Ole Miss didn’t send a large group to the opening days of the NCAA Outdoor Championships, but the Rebels made the most of the athletes they had on the track.
Between Jordan Urrutia on Wednesday and Alicia Burnett on Thursday, Ole Miss walked away with two national finalists and another All-America relay finish to open the week in Eugene.
On the men’s side, sophomore Jordan Urrutia kept his breakout season rolling by earning a spot in Friday’s 200-meter final. Urrutia ran 20.36 (+0.1) to finish third in his heat, just shy of an automatic qualifier, but fast enough to grab one of the three time-qualifying spots. He’s the first Rebel to reach the NCAA final in the event since Olympian Isiah Young finished as the national runner-up in 2013, and one of only three underclassmen in this year’s field.
𝟮𝟬𝟬-𝗠𝗲𝘁𝗲𝗿 (𝗦𝗲𝗺𝗶𝗳𝗶𝗻𝗮𝗹𝘀) | See you in the final! 👋
Jordan Urrutia earns a time qualifier spot to Friday's NCAA final at 20.36 (+0.1) 🔥#HottyToddy x #NCAATF pic.twitter.com/E8yt6t4iys
— Ole Miss Track & XC (@OleMissTrack) June 11, 2026
This will be Urrutia’s first national final, but his sophomore year has already rewritten plenty of the Ole Miss record book. He set indoor school records in the 200 (20.60) and 300 (33.06) and anchored the record-setting 4×400 relay (3:06.69). Outdoors, he’s posted the fastest 200 by a Rebel since Young’s 20.12 in 2013 and recorded the program’s best SEC finish in the event since Young’s title that same season.
Urrutia also doubled back earlier Wednesday as part of the 4×100-meter relay with Dekell Minor, Wesley Todd and Tarique Wright. The group capped its strong season with a time of 38.86 to finish 11th and earn Second-Team All-America honors. That mark stands as the second-best NCAA finish in school history, trailing only the sixth-place relay from 2002.
A day later, senior Alicia Burnett added another national finalist to the Ole Miss tally. Burnett ran 11.03 (+0.6) from lane seven to finish second in her heat of the 100-meter semifinals, securing an automatic spot in Saturday’s championship race. She ended the round eighth overall in a field headlined by a new collegiate record from Georgia freshman Adaejah Hodge (10.63).
— Ole Miss Track & XC (@OleMissTrack) June 12, 2026
Burnett becomes just the fourth Rebel sprinter to reach the women’s 100-meter final, joining Teneeshia Jones (2001) and Olympian McKenzie Long, who made the final twice — finishing ninth in 2023 before winning the national title as part of her 100/200/4×1 triple crown in 2024.
Two days in, Ole Miss has two finalists and another All-America relay finish on the board. Not a bad start in Eugene.
