How Southern's Alase overcame adversity to post nation-leading time ahead of NCAA postseason

It's rare to see an NCAA-leading mark run on a Tuesday, and even rarer for that mark to rank No. 2 in the world. Yet, Southern women's 100 meter hurdler Tashina Alase accomplished both at the 2026 SWAC Outdoor Track and Field Championships, putting the NCAA and the world on notice.

But Alase’s climb to the top of the leaderboards was no easy task. Now, she’s showcasing HBCU track and field on a national stage.

At the SWAC outdoor championships, Alase finished first in the 100 meter hurdles in 12.64 seconds. That mark is the fastest among all HBCU sprinters, a SWAC championship record and the fastest time in the NCAA this season. At the time of the conclusion of the race on Tuesday, May 12, Alase’s mark stood as No. 2 in the world behind only a 12.40-second finish from reigning Olympic gold medalist Masai Russell, who’s also the current collegiate record holder from her days in Kentucky in 2023.

SPEED KILLS 💨

Tashina Alase breaks the SWAC Record for the first time since 1985!! She also now holds the new NCAA Division I record for Women’s 100m Hurdles!! x

— Southwestern Athletic Conference (@theswac)

Alase’s time has since dropped to No. 4 on the world chart, behind Russell, three-time reigning world indoor 60 meter hurdle champion Devynne Charlton and world record holder Tobi Amusan. Joining such an impressive group has earned the Southern sensation plenty of attention on the track. After re-watching the race and reflecting on the outcome, Alase has begun to process the experience.

“It's been nothing but positivity, just a bit overwhelming, but I'm really happy about it still,” Alase said.

Alase’s among the best in the world as we enter the NCAA postseason this year. It’s a stark contrast from where she was just a year ago.

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Alase’s adversity

A quick search on Alase will show that she’s a senior in college. That might lead you to wonder, ‘Where did she come from, or where was she last year?’

The answer to that second question is that Alase was at home during the last outdoor season.

She suffered a bad car accident that crushed her big toe, causing her to miss the majority of last outdoor season. She was sidelined, unable to compete.

“I had come off of a really good indoor season, so I was really ready for the outdoor season. It was kind of hard to watch, but I knew it happened for a reason. I knew I'd come back stronger,” Alase said. “Recovering, what really motivated me was just thinking, ‘what I know I can do, where I was at before, and how I wanna be back stronger.’ Some days it was kind of tough, but it got easier over the weeks.”

Alase leaned on the support of her coaches Teremine White and Freddie Glover during her recovery process to get back to top form. White helped create the overarching support system for Alase as the head coach, while Glover — or Coach Freddie, as Alase calls him — was pivotal to her comeback as the team’s hurdles coach.

“Coach Freddie’s been there for me through a lot. He's the one from Dillard who saw the potential in me,” Alase said. "If it weren't for him, honestly, I don't know I would be running these times, especially just coming off of injury. He's just been very supportive for sure.”

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The accident and injury weren’t the first time Alase dealt with time off the track during her collegiate career. Alase wasn’t a Division I athlete when she started her college career. In fact, she wasn’t even a college athlete at all.

“ I thought I was going to just be a regular college student. I thought I was going to be okay with that. I really did, but it did not go well,” Alase said. “My whole routine and everything was just thrown off, from being an athlete my whole life. That's what kind of caused the itch. I was like, ‘No, you need to come back.’ ”

The itch to return to the track led her to NAIA HBCU Dillard University in New Orleans. Alase won her 100 meter hurdles conference championship and finished as an NAIA outdoor national championship finalist in the 100 meter hurdles in her first year on the track since her absence.

“After coming back from a year off and being able to make that in NAIA, I realized that if I were given a chance somewhere else, I could definitely reach higher places,” Alase said.

Alase’s higher place turned out to be both literally and figuratively as she headed north up I-10 from New Orleans to Baton Rouge, joining Division I HBCU Southern. It took her some time, but she finally found the home that has led her to the success she has today.

The build-up to 12.64

Given her journey and injury, it makes sense for some to feel that Alase’s record-breaking time at the SWAC Championships came out of nowhere. However, it’s not her first time leading the NCAA in the 100 hurdles.

She first landed an NCAA lead in the event when she finished in 12.71 seconds to close April at the LSU Alumni Gold meet. It was a race that Alase entered with intention. Alase never ran sub-13 before, and she wanted to put herself to the test against other women who had.

