WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. – Purdue Track & Field’s nine entries to the NCAA Outdoor Championships prepare for the trip to Eugene, Oregon from June 10-13. The Boilermakers earned six qualifications on the men’s side and three on the women’s side.
The top 12 athletes from both the NCAA East and West First Round sites combine for the 24 athletes that qualified for each event in the NCAA Outdoor Championships. Only combined events (heptathlon and decathlon) did not compete at regionals and took the top 24 at the end of conference championships season.
Athletes who finish first through eighth in each event earn First Team All-American, ninth through 16th earn Second Team All-American and 17th through 24th earn Honorable Mention but are not considered All-American status by the USTFCCCA.
Men’s 4x400m | No. 3 Seed | Watch (Semis) | Watch (Finals)
• The relay of Victory Achakpoekri, Samuel Vessat, Jax Coleman and Zyan Greene ran 3:00.92 at the NCAA East First Round to earn the No. 3 seed at NCAAs.
• The performance ranks sixth in the country this season, set a Purdue record, and was the third-fastest time in Big Ten history.
• All four of the runners rank in Purdue’s top six in the open 400m, including Vessat, Achakpoekri and Greene holds the first through third spots.
• Set up for the present and future, the Boilers’ relay all has at least one year of eligibility remaining.
• The Boilers qualified for nationals in the 4x400m for the fourth time and only once had a First Team All-American relay in 2016 when they finished sixth.
• Connor Czajkowski and Zach Mylenek will serve as Purdue’s 4x400m alternates.
Seamus Malaski | Hammer Throw (No. 7 Seed) | Shot Put (No. 16 Seed) | Watch (HT) | Watch (SP)
• Malaski qualified for the NCAA Championships in the hammer throw (69.77m / 228-11) and shot put (18.86m / 61-10.50).
• The redshirt freshman is the only men’s athlete in the country to qualify for nationals in both the hammer and shot this season.
• Malaski joins Olympian Chukwuebuka Enekwechi as the only two Boilermakers to qualify for the NCAA Championships in both events. Enekwechi was an All-American in both events in 2013 and 2016.
• He is Purdue’s first shot put qualifier since Enekwechi in 2016 and first hammer throw qualifier since Kelly Cook Jr. in 2022.
• The qualifications for NCAAs outdoors comes on the heels of a Second Team All-American indoor campaign when he finished 12th in the weight throw.
Samuel Vessat | 400m (No. 8 Seed) | Watch (Semis) | Watch (Final)
• Vessat joins Malaski as Purdue’s only two athletes to qualify for nationals in two events after he ran 44.82 in the 400m and was the second leg for the 4x400m that went 3:00.92.
• The 400m time broke his own school record and was the eighth-fastest time in Big Ten history. He also guided Purdue to its second school record in the 4x400m this season.
• He is Purdue’s third athlete to qualify for NCAAs outdoors in the 400m joining Brian Faust (2019) and Nicholas Parks (2016). Both athletes concluded their season as Honorable Mention All-Americans after finishing 21st and 24th, respectively.
• During the indoor season, Vessat became the first Boilermaker men’s athlete to reach the podium in the 400m at NCAAs when he finished sixth.
Alexia Smith | 400m (No. 8 Seed) | Watch (Semis) | Watch (Final)
• Smith qualified for her first NCAA Championships after she ran 50.51, a 0.71s personal best, to finish fourth in the NCAA East and earn the eighth seed in Eugene.
• The time broke five-time 400m All-American Brionna Thomas’ program record of 50.78 (2018) and was the fifth-fastest time in Big Ten history.
• In three meets running the 400m, Smith improved her time in all three after she ran 51.89 on April 11, 51.22 on May 17 and 50.51 on May 30.
• Smith’s qualification marks the fourth time a Boilermaker has entered NCAAs in the 400m on the women’s side. Thomas was a two-time qualifier in 2017-18 and Choe Abbott earned a spot in 2018. In 2018, Thomas earned Purdue’s highest finish in third, while Abbott followed in fifth.
Amarianna Lofton | High Jump (No. 13 Seed) | Watch
• Lofton earned the 13th seed at nationals after she finished tied for fifth in the NCAA East with a clearance of 1.82m (5-11.50). She cleared the bar on her second attempt.
• The qualification comes in her first Division I season after she redshirt indoor and spent three seasons at Division II Central State where she was a two-time All-American.
• Lofton continues Purdue’s rich history in the high jump as she now records the 13th campaign to end at nationals on the women’s side. She is Purdue’s first qualifier since Janae Moffitt in 2018.
Praise Aniamaka | Triple Jump (No. 16 Seed) | Watch
• Aniamaka took fifth in the NCAA East (16.05m / 52-08.00) to qualify for his third outdoor nationals (fifth overall).
• He is a four-time All-American with one first team and one second team placement both indoors and outdoors. His high finish outdoors was in sixth place in 2024.
• The graduate student ended his Big Ten career as a four-time champion and medaled in all seven of his Big Ten Championships appearances.
• Combined with Chidozie Kalu, the duo accounts for the 10th and 11th qualifications to the outdoor championships in Purdue history.
Britannie Johnson | Shot Put (No. 17 Seed) | Watch
• Johnson earned her first spot at an NCAA Championships after she threw a personal best 16.91m (55-05.75) in the shot put to finish ninth in the NCAA East.
• She becomes the third different Boilermaker women’s athlete to qualify for NCAAs in the shot put joining Dani Bunch (2012-14) and Stacey Wannemacher (2009, 2011). Four of Purdue’s five previous NCAAs in the shot finished in the top eight, led by Wannemacher’s fourth-place finish in 2009.
Chidozie Kalu | Triple Jump (No. 21 Seed) | Watch
• Kalu earned his first big to NCAAs as a Boilermaker when he finished ninth in the NCAA East triple jump (15.89m / 52-01.75).
• A sophomore outdoors, Kalu joined Purdue ahead of the 2024-25 season after he was a Second Team All-American outdoors at Virginia Tech in 2024.
• Kalu and Aniamaka are the third pair of teammates in Purdue men’s history to qualify for the triple jump at the NCAA Championships in the same season. Aniamaka and Safin Wills qualified in 2024 and Tamar Greene and Wills qualified in 2021.
Next Up
Purdue’s 2025-26 season concludes at the NCAA Outdoor Championships in Eugene and the program looks ahead to a promising 2026-27 campaign.
