The conclusion of the 2023 DI outdoor track and field championships in early June didn’t stop the excitement surrounding college track as the transfer portal carried the offseason torch. Some of NCAA track and field’s best now have new homes after exciting moves.
We’re tracking some of the top transfers from the 2023 offseason below.
Athletes with a new home
Here are some athletes that have found a new home through the transfer portal during the 2023 offseason.
All transfer news is updated through August 1, 2023.
Men
*Jordan Anthony played football and ran track and Kentucky and transferred to play football for Texas A&M
Reheem Hayles continues the exodus of talent from North Carolina A&T over the last two years after former coach Duane Ross left, with Hayles’ sixth-place finish in the 400 meters giving him the highest 2023 finish of any men’s transfer listed above. Speaking of high finishes, Arkansas transfer Apalos Edwards took third in 2022 in the triple jump and he now joins collegiate record holder Jaydon Hibbert to form the best triple-jump duo in the NCAA.
A few DII and DIII transfers stand out in Oussama El Bouchayby, Dario Matau and Ryan Wilson. All three were highly successful at their levels, with Wilson holding Division III records in the indoor 800 meters, indoor Mile, and the outdoor 1500 meters.
Women
A quick glance at the women’s transfers and you’ll see Florida — for the second year in a row — is one of the most active teams in the portal. The Gators took advantage of the bevy of New Mexico distance runners that entered the portal after coach Joe Franklin left the Lobos for Louisville, grabbing two former Lobos in Ameliza Mazza-Downie and Elise Thorner. Throw in the addition of Flomena Asekol — who followed former Alabama distance coach Will Palmer, who joined the Gators in January — and Florida has added three elite collegiate distance runners to a roster that already included reigning outdoor 5000-meter champion Parker Valby.
When it comes to sprints, Karimah Davis followed her sprint coach Tim Hall from Kentucky to South Carolina this offseason. Davis is one of many Wildcats that entered the portal after Hall’s departure, including Colleen Branch (UCF), Anthaya Charlton (Florida) and Dajour Miles, who remains in the portal.
While Kentucky is losing a few athletes on the track, they might also have grabbed the top transfer in the entire portal in defending outdoor high jump champion Charity Griffith from Ball State. Griffith already donned the “Kentucky blue” that was once shouted out by Drake on hit song “Scholarships” at the USATF Outdoor Championships this summer where she finished fourth.