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The Wildcats launch their 2026 campaign at the Friday Night Axe 'Em Open at NAU on Friday.

In addition to the Lumberjacks, ASU, Arizona Christian, Cal State Bakersfield, Eastern New Mexico and GCU will be there.

It’s the UA’s first track and field season under new head coach Andrew Dubs. The UConn and Auburn alum took over for Fred Harvey, who led the programs for 23 years.

“It’s certainly big shoes to fill, I mean, he was here 38 years, as an assistant and then head coach,� Dubs said. “There’s eight championship trophies in my office, he was a part of most of them, at the national level.

“So, yeah, certainly it's inspiring, every day I walk into the office and those trophies are there. That's what we're driving to get to: the trophies at the national meet and not just that, but build a culture, build it the right way, build it with the right people,� he added. “So just taking what he's done, learning from it. He's still around town, so we've had some conversations, forming it into our own here.�

Harvey took on the title of Coach Emeritus.

Dubs served as a Division I assistant for 14 seasons before becoming head coach of the USA National Track & Field Team, a post he had for five years.

Arizona sent one athlete, freshman Evans Tanui, who finished 18th in the 5,000-meter run, to the Boston University Sharon Colyear-Danville Season Opener on Dec. 6. The whole team debuts on Friday at the Skydome.

Arizona’s indoor schedule includes meets at Texas Tech, New Mexico, Boston U and Arkansas, before the Big 12 Indoor Championships at Texas Tech. The Pac-12 did not have an indoor championships meet.

“It was kind of an unfamiliar territory from the Pac-12 to the Big 12, but it was a really cool experience to kind of have that competitiveness and real team aspect of getting team points, also individual,� said senior Hollan Powers. “So this indoor season, I'm excited to see how our team could ramp it up even more, and now we have a little bit of experience in our belts and how we can all be together to support individually, focus on what we need to do, but also come together, cheer each other on and see how we can do it.

“So that's probably what I'm most excited for and I think have a big potential to score some points.�

Powers finished runner-up in the pentathlon at the Big 12 Indoor Championships last year with a season-best 4,080 points and a personal-best 8.33 in the 60m hurdles.

UA’s outdoor schedule will be released in March, but the Wildcats will host the Big 12 Outdoor Track and Field Championships in May.

Senior sprinter Mason Lawyer is also new to the program, having transferred from Washington State. He competed at the NCAAs in the 100m, 200m, and 4×100 relay.

He followed new UA assistant Gabriel Mvumvure, who came to Tucson from Wazzu.

“When I got down here on my visit, as soon as I stepped off the plane, saw the university, I knew this was the best for me, that weather, better than up there, cold and rainy,� Lawyer said. “So the weather's always good to help you run faster and just Mvumvure’s my guy.�

Mvumvure, who is coaching sprints, hurdles and relays at Arizona, coached at WSU for three seasons, where the Cougars he coached had 247 personal bests, 81 of Washington State’s all-time top-10 performances, 26 school records, 11 freshmen records, seven All-Americans and NCAA Outdoor semifinalists and an NCAA Outdoor runner-up.

“I have one year of eligibility left, so why not? He knows me as a person and as a runner,� Lawyer said. “So with the support from Dubs and the new staff here, they were able to put everything together and just have a great year.�

Another leader for the Wildcats is senior high jumper Emma Gates. The American jumped a personal record of 1.91m (6-3¼�) to place third at the 2025 USA Outdoor Track & Field Championships to qualify for the World Athletics Championships.

In Dubs’s first season at Arizona in the fall, the men’s cross country team finished 12th at the NCAA West Regional and the women 24th.

Tanui finished ninth and advanced to the NCAA Championships. The rookie finished 44th in a field of 259 runners, running a lifetime-best 29:10.3.

The Kenyan became the first Wildcat to run at the NCAA Championships in seven years and was the UA’s best finish since Stephen Sambu was second in 2012.

Tanui was one of 10 freshmen to finish in the top 50 nationally.

“I was actually meeting and talking about Desireé (Reed-Francois, UA athletic director) earlier and it was exciting to see the progress we made this fall, every athlete on the team had a PR,� Dubs said. “And getting Evans, the true freshman all the way to the national championship race was just outstanding and he came back and doubled it up nine days later and ran a great race in the national meet, just missing All-American, I don't quite think he knows what that means yet, but we're teaching him.�

Dubs, who was hired in June, signed athletes like Mercy Chepkemoi, who is No. 12 in the U20 cross country world rankings, Anna Ptaszek, who is rising up the hierarchy of Canada’s rising distance runners and Cady Key, from Houston, one of the nation’s top high school hurdlers.

“I think that's a great foundation move, because everybody on that team, not everybody, but the majority of them are underclassmen, they're all coming back next year, got a great haul in recruiting, a couple of the top runners in the world coming in,� Dubs said about the cross country season. “So, yeah, we're looking to take what we did this fall and really parlay it into next fall with those new editions.