2024 NCAA Women’s Indoor Preview: Parker Valby and Olivia Markezich To Clash

The 2024 NCAA Division I Indoor Observe & Subject Championships will happen at a sold-out The TRACK at New Steadiness in Boston on Friday and Saturday. Under we preview the ladies’s mid-d and distance occasions for you in addition to the crew battle within the order that they happen. Our males’s preview is right here: 2024 NCAA Males’s Indoor Preview: Nico Younger Appears For NCAA Titles #1 & 2 & Can Anybody Cease The UW Milers?

*Schedule & Warmth Sheets *TV & Streaming

8:20 PM ET Friday – Girls’s 5,000 – Valby appears for her first indoor title

Occasion 23 Girls 5,000 Meter Run
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Title Yr College Seed
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1 153 Parker Valby JR Florida 14:56.11
2 13 Doris Lemngole FR Alabama 15:04.71
3 474 Amy Bunnage FR Stanford 15:11.68
4 377 Taylor Roe SR OK State 15:12.71
5 14 Hilda Olemomoi JR Alabama 15:17.44
6 373 Molly Born SR OK State 15:23.31
7 176 Chloe Scrimgeour SO Georgetown 15:24.36
8 316 Samantha Bush SR NC State 15:25.59
9 132 Ella Baran SR Colorado 15:26.66
10 137 Phoebe Anderson JR Columbia 15:26.87
11 578 Kenzie Doyle SR UMass Lowell 15:27.42
12 317 Grace Hartman SO NC State 15:29.92
13 106 Jenna Hutchins SO BYU 15:30.99
14 103 Lexy Halladay-Lowry JR BYU 15:31.03
15 102 Aubrey Frentheway SR BYU 15:31.69
16 477 Lucy Jenks JR Stanford 15:33.98

Florida’s Parker Valby missed final yr’s NCAA indoor meet with damage however she’s been unbeatable since as she received the NCAA outside 5,000 crown in addition to cross nation. Along with her outdated rival Katelyn Tuohy having gone professional after the XC season, one may assume there isn’t any approach Valby loses in 2024.

Valby, the primary collegian to interrupt 15:00 within the 5,000, actually deserves to be the heavy favourite however the NCAA is all the time filled with expertise and nothing is assured. The #2 seed Doris Lemngole of Alabama ran a 14:40 highway 5k final yr. That being mentioned, Lemngole misplaced to Valby at NCAA XC (Lemngole was 2nd however gaining on Valby late), the BU 5,000 in December, after which at SECs within the 3,000. At SECs, they had been in numerous heats however Valby received by 24 seconds.

If there may be an upset, my choose for the win could be Oklahoma State’s Taylor Roe. The 2022 NCAA indoor 3,000 champ is undefeated on the yr and has been killing everybody she races. When she ran 8:51 this yr, second place was 9:12. When she ran 15:12, she lapped everybody within the subject as second was 15:51.

#3 seed Amy Bunnage of Stanford is from Australia. She received Pac-12s in XC however was solely 59th at NCAAs.

Rojo’s Choose: Valby FTW.

9:00 PM ET Friday – Girls’s DMR 

Occasion 26 Girls Distance Medley
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College Seed
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1 Washington 10:43.39
2 Windfall 10:44.07
3 Notre Dame 10:44.62
4 BYU 10:44.67
5 Stanford 10:47.03
6 Oklahoma State 10:47.20
7 Oregon 10:47.50
8 Penn State 10:49.05
9 Arkansas 10:49.41
10 Boston Faculty 10:50.00
11 Virginia 10:50.58
12 Florida 10:52.06

Seed occasions don’t essentially imply a ton within the DMR as most of the legs may find yourself being run by people who find themselves drained from their particular person occasions. However on this race, I do know among the finest runners might be contemporary on the anchor. Notre Dame’s Olivia Markezich, the 2023 NCAA steeplechase champ and three,000 runner-up, might be contemporary as she’s operating the three,000 individually on Saturday night time.

