EUGENE, Ore. – Purdue Track & Field’s men’s program opened up the NCAA Outdoor Championships with Samuel Vessat (400m) and the 4x400m relay earning spots in the NCAA finals, while Seamus Malaski earned a pair of Second Team All-American honors.
Vessat Notes
• Vessat ran 44.85 to finish second in his heat and earn the No. 3 seed heading into the finals. The time fell just 0.03s shy of his own school record.
• With his qualification to Eugene, Vessat became just the third Boilermaker to qualify for NCAAs in the outdoor 400m and is now the first to qualify for the finals. Brian Faust (2019) and Nicholas Parks (2016) both finished as Honorable Mention All-American after finishing 21st and 24th, respectively.
• The junior was the only Big Ten athlete to qualify for the 400m finals and one of two non-SEC athletes, joined by Georgetown’s Jaden Marchan.
• The final is scheduled for 9:02 p.m. ET / 6:02 p.m. PT on ESPN2.
Men’s 4x400m Notes
• The relay team of Victory Achakpoekri, Vessat, Jax Coleman and Zyan Greene ran 3:01.73 to earn an automatic qualifier to the finals after finishing second in its heat (tied for sixth overall).
• Relay Splits: Achakpoekri (46.06), Vessat (44.36), Coleman (46.21), Greene (45.12).
• The 2026 team is the first one in school history to qualify for the finals after the previous three NCAA qualifiers all finished as Honorable Mention All-American.
• Purdue entered the meet with the third-best mark from regionals (3:00.92) and sixth in the country.
• The final is scheduled for 10:21 p.m. ET / 7:21 p.m. PT on ESPN2.
Malaski Notes
• Malaski earned two Second Team All-American when he finished 14th in the shot put (18.67m / 61-03.00) and 16th in the hammer (66.19m / 217-02).
• He is the first Boilermaker to earn first or second team honors in either event since Chukwuebuka Enekwechi doubled as a First Team All-American in 2016.
• Malaski (2026) and Enekwechi (2016) are the only two Boilermakers to earn All-American status in the hammer throw, shot put and weight throw in the same season.
• The redshirt freshman was the only athlete in the country this season to compete in both the hammer and shot put at nationals.
• Malaski was the third-highest freshman finisher in the hammer and fourth highest in the shot put.
Next Up
Alexia Smith (400m) and Britannie Johnson (shot put) start Purdue’s women’s nationals on Saturday beginning at 9:41 p.m. ET / 6:41 p.m. PT.