“Most of my races, I happen to run with people whose times are not as competitive, or I might have the fastest time,” Alase said. "When I saw my heat, I was like... ‘This is a perfect opportunity. Why not today?’ "

After beating the competition by .26 seconds — a short time that’s clear enough for a decisive win in track and field — Alase gained a new level of confidence. The race was pivotal to her confidence on the track as her first chance this outdoor season to go head-to-head with talent from the Power 4 level, specifically the SEC.

As Alase advances to the postseason, she’ll again get to race Power 4 talent on an even bigger stage, representing smaller schools. She’s yearned for a chance to run on the NCAA stage for over a year now. 

Before her injury in 2025, Alase ran 8.19 seconds in the 60 meter hurdles at the SWAC Indoor Championships for a new PR. Yet, she just missed out on the qualifiers for indoor nationals by less than a tenth of a second. That, combined with her injury from spring 2025, has created a chip on her shoulder, helping motivate Alase to her 2026 success.

“After my injury, my first day back out there, I was like, ‘I have to make indoor nationals.’ That was like my goal coming back, because I didn't like how I just barely missed it,” Alase said. “I don't really want to ever just barely miss something.”

Alase hasn’t barely missed anything this year, running 8.04 indoors in 2026 to make indoor nationals and running the fastest times of her life.

The doubters are still present

For all of the great times Alase has had this season, the fact that she runs at an HBCU not in a power conference still leads to some doubts. Some doubts make sense; Alase was the only non-Power 4 athlete in her event group at the 2026 indoor championships. But as Alase’s 12.64-second finish drew national attention, some have questioned the success of the HBCU superstar.

When it comes to track, the phrase echoed over and over again is “run your own race.” While that’s especially true in the hurdles where one small misstep can be the difference in landing on your feet, it's even more true for Alase’s approach to her newfound recognition in the face of doubters.

“Even when I ran at LSU, I know some people thought like, ‘Oh, she probably can't go faster than that.’ But I was like, ‘Mm, I definitely can,' ” Alase said. “I just let my races speak for me and my times speak for me. It’s really just leaving it all out there on the track and just letting the times speak for themselves. Especially in this age of social media.” 

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Preparing for the postseason

Alase’s next chance to tune out the doubters comes at the NCAA East First Round Meet, a meet she’s yet to race at during her collegiate career. She won’t be the only HBCU athlete in her event group this time as athletes from schools like Howard, Florida A&M, Alabama State, Norfolk State and North Carolina A&T are all entered. However, she will be one of just two women representing the Jaguars in Kentucky. Luckily, Alase has a teammate on the men’s side she can ask for advice, high jumper Roman Smith, who has two years of experience in the East region, including a third-place regional finish in 2025.

“Roman just really emphasizes like the little things... and staying consistent. So just really stay consistent, do all the little things you've been doing, and you'll be fine,” Alase said.

That consistency is part of the reason Alase and her coaches have altered her training schedule ahead of the first round. She’s been practicing in the evening to prepare for the 6 p.m. and 6:15 p.m. start times of the 100 hurdles in Lexington, while her overall routine at practice remains the same.

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The biggest change for Alase entering the first round will come from her name’s entry on the start lists. Alase is no longer the underdog, lesser-known hurdler from the Baton Rouge HBCU with fewer than 8,000 students. She’s now atop the list with her nation-leading time. She’ll be squarely on the radar of her competitors, a completely different position from when she raced at LSU back in April.

That would mean new pressure for some athletes in the position. But not for Alase.

“I don't really see it as pressure. I just feel like I know what I expect myself to do, and I know that as long as I stay consistent and, you know, keep up with my same routine, I will be fine, so I really don't feel any pressure,” Alase said. “I just feel like I have nothing to worry about if I've already done the work. Just go out and execute.”

If Alase executes to the best of her ability, she’ll have a chance to advance from the first round meet to Eugene, where she can attempt to become the first Southern Jaguar to win an individual title since Brian Johnson won the men’s indoor long jump title in 2003.

That was just three months after Alase was born. She couldn’t crawl the last time a Jaguar stood atop an NCAA podium. Now she’ll try to run and hurdle her way to program history and into the HBCU record books, as a woman hasn’t won an NCAA title in five years. She’ll get a chance to represent Southern on the biggest stages in collegiate track and field.

“I never really expected this. I had really big plans for this season, but I don't know if I really thought about what all would've come with it,” Alase said. “I'm just happy to be here, and I'm glad I can represent Southern and just show people that HBCUs are up there, too.