I referred to as a prime NCAA coach of one other crew and requested him for his tackle this race and he mentioned, “Notre Dame. If Markevich is wherever close to the entrance when she will get the stick they may win.” That is smart as Markezich might be contemporary and is a 4:27 miler. He additionally thought Oregon and BYU would do properly. They too could have contemporary legs. Oregon has 5 milers beneath 4:35 this yr — solely two of that are within the particular person mile. BYU has 4 milers beneath 4:34 on the yr — solely one among which is within the particular person mile.

Rojo’s Choose: Notre Dame FTW.

7 PM ET Saturday – Girls’s Mile: Can Ramsden keep on prime as she comes again from World Indoors?

Occasion 21 Girls 1 Mile Run Prelims
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Title Yr College Seed
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1 200 Maia Ramsden JR Harvard 4:24.83
2 145 Flomena Asekol SR Florida 4:26.47
3 440 Kimberley Could JR Windfall 4:27.85
4 637 Chloe Foerster SO Washington 4:28.14
5 376 Billah Jepkirui SO OK State 4:29.64
6 343 Maggi Congdon SR No. Arizona 4:30.16
7 661 Ceili McCabe JR West Virginia 4:30.24
8 404 Klaudia Kazimierska SO Oregon 4:30.33
9 396 Silan Ayyildiz SO Oregon 4:30.38
10 175 Melissa Riggins JR Georgetown 4:30.73
11 437 Shannon Flockhart JR Windfall 4:30.83
12 607 Margot Appleton JR Virginia 4:30.87
13 433 Laura Pellicoro JR Portland 4:31.39
14 614 Anna Workman JR Virginia 4:31.91
15 424 Kileigh Kane SR Penn State 4:32.97

Defending champ Olivia Howell has left Illinois for Texas and didn’t make the meet so we could have a brand new champ in 2024. The #1 seed is Kiwi Maia Ramsden of Harvard, who’s the reigning outside 1500 champ. Final weekend, Ramsden was in Glasgow at World Indoors the place she turned in her senior thesis and ran 4:06 for 1,500 twice. Whereas she made the ultimate, she left Glasgow perhaps just a little dissatisfied as she completed tenth and also you wanted to complete eighth to choose up bonus factors for the World Athletics Rankings used to get into the Olympics.

Primarily based on these back-to-back 4:06s, Ramsden is in fine condition as meaning she will run 4:26 constantly, which few girls on this subject can do. However what if the tempo is gradual? I think about a few of you assume Ramsden could be actually weak as she has a 2:09 800 PR whereas the #2, #3 and #5 seeds in Flomena Asekol of Florida, Kimberley Could of Windfall, and Billah Jepkirui of Oklahoma State have all run 2:04. That may be a mistake. I talked to 2 NCAA coaches who each described Ramsden as a “nearer” and she or he closed nice in each races at NCAA open air. Harvard coach Alex Gibby thinks she might most likely run 2:01-2 within the 800 if it was a precedence.

Rojo’s Choose: Asekol and Jepkirui even have good endurance for milers as they had been sixth and seventh in crossncountry (Ramsden was tenth). Could is probably the most improved girl within the race as she had a 4:37 PR to start out the yr (4:13 for 1500). Ramsden’s had lots on her plate not too long ago. This goes one among two methods. Ramsden, free of her thesis obligations and being at residence in Boston, crushes it … or Ramsden, a bit drained from World Indoors will get crushed. I’m going with the previous. Ramsden FTW.

7:3o PM ET Saturday – Girls’s 800: Does Michaela Rose Get NCAA Title #2?

Occasion 20 Girls 800 Meter Run Prelims
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Title Yr College Seed
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1 284 Michaela Rose JR LSU 1:59.25
2 481 Juliette Whittaker SO Stanford 2:00.09
3 207 Kelly-Ann Beckford SR Houston 2:00.65
4 374 Gabija Galvydyte SR OK State 2:00.73
5 644 Carley Thomas SR Washington 2:00.95
6 199 Sophia Gorriaran FR Harvard 2:01.68
7 45 Sanu Jallow SO Arkansas 2:01.77
8 425 Hayley Kitching SO Penn State 2:01.77
9 122 Gladys Chepngetich FR Clemson 2:01.83
10 482 Roisin Willis SO Stanford 2:01.99
11 105 Meghan Hunter SR BYU 2:02.17
12 343 Maggi Congdon SR No. Arizona 2:02.20
13 640 Wilma Nielsen SR Washington 2:02.26
14 39 Ainsley Erzen SO Arkansas 2:02.46
15 575 Kate Jendrezak SR UCLA 2:02.64
16 623 Lindsey Butler SR VA Tech 2:02.86

