Meacham Places Third in Pole Vault to Lead Jayhawks on Day One of NCAA Outdoor Championships

Wednesday, June 10

Eugene, Ore.

University of Kansas

NCAA Outdoor Track & Field Championships Day 1

Meacham Places Third in Pole Vault to Lead Jayhawks on Day One of NCAA Outdoor Championships

6/11/2026 1:18:00 PM | Track & Field

Day 1 Results Live Results Meet Info Schedule

EUGENE, Ore. - Senior Anthony Meacham earned First Team All-American honors with his third place finish in the men's pole vault Wednesday to lead Kansas on the first day of the NCAA Outdoor Championships at Hayward Field in Eugene, Oregon.

Meacham placed third in the pole vault Wednesday evening with a best clearance of 5.70 meters. The First Team All-American honors were the first of his career, and it marked the first time he has competed at the NCAA Outdoor Championships.

"Anthony's season was unbelievable," Kansas vertical jumps coach Tom Hays said. "I don't think that he'll understand for a while, but he moved into a world class vaulter and he dominated this meet. I can't believe how much he has matured. He is super special and he can be a world class pole vaulter for at least another decade."

Meacham got out to a fast start, entering the competition at 5.50 meters and clearing the bar on his first try. He then also got over 5.60 and 5.70 meters on his first try at each height, sitting in first place.

On the 5.75 bar he narrowly failed, while Nebraska's Dyson Wicker and Utah State's Logan Hammer both cleared it on their first attempts. Meacham ended up passing on his next attempts in an effort to go after the 5.80 clearance, which he also narrowly failed. Wicker cleared the bar on his first attempt, while Hammer failed once and passed to attempt 5.85 meters.

At 5.85 meters, going for a new personal best, Meacham clipped the bar on his way down and finished third. Wicker then cleared 5.85 meters on his first try while Hammer failed, passed, and failed at 5.90 meters.

Meacham's third place finish closes his collegiate career after winning three Big 12 Championships, being named an indoor Second Team All-American, being named an outdoor First Team All-American, winning Big 12 men's athlete of the week three times, setting the outdoor school record twice, and holding the second highest indoor clearance in school history.

"I'm kind of at a loss of words because he is so special to our program and because of everything he's done," Hays said. "It's kind of like when you are a basketball team and you fall short but are ranked number one all year. I feel like that's what he moved into this outdoor season because of how incredible he has been. He's just a special kid and we are going to forever miss him being on the team and I hope he sticks around to train because he can vault professionally."

In addition to Meacham, Michael Joseph and Stephen Maroro both earned Second Team All-American honors. Joseph's second team honors marked the second of his career, which he achieved by finishing 15th in the men's 400 meter dash with a time of 45.75 seconds. Joseph will finish his career holding the indoor and outdoor 400 meter dash school records and the 200 meter dash outdoor record.

Maroro, running in his first NCAA Championships, placed 11th in the 10,000 meter run with a time of 28:20.17. Maroro set the Kansas school record earlier this season with a 28:08.51 time at the Stanford Invitational.

Senior John Swabik began competition Wednesday in the decathlon, ending the day in 23rd place with 3,002 points. Swabik began the day with a 100 meter dash time of 11.35 seconds. He then long jumped with a best of 6.91 meters before having a top shot put throw of 13.02 meters. Swabik cleared 1.95 meters in the high jump, earning 758 points, before he was disqualified in the 400 meter dash due to stepping on the lane line.

The Kansas men's team ended the day with a total of six points, sitting in 13th place as a team. Swabik will kick off the second day of competition, Thursday, at 12:45 p.m. CT with the men's decathlon 110 meter hurdles. Following Swabik, the Kansas women's team will compete in their semifinals races and Mason Meinershagen will compete in the pole vault final.

The meet will stream live on ESPN, ESPN2, and ESPN+. More information about the meet can be found here, while the live results are available here and a meet schedule is here.

HOW TO FOLLOW ALONG
Fans can stay current with the events by following the official Kansas Track & Field and Cross Country X or Instagram account @kansastfxc. A broadcast schedule for the meet can be found here and live results are available here. Final results and a meet recap will be posted at the conclusion of the meet on kuathletics.com.