Ole Miss to Host 2026 Joe Walker Invitational at Prefontaine Stadium
OXFORD, Miss. — Ole Miss track and field will host the ninth Joe Walker Invitational this weekend at Prefontaine Stadium. The event begins at noon CT on Friday and 10 a.m. CT on Saturday, with both days streamed live on SEC Network+.
The meet features 15 schools, 27 teams, and 454 athletes competing in a range of events. Among the participating institutions are Alabama-Huntsville, Arkansas State, Ole Miss, Vanderbilt, and Purdue Fort Wayne.
The Joe Walker Invitational is named after the late Ole Miss coach who led the Rebels to 11 top-20 national finishes and coached 124 All-Americans during his 30-year career. Walker was inducted into the Ole Miss M-Club Hall of Fame in 2016 and the Mississippi Sports Hall of Fame in 2018.
Ole Miss will honor 28 seniors on Saturday as part of Senior Day festivities. The group includes Beth Arentz, Sophie Baumann, Cade Flatt, and Landen McNair, among others, along with four-year student manager Bailey Wood.
Prefontaine Stadium, renamed in 2025, was built in 2004 and underwent $7.2 million in upgrades in 2017. The complex features seating for 1,500 spectators and a new locker room facility added in 2022. The renovations helped the venue host the 2022 SEC Outdoor Championships, generating an estimated $2.8 million for the Oxford community.
Ole Miss’s men’s team is ranked No. 6 in the USTFCCCA outdoor rankings, up from No. 5 at the start of the season. The program has shown strong performances recently, including school records at the Stanford Invitational and notable NCAA top-50 times from several athletes. Senior Kidus Misgina set the SEC-leading 10K time of 28:17.69, ranking 20th nationally.
Four-time NCAA shot put champion Tarik Robinson-O’Hagan continued his impressive season, winning at LSU and extending his collegiate lead in the event. His season-best shot put of 20.81 meters and his hammer throw of 77.62 meters rank among the best nationally and worldwide. Robinson-O’Hagan’s performances have earned him SEC Field Athlete of the Week honors twice this season.
Ole Miss’s relay teams have also made an impact, with the men’s 4×100 relay setting a school record with a time of 38.98 seconds at the Ole Miss Classic. The 4×400 relay posted a time of 3:06.13, ranking 17th nationally. Several Rebel athletes rank in the top 25 nationally in their events, including Sterling Scott in the triple jump and Nyah Edwards in the hammer throw.
Head coach Connie Price-Smith, in her 11th season, has led the Rebels to 21 NCAA top-25 team finishes and coached 23 NCAA champions. The team continues to build momentum heading into postseason competition.
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