FIVE TO FOLLOW: Sprinters chasing national championships highlight Auburn athletes to watch this week
Auburn’s Kayinsola Ajayi and Ja’Kobe Tharp are both contenders for NCAA titles this weekend, while other athletes to follow come in the softball circle, on the tennis court and on the balance beam.
Here’s a look at the storylines surrounding five Auburn athletes competing this week or weekend, and why you should follow their performances:
Kayinsola Ajayi
Sport: Track and field
Class: Junior
Event: 60-meter dash
Competing: Semifinals 5:45 p.m. Friday; Finals 4:40 p.m. Saturday
How to watch: Friday ESPN+ broadcast; Saturday ESPN+ broadcast
After winning silver at the NCAA Indoor Championships a year ago, Auburn’s Ajayi enters the 2026 championships this weekend with another chance to medal — and a real chance to win a national championship.
Ajayi enters as the nation’s fastest qualifier following the searing 6.45 he ran at SEC Indoor Championships.
National indoors run Friday-Saturday at Arkansas.
Ajayi comes in red hot, with his 6.45 mark also tying the all-time NCAA record for fastest indoor 60-meter dash. He’s only the fourth ever to hit the mark in college. Last indoor season, he finished second in 6.52 but Ajayi keeps getting faster and faster: An Olympian, he represented his home country of Nigeria at the 2024 Paris Olympics, though he didn’t make it to the final. He improved on that outing at the 2025 World Championships in Tokyo, though, qualifying for the final and taking sixth. The next immediate goal for him is to win NCAA gold, and he can do that Saturday night in Fayetteville.
Ajayi attempts to become only the fourth Auburn man to win the NCAA’s indoor sprint championship, and first in 29 years.
Auburn athletes to win the NCAA indoor sprint championship
Clifford Outlin, 1974
Harvey Glance, 1976
Bryan Howard*, 1997
* 55 meters instead of 60, which the NCAA ran from 1984-1999
Ajayi is one of three Auburn athletes in the 60-meter dash at indoor nationals: Israel Okon (6.53 qualifying time), who shared the podium with Ajayi last year winning bronze behind Ajayi’s silver, is also in, and so is Omari Lewis (6.58).
Ja’Kobe Tharp
Sport: Track and field
Class: Junior
Event: 60-meter hurdles
Competing: Semifinals 6:55 p.m. Friday; Finals 6 p.m. Saturday
How to watch: Friday ESPN+ broadcast; Saturday ESPN+ broadcast
The defending national champion at the indoor 60-meter hurdles, Ja’Kobe Tharp returns to Fayetteville looking to add more hardware to his collection.
Tharp enters after winning gold in 7.48 at SEC Indoors. His gold medal collection is extensive:
Tharp collegiate championships
2025 SEC Indoor Champion (60-meter hurdles)
2025 NCAA Indoor Champion (60-meter hurdles)
2025 NCAA Outdoor Champion (110-meter hurdles)
2026 SEC Indoor Champion (60-meter hurdles)
Tharp will be looking to keep an incredible winning streak alive, though he enters with the third-best qualifying time. His best time of the season was 7.46 at the Tiger Paw Invitational in Clemson. Samford’s Bradley Franklin ran a 7.41 at SoCon Indoors and Texas Tech’s Malachi Snow ran 7.45 at Big 12 Indoors.
Auburn track and field
Auburn is sending eight qualifiers in total to the NCAA Indoor Championships. See more about them later this week on the Auburn Torch after the NCAA releases its start lists.
