Thursday, June 11
Eugene, OR
All Day
University of Oregon
vs
NCAA Championships
Photo by: Evan Poulsen
Defending Champ McCormick Leads Hurdles Qualifiers
06/11/26 | Track and Field
A year after winning the NCAA Outdoor title, UO senior Aaliyah McCormick set the tone Thursday for Saturday's final.
EUGENE, Ore. — She was calmer settling into the blocks this time around, and calmer after crossing the finish line. On Saturday, though, Aaliyah McCormick hopes her typical persona will be on display.
A year after jubilantly celebrating her first NCAA Outdoor title in the 100-meter hurdles, McCormick was all business for her preliminary as defending champion Thursday at Hayward Field. She'll look to repeat as champion Saturday in her collegiate swan song for Oregon; only if and when that happens will she let her personality shine through.
"I am a very energetic, bubbly person, but you know, I'm just trying to stay calm and look at the bigger picture," McCormick said after being the top qualifier Thursday in 12.58 seconds. "Rather than being excited and kind of being warped (about) one race when I still have 10 more hurdles to go through. So, just trying to be calm and very at peace."
McCormick's performance was one of the highlights of Thursday's opening session for the Oregon women. The Ducks advanced three runners to Saturday's final in the 1,500 meters, but they're still looking for their first team points after being unable to capitalize on three chances Thursday.
Wilma Nielsen, Juliet Cherubet and Silan Ayyildiz all got through the 1,500 prelims. The Ducks' 4x100 relay wasn't as fortunate, and Micaela De Mello was unable to join McCormick in the hurdles final. Oregon wasn't able to get any team points Thursday from Greyson Glivinski in the javelin, Alicia Khunou in the shot put or Diana Cherotich in the 10,000.
The UO women qualified three 1,500 finalists a day after the Oregon men did the same Wednesday.
"We saw the guys get three in the final yesterday, we were like, we want to do the same," Nielsen said. "We wanted to be as good as them."
Nielsen was in the first of two heats for the 1,500. She went to the front early, stayed there throughout and eased through the finish line in a lead pack of five runners — the exact number from the prelim that would automatically advance to the final.
"I didn't know if it was gonna be slow or fast; it was kind of fast, so then it's just nice to be like less crowded," Nielsen said of going to the front early before easing up at the finish. "Top-five is like winning today. So, wanted to save as much as possible."
Cherubet and Ayyildiz took a different tactic, dropping to the back of the field at the start of their heat. They tried to move up soon after and Cherubet had more luck; she ran much of the heat at or near the lead, while Ayyildiz was fighting in the pack.Â
They both ended up qualifying automatically, though, Cherubet taking second in their heat in 4:09.54 followed by Ayyildiz in 4:09.58 after a surge through the homestretch.
"It was a really, really messy race," Ayyildiz said. "I wasn't expecting this for prelim. Everybody already was pushing, so I can't imagine finals on Saturday."
McCormick also might have described her prelim as messy. Though she was the fastest qualifier by more than one-tenth of a second, expectations of her have changed a bit since she won the 2025 NCAA Outdoor title.
"It wasn't my best race; I know that's definitely what coach is gonna say to me," McCormick said. "But as long as I made it through. So I'm just gonna take (Friday) to rest and come back stronger on Saturday."
Among her goals for the final will be getting off to a better start.
"I definitely want to be the first one to the first hurdle and just have my technique be a little bit more clean, so that I'm able to just separate from the field a little bit more and then finish off strong," McCormick said.
After successfully hunting a title last year, McCormick is the hunted this time around.Â
"Last year I was just excited and grateful to even be there," she said. "I was just like, okay, I'm here, I haven't been here before, so let me just shake off these nerves and get out there. But now that I've kind of been here before, it's even more grateful, because once again, this is my last year, but I'm much more focused, and I already know what to do for the job."
A year after jubilantly celebrating her first NCAA Outdoor title in the 100-meter hurdles, McCormick was all business for her preliminary as defending champion Thursday at Hayward Field. She'll look to repeat as champion Saturday in her collegiate swan song for Oregon; only if and when that happens will she let her personality shine through.
"I am a very energetic, bubbly person, but you know, I'm just trying to stay calm and look at the bigger picture," McCormick said after being the top qualifier Thursday in 12.58 seconds. "Rather than being excited and kind of being warped (about) one race when I still have 10 more hurdles to go through. So, just trying to be calm and very at peace."
McCormick's performance was one of the highlights of Thursday's opening session for the Oregon women. The Ducks advanced three runners to Saturday's final in the 1,500 meters, but they're still looking for their first team points after being unable to capitalize on three chances Thursday.
Wilma Nielsen, Juliet Cherubet and Silan Ayyildiz all got through the 1,500 prelims. The Ducks' 4x100 relay wasn't as fortunate, and Micaela De Mello was unable to join McCormick in the hurdles final. Oregon wasn't able to get any team points Thursday from Greyson Glivinski in the javelin, Alicia Khunou in the shot put or Diana Cherotich in the 10,000.
The UO women qualified three 1,500 finalists a day after the Oregon men did the same Wednesday.
"We saw the guys get three in the final yesterday, we were like, we want to do the same," Nielsen said. "We wanted to be as good as them."
Nielsen was in the first of two heats for the 1,500. She went to the front early, stayed there throughout and eased through the finish line in a lead pack of five runners — the exact number from the prelim that would automatically advance to the final.
"I didn't know if it was gonna be slow or fast; it was kind of fast, so then it's just nice to be like less crowded," Nielsen said of going to the front early before easing up at the finish. "Top-five is like winning today. So, wanted to save as much as possible."
Cherubet and Ayyildiz took a different tactic, dropping to the back of the field at the start of their heat. They tried to move up soon after and Cherubet had more luck; she ran much of the heat at or near the lead, while Ayyildiz was fighting in the pack.Â
They both ended up qualifying automatically, though, Cherubet taking second in their heat in 4:09.54 followed by Ayyildiz in 4:09.58 after a surge through the homestretch.
"It was a really, really messy race," Ayyildiz said. "I wasn't expecting this for prelim. Everybody already was pushing, so I can't imagine finals on Saturday."
McCormick also might have described her prelim as messy. Though she was the fastest qualifier by more than one-tenth of a second, expectations of her have changed a bit since she won the 2025 NCAA Outdoor title.
"It wasn't my best race; I know that's definitely what coach is gonna say to me," McCormick said. "But as long as I made it through. So I'm just gonna take (Friday) to rest and come back stronger on Saturday."
Among her goals for the final will be getting off to a better start.
"I definitely want to be the first one to the first hurdle and just have my technique be a little bit more clean, so that I'm able to just separate from the field a little bit more and then finish off strong," McCormick said.
After successfully hunting a title last year, McCormick is the hunted this time around.Â
"Last year I was just excited and grateful to even be there," she said. "I was just like, okay, I'm here, I haven't been here before, so let me just shake off these nerves and get out there. But now that I've kind of been here before, it's even more grateful, because once again, this is my last year, but I'm much more focused, and I already know what to do for the job."
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