Tulane track and field opened the American Outdoor Track and Field Championships with silver and bronze.
The Tulane Green Wave track and field team is off to a strong start at the 2026 American Outdoor Track and Field Championships that opened Thursday at Norma Knobel Hunt Stadium in Denton, Texas. The Green Wave earned two medals while five athletes qualified for the 1,500m finals. Blezzin Kimutai took home the silver in the women’s 10,000m while Cara Salsberry earned the bronze in the women’s hammer throw.
Salsberry was the first to medal for Tulane this weekend, as her 59.19m mark in the hammer throw clinched third. Kimutai ran a 35:11.33 in the women's 10,000m to claim second place. Both strong performances contribute to the women’s fourth place standing with 14 points after the opening day of the three-day event.
Then there was the 1,500m qualifier, where they had five Green Wave athletes advance to the finals. The women saw Dana Rojas Vazquez come in fifth with a time or 4:35.81, and Jasper Newton finished in eighth with a time of 4:36.19. For the men, Gilbert Rono led the way with a fourth-place finish and a time of 3:52.61, closely followed by Rogerio Amaral in sixth with a time of 3:55.08, while Illia Kunin rounded out the quintet in eight place with a time of 3:56.23.
Additional highlights include Aiden Yang placing fifth in men’s javelin and hitting a personal best with a mark of 59.02m, good for four points. Tommy Rice placed fourth in the men's 10,000m at 30:41.96 to secure five points, while Juan Giron came in eighth at 31:02.00 to add one point. The Wave men finished Day 1 fifth overall with a total of 10 points.
For a heptathlon update, Sofie Groeninger sits in fourth heading into Friday after four events with 3,239 points. She topped the leaderboard with a 14.20m shot put, which is the fourth-best mark in program history. She trails leader Julia Johannesdottir from the Rice Owls who had 3,443 points as they enter the final three events on Friday: the long jump, javelin, and 800m.
The high jump kicks off Day 2 in the heptathlon at 11:00 am, while the Wave will compete in the women's long jump, shot put, pole vault, plus 800m and 100m prelims. The men’s and women’s 3,000m steeplechase finals are also on tap, and all the prelim finals will take place on Saturday. ESPN+ is streaming the action beginning at 6:15 pm as the Tulane track and field team looks to continue chasing greatness in this year’s outdoor campaign.