BYU's Taylor Lovell took over the No. 9 spot on the American collegiate all-time performer list with her 9:26.99 in second. Northern Arizona's Colin Sahlman, the NCAA indoor 3000 champion, won the men's 800 in 1:44.42, making him the No. 8 all-time collegiate performer.
Birnbaum claims collegiate 1500 record on home track
Oregon's Simeon Birnbaum knocked more than a second off the collegiate record in the men's 1500, winning the Oregon Team Invitational title by more than seven seconds at Hayward Field with a time of 3:31.69, more than a second faster than the previous CR of 3:33.02 by Villanova's Liam Murphy in 2025. Birnbaum, who was the silver medalist in the NCAA indoor 3000 this year, took more than five seconds off his previous PB of 3:37.02.
Mountain shatters American collegiate steeple record at Virginia
Running on his home oval at Charlottesville, Nathan Mountain of Virginia shattered the American collegiate record in the men's 30000 steeplechase with an 8:11.92 that cut more than four seconds off the previous ACR of 8:16.23 by Montana State's Duncan Hamilton in 2023. Mountain won by 19 seconds and moved to No. 10 on the all-time U.S. performer list. The top women's performance came from Mississippi's Akaoma Odeluga, who won the shot put at 19.23/63-1.25 to move to ninth on the all-time collegiate performer list.
Tanner adds another big throws mark at Long Beach
Quickly becoming the top combined thrower in collegiate history, Air Force's Texas Tanner claimed the American collegiate record in the men's hammer with a throw of 78.87/258-9 at the Beach Invitational in Long Beach. Tanner, who set an American collegiate record in the discus at Ramona, Oklahoma, recently, also became the No. 2 all-time collegiate performer behind only Balazs Kiss of USC and Hungary. The old American CR was 78.34/257-0 by Oregon's Ken Flax in 1986.