University of Connecticut Athletics
University of Connecticut
NCAA Outdoor Track & Field Championships
Josh Mooney and Maresa Hense Return to the NCAA Outdoor Track & Field Championships
6/8/2026 3:55:00 PM | Men's Track and Field, Women's Track and Field
STORRS, CT – The UConn duo of junior Josh Mooney and sophomore Maresa Hense are in Eugene, Oregon this week to take part in the 2026 NCAA Outdoor Track & Field Championship. Mooney and Hanse are back competing in the decathlon and heptathlon, respectively, at the NCAA title meet for the second-straight season.
This week's championships gets underway on Wednesday, June 10 and runs through Saturday, June 13 at Hayward Field in Eugene. It will be the 17th time the outdoor championships have been held in Oregon.
The decathlon starts on Wednesday, June 10 at 4 pm EST. Day one will see the 100m, long jump, shot put, high jump and 400m play out. The second day starts Thursday at 1:45 pm EST and features the 110m hurdles, discus, pole vault, javelin and concludes with the 1,500m.
The heptathlon gets underway on Friday, June 12 at 2:45 pm EST with the first four events in the 100m hurdles, high jump, shot put and 200m. Saturday will get underway at 5:30 pm EST with the long jump and conclude with the javelin and 800m.
Mooney ranks second in the nation in the decathlon entering the NCAA Championship. The junior collected a career-best and UConn school record 8,033 total points at the 66th Annual Mt. SAC Relays in mid April. He finished third that day and was the highest scorer among NCAA athletes entered.
During that event, he recorded new personal bests in the discus (44.47m), the 400m (49.22), the shot put (14.00m) and the long jump (7.12m).
At the 2026 BIG EAST Outdoor Championship, Mooney went home with a pair of gold medals in the 110m hurdles, running a new personal best of 14.00 in the finals, and the pole vault while also finishing second in the javelin. For his efforts he was the BIG EAST Most Outstanding Field Performer and the BIG EAST Outdoor High Point Performer.
In his trip to the NCAA Championship last spring, Mooney earned second team All-American status thanks to his 12th place finish. He finished with 7,662 points and earned a win in the javelin while also recording personal bests in the 1500m (4:44.15) and the pole vault (4.71m).
Hense enters this week's title meet ranked 10th nationally in the heptathlon after posting a career-best 5,816 points at the Mt. SAC Relays as well. She finished eighth in the field and won the 800m with a new personal best time of 2:09.03.
At the BIG EAST Championships in May, she posted a new personal best in the 200m, clocking a 23.94 in the prelims. This will be a third-straight NCAA Championship meet appearance for the sophomore after competing in the pentathlon at the 2026 NCAA Indoor title meet in March.
Last spring in Eugene, Hense earned All-American second team honors after finishing 15th in the field. Hense posted career-best marks in the shot put (12.37m) and the 100m hurdles (13.96).
The top-eight finishers in the field of 24 athletes will earn All-American honors while the finishers in the nine through 16 spots well be considered second team All-Americans.
The 2026 NCAA DI Outdoor Track & Field Championships will air on the ESPN family of networks. All the events in both he decathlon and heptathlon will be carried on ESPN+.
