Nea Sanders and Kirin Chacchia carry SMU track back to the NCAA Outdoor Championships, bringing ACC speed and record-breaking hurdles to Eugene.
DALLAS - SMU track and field isn’t just sending athletes to Eugene. The Mustangs are sending two hurdlers with real momentum, real hardware and a chance to turn a strong season into a national statement.
Nea Sanders and Kirin Chacchia will represent SMU at the 2026 NCAA Outdoor Track and Field Championships at Hayward Field in Eugene, Oregon, giving the program multiple individual qualifiers at the national meet for the first time since 2021.
For a team still building its ACC identity, that’s not a small note. That’s a warning flare.
Sanders will take on the 100-meter hurdles, while Chacchia will line up in the 400-meter hurdles. Both semifinal races are set for Thursday with Sanders scheduled for 8:08 p.m. CT and Chacchia set for 9:14 p.m. CT. If they advance, the finals for both events will be held on Saturday.
Sanders enters the national meet after putting together one of the best seasons by an SMU women’s track athlete in recent memory.
The senior punched her ticket to Eugene by running 12.99 seconds in the 100-meter hurdles, finishing fourth in her heat and eighth overall in the quarterfinals.
It marked the second sub-13-second race of her career, and it came when the pressure was at its highest.
That’s been the theme of her season.
At the ACC Outdoor Championships, Sanders became the first SMU female athlete to win an ACC title, taking the 100-meter hurdles in 13.04 seconds.
Now she’ll try to add All-America honors to a résumé that already has a historic conference championship attached to it.
Chacchia’s path has been just as loud. The junior qualified in the 400-meter hurdles by grabbing an automatic spot with a third-place heat finish in 57.29 seconds.
Before that, she rewrote the SMU record book at the ACC Outdoor Championships, clocking a school-record 56.75 to finish third overall and earn First-Team All-ACC honors.
Both Sanders and Chacchia will be making their first NCAA Championship appearances, but neither is arriving like a tourist. Sanders brings championship speed. Chacchia brings record-breaking form.
Together, they give SMU two legitimate reasons to believe this week in Eugene can be more than a nice postseason trip.
The Mustangs wanted proof they could punch at a national level. Their hurdlers just delivered it.
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