Eugene, Ore. — Ole Miss women’s track and field senior Alicia Burnett secured a spot in the NCAA 100-meter dash final during the first day of competition at Hayward Field, according to the university’s athletics department.
Burnett finished second in her heat with a time of 11.03 seconds (+0.6 wind), narrowly missing first place but earning an automatic bid to Saturday’s final. She was the eighth-fastest runner overall in the semifinals, which featured a collegiate record-setting performance by Georgia freshman Adaejah Hodge, who clocked 10.63 seconds.
This is Burnett’s fourth trip to the national final in the women’s 100-meter dash. She is joined by a select group of Ole Miss sprinters to reach this stage, including Teneeshia Jones in 2001 and Olympian McKenzie Long, who competed in 2023 and won the national title in 2024 after multiple finals appearances.
Burnett also led off Ole Miss’ 4×100-meter relay team, which finished ninth in the semifinals with a season-best time of 43.20 seconds. The relay team included redshirt freshman Zion Lockette, freshman Patchnalie Compere, junior Royanah Farmer and Burnett. Despite their impressive performance, the team did not advance to the finals, as Florida State secured the final spot.
Ole Miss’s relay effort earned the team second-team All-America honors, the first career All-America awards for Lockette, Compere and Farmer. Day three of the NCAA Championships will feature the men’s team, with reigning high jump champion Arvesta Troupe competing Friday evening and Jordan Urrutia racing in the men’s 200-meter final later that night, broadcast on ESPN2.
