All race times Pacific.

​1. The Best NCAA Heptathlon Field Ever?​

First event, 5:47PM Friday

Three NCAA champions will clash in the heptathlon beginning Friday afternoon. Akela Jones, Kendell Williams, and Erica Bougard, who have a combined seven NCAA titles, will meet for the last time on the collegiate stage. Who could forget Jones’ and Williams’ epic battle at NCAA Indoors? In what could have been the best duel in NCAA pentathlon history, Jones stumbled in the 60m hurdles and finished far from her 8.00 PB. She attempted an impressive comeback that included tying the NCAA high jump record (1.98m), but Williams ultimately walked away with her third straight indoor title.

Bougard, who did not have indoor eligibility last season, is also back in the mix. She took fourth last spring in Eugene, but went on to finish third at the U.S. Championships and represented Team USA in Beijing. This year, these three are faster and stronger, so we can hope the collegiate record of 6527 (set by Diane Guthrie in 1995) will go down.

Watch Jones win the 60m hurdle title at the 2016 Big 12 Indoor Championships:

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2. Can Shamier Little Win Her Third Straight 400m Hurdle Crown?​

Women's 400m Hurdles, 4:57PM Friday

At 21, Texas A&M’s Shamier Little has won two back-to-back NCAA 400m hurdle crowns and is the reigning World silver medalist. Her 53.74 PB, set at last year’s NCAA Championships, ranks No. 4 all-time in the NCAA and was the second-fastest mark in the world in 2015. Based on her results this season (54.72 SEC victory; PBs in the 200m and indoor 400m) she’s on track to win her third consecutive NCAA crown. Can anyone stand in her way? Arizona’s Nnenya Hailey was the only other collegian to break 55 seconds this season, but she failed to qualify for the finals. We smell a three-peat!

Watch Little run her way to a silver medal at the 2015 World Championships:

3. Is There a Courtney Okolo vs. Taylor Ellis-Watson Rivalry Brewing?

Women's 400m, 4:32PM Friday

Comparing the PBs of these two athletes (49.71 for Okolo; 50.78 for Ellis-Watson) simply does not do this potential match-up justice. At the NCAA West Prelims, Arkansas edged out Texas in the 4x400m relay, 3:25.48 to 3:25.59. Yes, that was just a prelim, and Okolo may have simply did what she needed to advance the Longhorns, but we think this will be fun to watch in Eugene. Ellis-Watson has improved by leaps and bounds in 2016, and she split 50.04 to hold off Okolo in Kansas. But Okolo continues to make a case for herself as the best 400m runner in the world. Her split on that West Prelims relay? 49.86.

#ncaaTF RECORD UPDATE @UTexasTrack's Courtney Okolo shatters own 400m record with a time of 49.71.
#HookEMhttps://t.co/UOCyWZQOc0

— NCAA Track & Field (@NCAATrackField) April 24, 2016

4. What's Up With the Women of Oregon?

Women's 4x100m, 3:32PM Saturday
Women's 100m, 4:22PM Saturday
Women's 200m, 5:07PM Saturday

Oregon’s women recently cleaned up in the sprints at the Pac-12 Championships by sweeping the 100m and 200m. They've also maintained their hold on 4x100m-relay dominance all season. But the West Prelims exposed some weaknesses. Individual Pac-12 champion Hannah Cunliffe qualified easily in the 100m, but failed to break 23 seconds in the 200m and finished 16th. They advanced Ariana Washington in the 100m and 200m, and Deajah Stevens in the 200m (despite running 11.19 at Pac-12s, she did not compete in the 100m at Prelims). But the loss of Cunliffe could have a serious impact if Washington and Stevens fail to advance in Eugene. The loss of star sprinter/jumper and World silver medalist Jasmine Todd also hurt the Ducks. Todd was entered in the 100m at Prelims, but did not compete. She later took to Instagram to announce she was done competing for Oregon. This story is still unfolding, but her absence definitely makes the Ducks easier targets in the 4x100m.

