For the fourth straight year, the University of Oregon’s Hayward Field will be the venue for the NCAA outdoor track and field championships. The men’s events are set for Wednesday and Friday, and the women’s competition takes place Thursday and Saturday. Each individual event features 24 athletes who gained entry into the meet via top 12 performances at preliminary competitions the final week of May.

Australian Sprinter, 16, Runs Record-Breaking 200m.

1. DAA Industry Opt Out? 

Oregon junior Edward Cheserek has amassed 11 individual NCAA titles, and no one will be surprised if he reprises last year’s double in the 10,000 meters and 5,000 meters this week. But there is reason to look for an upset. Cheserek has been defeated in two of five races this outdoor season, with both losses coming at Hayward Field. He did close strongly in his two victorious races at the Pac-12 championships. 

Beside Cheserek, the class of the 10K field is Northern Arizona’s Futsum Zienasellassie, who boasts a season-leading mark of 27:52.70. If he dictates a fast pace, and if Cheserek isn’t as fit as in previous outdoor seasons, Zienasellassie has a shot. The race will be broadcast on ESPN2 tonight at 10:08 p.m. eastern. 

Saturday’s 5,000 meters features a deeper field and is where Cheserek will really be tested. Stanford’s 3:53 miler Sean McGorty and Villanova’s veteran Patrick Tiernan are especially threatening. McGorty has the season’s best mark at 13:24.25 while Tiernan has run 13:25.78. Others to look for include Virginia Tech senior Thomas Curtin and Syracuse sophomore Justyn Knight.

2. Can the Oregon men win a third-straight team title? 

Returning to Eugene as a senior, Dominique Scott will seek to improve on a pair of runner-up finishes last June. The native South African has the top marks at both 10,000 meters (31:56.84) and 5,000 meters (15:25.10) this spring. Her primary competition in Thursday night’s 10,000 meters will likely come from Tennessee junior Chelsea Blaase and New Mexico sophomore Alice Wright, sixth and eighth, respectively, a year ago. Look for another New Mexico Lobo, junior Calli Thackery, to challenge for the win in Saturday afternoon’s 5,000 meters.

3. Who will emerge from the stacked men’s 1500 meters? 

The 24-man 1500-meter field includes only six who made it to Eugene in 2015 and four of last year’s finalists. So it’s a very different—and very talented—cast of characters this year. Washington senior Izaic Yorks has been exceptional indoors and out and in February recorded the fastest-ever indoor mile—3:53.89—by an American collegian. Yorks boasts the season’s best 1500-meter time (3:37.74) and triumphed at both Pac-12s and the West preliminary. Henry Wynne of Virginia, the NCAA indoor mile champion, is the only entrant with a pair of sub-3:39 performances this spring. 

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But at least half a dozen others are legitimate contenders, beginning with NCAA indoor 800-meter champion Clayton Murphy of Akron. Other likely finalists include Villanova’s Jordy Williamsz, Brannon Kidder of Penn State, and the Oregon trio of Blake Haney, Matthew Maton, and Sam Prakel.

4. Shoes & Gear? 

Mississippi State senior Marta Freitas finished 13th and last in the 2015 1500-meter final, a race won by her teammate Rhianwedd Price. (Freitas had undergone surgery at the conclusion of the 2015 indoor season and never expected to qualify for NCAAs, let alone advance to the final.) Fast forward to the current season, in which Freitas triumphed over Scott to win the SEC 1500-meter title and then lowered her personal best to a season-leading 4:09.80 in winning the East preliminary final. 

Freitas’s stiffest competition should come from Oklahoma State sophomore Kaela Edwards, the 2016 NCAA indoor mile champion. 

5. and the full broadcast schedule is? 

With 17 entrants in 12 events, the Ducks are positioned to battle a handful of teams for the win, but if another championship trophy is to be theirs, it will come by a very slim margin. And another Cheserek 5K/10K double may be required. Like Oregon, Texas A&M also has 17 entrants and can be expected to give the Ducks a fierce battle with LSU, Florida, and Arkansas also promising to be in the mix.

6. Womens 800m final: 7:47 p.m. Saturday? 

Led by Scott, the Arkansas women will make a strong run at the first NCAA outdoor title in program history. Coach Lance Harter picked up the Razorbacks’ first-ever championship trophy at the 2015 indoor meet, and now in his 26th year in Fayetteville is favored to do the same outdoors. Arkansas brings 21 entrants to Eugene, four more than both Kentucky and Texas A&M. Oregon, last year’s team champions who again triumphed indoors this March, will make another run, but with only 15 entrants the Ducks are unlikely to repeat.

Distance event finals (all times eastern): 

Men’s 10,000m final: 10:08 p.m. Wednesday
Men’s 1500m final: 8:42 p.m. Friday
Men’s steeplechase final: 8:54 p.m. Friday
Men’s 800m final: 9:47 p.m. Friday
Men’s 5,000m final: 10:25 p.m. Friday
Women’s 10,000m final: 10:08 p.m. Thursday
Women’s 1500m final: 6:41 p.m. Saturday
Women’s steeplechase final: 6:54 p.m. Saturday
Women’s 800m final: 7:47 p.m. Saturday
Women’s 5,000m final: 8:25 p.m. Saturday

Mens 1500m final: 8:42 p.m. Friday here CA Notice at Collection here.