The Best 10 Division I Universities for Track and Field

If you a runner that wants to go study to an American university while playing your favorite sport at the same time… Congratulations!! It is possible!!

Nowadays, there are great opportunities to try to obtain an athletic scholarship to go to the United States. In fact, it could be your best choice to deal with the expenses of this process. There are thousands of universities that offer the opportunity to international students to be part of their track and field teams. In this post, we are going to list the top 10 track and field programs in Division I of the NCAA.

Before we start with the list, it is important to highlight that you do not need to be a superstar to get an athletic scholarship in the USA. North America offers a huge amount of universities at all levels, some of them with a very high competitive level, and some of them with a lower level. It means that the chances of obtaining a scholarship vary from a very wide range, so getting one it can be easier than what you expect. However, the better runner you are, the better chances you have to obtain a desirable scholarship. For example, if you are able to get an athletic scholarship at one of these universities it means that you are a great runner!

Remember that you have in Mooxye all the general information and requirements you need to meet if you want to be admitted at an American university.

Which are the best Track and Field universities in the United States?

These are the top-10 runner teams’ universities in the United States:

1. Stanford University

Since the NCAA established the competition of Track and Field (outdoors) in 1921, Stanford Cardinals has won the National title eight times. However, it was in, at least, four appearances that they left the championship empty-handed, obtaining a runner-up position. On a more positive note, Stanford is well known because of the high level of its meetings, especially the Stanford Invitational. Although it is within the NCAA umbrella, Olympic runners use it to improve their times. Thus, Stanford is one of the best universities to become a great runner.

2. University of Pennsylvania – Penn

The track and field Penn team, from the University of Pennsylvania, is probably the most historical program in the United States. Although they only possess few National titles and almost all of them in Cross Country, they celebrate the Penn Relays. The event is also known as Penn Relays Carnival that is the oldest track and field competition in the USA. It is once per year, and runners from all the part of the globe go to run there.

3. University of Southern California

What else we can say about a university that holds more than 28 Indoor and Outdoor National Championships. The University of Southern California has a magic formula to win titles, and one of its ingredients was coach Cromwell. He made possible the team achieved nine titles in a row, similar to coach Mortensen who achieved seven consecutive titles. There is no doubt that Southern California has been one of the stronger colleges in outdoors competitions.

4. Louisiana State University – LSU

The Tigers and Lady Tigers have a long history of victories since the NCAA was established. They have had good and not those good times. Nevertheless, we cannot deny that LSU has one of the best national track and field programs. For example, only on women’s outdoor, the university holds more than 14 National Titles, eleven of them winning in a row. Regarding the men’s team, it is very competitive too. Although it only won four championships, it stands on the door of the title several times.

5. University of California, Los Angeles – UCLA

The home of the Bruins is one of the best public universities in North America. UCLA is not only good on the academic side; it is also the second university with more NCAA team championships (118). The school takes part in Division I on the PAC-12 Conference. This conference is one of the most competitive in the nation, being composed by Stanford, Oregon, and the University of Southern California, among others. The program of Track and Field has giving UCLA more than 12 National Titles.

6. University of Oregon

The fact that Oregon has already been tagged the “track town” gives a clue to understanding that its track and field program is among the top of the country. While other universities have a long way on their backs, the truth is that the University of Oregon has shown up recently and it looks that it has come to stay. For instance, since 2007, they have won seven indoor titles, two outdoors, and four cross countries. Not only that, the university has been the scenery of the 2016 U.S. track and field Olympic Team Trials.

7. University of Arkansas

The University of Arkansas is located at in Fayetteville, Arkansas, and its mascots are the Arkansas Razorbacks. This public institution competes in the Southeastern Conference (SEC). Due to its competitive level, they are among the top ten in the ranking NCAA Division I Team Championships, with a total of 46. One of its excel programs is track and field. Coach McDonnell made the team won 40 national championships: 19 indoor track, 10 outdoor and 11 cross country, which is more than any coach in any sport in the history of college athletics.

8. University of Florida 

Another university that takes part at the Southeastern Conference (SEC) is the University of Florida. It is one of the least historically successful team in this list since most of their successes have come in the last decades. Having said this, they have become one of the most competitive teams in track at the NCAA in this time. In the last six years, the program has achieved excellence. Some of the proofs are that men’s team has won two outdoors title with 4 runner-up positions as well as two indoor championships and 2 runner-ups.

9. Texas A&M University

The nickname “Aggie” refers to the athletes from Texas A&M University. It is the fourth university that is part of the prestigious SEC conference. However, the track and field program has become notorious on the national scenario thanks to coach Henry. After he left LSU, he moved to Texas to lead both women and men’s track teams. Both of them won 2009, 2010, and 2011 NCAA outdoor titles.

10. University of Georgia

The Georgia Bulldogs are among the few teams that could face and win Florida and Arkansas universities in the last years. It is true that being part of the Southeastern Conference means having great competitors and not always is easy to win. Thus, it makes the track program one of the best of the USA. In the last championships, both teams women and men have shown high competitive level up to the point that they got two National titles.

If you are a runner and you would like to compete at an American University, you should now register in Mooxye and create a profile. You will be able to share all your academic and athletic info so college coaches can check your profile out. You will find all you have to do to run in the USA.