Even without Todd, the Oregon women won the 4x100m Championship of America race at the 2016 Penn Relays:

5. Jarrion Lawson Could Steal the Show

Men's Long Jump, 6:00PM Wednesday
Men's 4x100m, 5:32PM Friday
Men's 100m, 6:22PM Friday
Men's 200m, 7:07PM Friday

The Arkansas senior is a three-time NCAA champion who could rack up a few more titles in Eugene this weekend. Most famous for winning two long jump titles, Lawson is entered in four events (100m, 200m, 4x100m, long jump) and happens to be the top returner in the men’s wide-open 100m. With an 8.34m outdoor personal best in the long jump, he’s a class above the field. And though the Razorbacks are the returning 4x100m champions, Lawson’s 200m progression is perhaps the most impressive. Since April, he improved his 20.85 PB to 20.17 (+1.5).

BOOM. https://t.co/ZH3LDgW9HJ

— Arkansas Razorbacks (@ArkRazorbacks) January 30, 2016

6. Can Sprint Depth Get LSU's Men on the Team Podium?

Men's 4x100m, 5:32PM Friday
Men's 100m, 6:22PM Friday
Men's 200m, 7:07PM Friday
Men's 4x400m, 7:51PM Friday

The Tigers, paced by junior Nathaneel Mitchell-Blake’s sub-20-second 200m run and their NCAA-leading 4x100m and 4x400m relays, have been putting on a clinic this outdoor season. They own the two fastest times in the NCAA this season (38.33, 38.94) in the 4x100m. In the 4x400m, they ran 3:00.48 to win the SEC Championships three seconds ahead of Florida, and less than one second off the collegiate record. With multiple entries in the 100m (two), 200m (two), 400m (three) and SEC champion hurdler Jordan Moore in the 100m hurdles, LSU could steal more points than anyone expected.

@WurldOfBlake goes 19.95 (+0.4) Destroys the Field Over 200m #SECTF @lsabre @TnFjunkie @gabyandersengz @AtoBoldonhttps://t.co/HRHJBDaqnN

— Sports Enthusiast (@JustSportsTweet) May 14, 2016

7. Nick Miller, Sam Mattis Looking for Big-Time Throws

Men's Hammer, 2:00PM Wednesday
Men's Discus, 5:05PM Friday

World finalist Nick Miller (hammer, Oklahoma State) and No. 2 all-time performer Sam Mattis (discus, Penn) will look to go out with a bang in their respective events. Miller threw 76.93m at the West Prelims, which is just off his 77.55m mark set last July. He’s an experienced competitor with a Commonwealth Games silver medal and 11th-place showing in Beijing last summer, but all he needs now is a NCAA title. Mattis won his first NCAA Championship last spring in Eugene, and looks to be the favorite in the discus after posting the second-best throw in NCAA history this season (67.45m). It’s also ranked sixth in the world and a five-meter improvement from his 2015 NCAA-title throw.

8. All Eyes on Lindon Victor in Men's Decathlon

First event, 12:30PM Wednesday

Texas A&M decathlete Victor set personal bests in nine of 10 events to score 8446 points at the SEC Championships—the fourth-best NCAA score all-time behind Olympians Trey Hardee, Tom Pappas and Ashton Eaton. Will Victor easily walk away with the title? Heck no. His SEC performance—interestingly, his first full decathlon in a Texas A&M singlet—was nearly perfect, and will be tough to duplicate. The Grenada native competed in the Commonwealth Games in 2014 and Pan-American Games in 2015, but things did not come together for him until that decathlon in Alabama. He’ll need another perfect day to hold off two-time NCAA champion Maicel Uibo of Georgia, who is going for his third straight victory in Eugene. 

"I'm not focused on breaking records. I'm just here to compete."@LindonVictor of @aggietrk https://t.co/daFssOwFzR pic.twitter.com/TKCmjJWnjR

— TrackTown USA (@GoTrackTownUSA) June 6, 2016