The Road To TrackTown

BOULDER – The road to Eugene looks different for everyone.

For some, it is built over years of steady progression. For others, it requires perseverance through near misses, a breakout season or the leap from walk-on to national contender.

But for Colorado's four NCAA Outdoor Championships qualifiers, every step has led to the same destination: TrackTown USA.

Next week, Abbey Nechanicky, Avery Pearson, Danny Tragarz and Kole Mathison will represent the Buffaloes on collegiate track and field's biggest stage. Their journeys have varied, but each has earned the opportunity to compete for All-American honors at historic Hayward Field.

A Familiar Destination

For Kole Mathison, qualifying for the NCAA Outdoor Championships has become a familiar accomplishment.

The junior steeplechaser will make his third consecutive appearance on the sport's biggest collegiate stage after placing fifth at the NCAA West First Round in a personal-best 8:30.36.

Kole Mathison competes at the NCAA West First Round

While the destination has remained the same, Mathison's progression has been evident each season.

As a freshman, he qualified for Eugene after running 8:47.05 and placing 11th at the NCAA West First Round before finishing 19th at the national meet. One year later, he lowered his personal best to 8:32.74 and again punched his ticket to nationals with a 10th-place finish at the West First Round.

Mathison has continued to build on that success this spring.

He opened the outdoor season with a victory at the Stanford Invitational, running 8:32.42 against one of the nation's strongest distance fields. He followed it with another personal best at the NCAA West First Round, where his 8:30.36 earned a fifth-place finish and a return trip to Eugene.

Now entering his third NCAA Championship appearance, Mathison arrives in TrackTown with the fastest qualifying mark and highest regional finish of his career, positioning himself to contend for All-American honors.

Years in the Making

For Abbey Nechanicky, the road to TrackTown has been years in the making.

After falling short of a national championship berth in each of her first two seasons, the junior finally secured her spot in Eugene with a 12th-place finish at the NCAA West First Round.

Abbey Nechanicky competes at the NCAA West First Round

Nechanicky showed promise early in her Colorado career, qualifying for the West First Round as a freshman after placing fourth in the 10,000 meters at the Pac-12 Championships. She went on to run a personal-best 34:48.09 at the regional meet, finishing 15th and narrowly missing a trip to nationals.

Her sophomore season featured another breakthrough, highlighted by a 33:29.00 performance at the Raleigh Relays. Though she again advanced to the NCAA West First Round, a 20th-place finish ended her season one step short of Eugene.

This year, Nechanicky put together the strongest campaign of her career.

She opened the season with a program-record 32:23.93 before returning to the West First Round and running 32:33.14 to place 12th, claiming the final qualifying spot and punching her ticket to the NCAA Championships.

An Immediate Impact

Graduate student Avery Pearson wasted no time making her presence known in Boulder.

In her first indoor 800-meter race as a Buffalo, Pearson ran 2:04.15 before lowering her time to 2:03.21 two weeks later.

Just one week after that, she delivered a breakthrough performance, clocking 2:00.76 at altitude to set the Colorado soil record and qualify for the NCAA Indoor Championships.

Although she narrowly missed advancing to the NCAA Indoor final, Pearson carried that momentum into the outdoor season.

She opened with a runner-up finish at the Stanford Invitational in 2:01.46 before lowering her season best to 2:00.91 at the Bryan Clay Invitational, where she placed fourth in the elite section.

After navigating a challenging Big 12 Championship race, Pearson responded when it mattered most.

The graduate student advanced through the opening round at the NCAA West First Round before securing her first NCAA Outdoor Championship berth with a ninth-place finish in 2:02.04.

Now headed to TrackTown, Pearson finds herself in position to cap an impressive debut season in black and gold with All-American honors.

From Walk-On to Nationals

No road to TrackTown has looked quite like Danny Tragarz's.

When the junior arrived in Boulder in the fall of 2023, he wasn't on Colorado's roster. Instead, he spent his first weeks on campus participating in a two-week tryout, determined to earn a spot with the Buffs.

Danny Tragarz Competes at the NCAA West First Found

The progression came quickly. After qualifying for the NCAA West First Round as a freshman, Tragarz continued to climb Colorado's all-time lists over the next two seasons. During the 2026 indoor campaign, he ran 46.69 in the 400 meters to move to No. 2 in program history before helping the Buffaloes' distance medley relay earn First Team All-American honors at the NCAA Indoor Championships.

His momentum carried outdoors. Tragarz lowered his 400m hurdles personal best from 51.87 as a freshman to 49.84 this spring, finishing runner-up at the Big 12 Championships and moving to No. 2 all-time at Colorado. He then secured his first trip to the NCAA Outdoor Championships with a ninth-place finish at the NCAA West First Round.

Three years after arriving in Boulder with the goal of making the team, Tragarz will take the track in Eugene as one of the nation's top 400m hurdlers.

Their roads have not been the same.

One athlete arrives as a three-time national qualifier. Another finally broke through after years of coming up short. One made an immediate impact in her lone season in Boulder, while another transformed from walk-on to NCAA Championship competitor.

Different journeys. Same destination.

The NCAA Division I Outdoor Track & Field Championships will take place June 10–13 in Eugene, Oregon at Hayward Field.