Howard Bison celebrating women's track members headed to Eugene

Howard University will be represented in four events at the 2026 NCAA Outdoor Track & Field Championships after a strong showing at the NCAA East Regional quarterfinals Saturday night.

The Bison secured a berth in the women’s 4×100-meter relay, with graduate student Marcia Sey, juniors Yahnari Lyons and Mackenzie Robinson, and freshman Nilijah Darden clocking a season-best 43.23 seconds to earn an automatic qualifying spot for Eugene.

Lyons also advanced individually in the 200-meter dash, posting an automatic qualifying time of 22.72 seconds. The Hampton, Georgia native narrowly missed qualifying in the 100-meter dash after running 11.33 seconds.

Howard’s strongest performance of the evening came in the women’s 400-meter hurdles, where sophomore Cenaiya Billups and senior All-American Aniya Woodruff each won their respective heats to advance to the national championship meet.

Billups shattered the Howard school record with a time of 55.09 seconds to earn her first NCAA Outdoor Championship appearance. Woodruff followed with a personal-best 55.43 seconds to secure her return trip to the national stage.

The Bison narrowly missed adding another qualifier in the 4×400-meter relay. Billups, Robinson, Woodruff, and senior Zoe Turner finished in 3:32.26, falling short of advancing. Robinson stepped into the lineup after sophomore Lindsay Johnson was a late scratch.

In the field events, senior Kelis Armstrong was unable to compete in the triple jump because of an injury.

The 2026 NCAA Outdoor Track & Field Championships are scheduled for June 10-13 at Hayward Field in Eugene, Oregon, where Howard will look to continue its historic postseason run.

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This story was originally published June 4, 2026 at 1:20 PM.