5 things to know about the 2019 DI outdoor track and field championships

The 2019 NCAA Division I men’s and women’s outdoor track and field championships begin Wednesday in Austin, Texas. Some of the best athletes on the planet will by vying for medals and records while trying to help their teams win the whole thing.

Here’s five things to know to get you ready for the championships.

2019 Championships: Schedule, results, how to live stream DI outdoor track championships

From Eugene to Austin

This will be the first time since 2012 that the Division I outdoor track and field championships will be held outside of Eugene, Oregon. In 2012, they were held in Des Moines, Iowa. This year, for the first time since 2004, they return to the state of Texas. The Mike A. Myers track and soccer stadium will play host to the event. The championships will return there in 2020.

ATHLETES TO WATCH: 10 student-athletes to keep your eye on at the DI championships

Hundreds of participants

Running, jumping and throwing in Austin will be women from 146 different schools and men from 126 different schools. The championships will begin at 1 p.m. on Wednesday with the 100 meters race in the decathlon and conclude on Saturday at 8:51 p.m. with the women’s final in the 4x400 meters relay.

CHAMPIONSHIP HISTORY: Men's outdoor T& F | Women's outdoor T& F

Recent SEC dominance in men’s track

Georgia won the 2018 title, beating Florida 52-42. It denied the Gators’ shot at a three-peat but continued the Southeastern Conference’s run of titles in the sport. The SEC has long been dominant in the sport, but we’ll begin in 1989, when LSU won its first of back-to-back titles. Since 1989, the SEC has won the outdoor men’s title 21 times.

Last practice day before #NCAATF in the 📚.

Johannes Erm begins the meet for the #Dawgs in the decathlon 100m at 2pmET.

Results ▶️ https://t.co/dpfDnOeJj4#GoDawgs #FindYourGreatness pic.twitter.com/Wj7g3ezCwI

— Georgia Track&Field (@UGATrack) June 4, 2019

Pac-12 on a roll in women’s track

USC won the women’s outdoor title last season, just beating out Georgia 53-52. The Trojans’ triumph made it three titles in four years for the Pac-12 in women’s track, as Oregon won the title in 2015 and 2017. Oregon was also the runner-up in 2016. The Pac-12 has long been competitive in women’s track and field — also winning titles in 2007 (Arizona State), 2004 (UCLA) and 2001 (USC) — but if the Pac-12 takes the title this year, in unfamiliar territory in Austin, it’ll be their third straight crown and fourth in five years.

📍 Austin, TX.#GoDucks pic.twitter.com/McIWDr1UTJ

— oregontf (@OregonTF) June 5, 2019

RANKINGS: DI Men | DI Women | Championship info

Will world-best times fall?

Maybe. There are already a few runners in the championships who hold world-best times this year, one of which is Texas Tech’s Divine Oduduru. He ran a world-best 19.76 at Baylor's Michael Johnson Invitational in April. He’s a five-time All-American and broke the 10-second barrier for a second time this year at the Big 12 Championships to add another conference crown to his trophy case. Florida’s Grant Holloway and Kentucky's Daniel Roberts will aim to improve upon their world-best times in the 110-meter hurdles of 13.07 seconds. They're also chasing the 40-year-old NCAA record of Maryland's Renaldo Nehemiah of 13.0 — which was a world record when he ran that time in 1979. A sub-13 race could also challenge the world record of 12.80 set in 2012 by the United States' Aries Merritt.