Final yr, Stanford freshmen Roisin Wilis and Juliette Whittaker went 1-2 as LSU’s Michaela Rose was third. Open air, Rose obtained the win and she or he enters because the #1 seed and favourite. #4 seed Gabija Galvydyte of Oklahoma State was third open air final yr however she was crushed by #3 seed Kelly-Anne Beckford of Houston at Massive 12s.

Rojo’s Choose: Rose is seemingly higher than ever and there’s no probability she’ll be drained from DMR obligation the night time earlier than like Willis and Whittaker. Rose provides an indoor crown to her outside.

8:00 PM ET Saturday – Girls’s 3,000: Valby vs. Markezich

Occasion 22 Girls 3,000 Meter Run
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Title Yr College Seed
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1 359 Olivia Markezich SR Notre Dame 8:40.42
2 153 Parker Valby JR Florida 8:42.29
3 200 Maia Ramsden JR Harvard 8:46.84
4 141 Amina Maatoug JR Duke 8:46.89
5 376 Billah Jepkirui SO OK State 8:49.08
6 14 Hilda Olemomoi JR Alabama 8:50.07
7 400 Maddy Elmore SO Oregon 8:50.43
8 176 Chloe Scrimgeour SO Georgetown 8:50.97
9 103 Lexy Halladay-Lowry JR BYU 8:51.00
10 412 Kaylee Mitchell SR OR State 8:51.06
11 100 Riley Chamberlain SO BYU 8:51.21
12 377 Taylor Roe SR OK State 8:51.60
13 145 Flomena Asekol SR Florida 8:52.57
14 175 Melissa Riggins JR Georgetown 8:52.82
15 13 Doris Lemngole FR Alabama 8:53.10
16 108 Sadie Sargent SR BYU 8:54.12

This one may very well be actually fascinating if Markezich and Valby star on day 1. By all accounts this seems to be a two-woman affair. Valby, the one sub-15 girl in NCAA historical past, versus Markezich, who has run 4:27 within the mile this yr.

Rojo’s Choose: Markezich. After I requested a prime NCAA coach who he gave the sting to, he mentioned Markezich. He mentioned, “Valby must run 8:35 to have the ability to drop her.”

Just one girl in NCAA historical past has damaged 8:40.

Prime 5 Indoor 3,000 Girls In NCAA Historical past Per TFN8:35.20 Katelyn Tuohy (NC State) 2/11/238:40.42 Olivia Markezich (Notre Dame) 12/02/238:41.60 Karissa Schweizer (Missouri) 2/03/188:42.03 Jenny Simpson (Colorado) 3/14/098:42.29 Parker Valby (Florida) 2/24/24

Workforce Battle – Arkansas Continues To Roll

Trying on the USTFCCCA’s pc rankings, it appears just like the Arkansas Razorbacks aren’t lacking a beat after the retirement of longtime coach Lance Harter. The Hogs are the heavy favorites to repeat this yr of their first yr beneath Chris Johnson. It will imply the Hogs have received 4 out of the final 5 NCAAs as properly. In case you rating the accepted entries checklist like I did beneath, they’re projected to outscore Florida 66 to 47.

Arkansas – 66 factors

200 – 19 points2 Rosey Effiong SR Arkansas 22.513 Amber Anning SR Arkansas 22.605 47 Nickisha Pryce JR Arkansas 22.628 44 Shawnti Jackson FR Arkansas 22.77

400 – 28 points1 Amber Anning SR Arkansas 50.432 Kaylyn Brown FR Arkansas 50.833 Nickisha Pryce JR Arkansas 50.834 Rosey Effiong SR Arkansas 51.00

800 – 2 points7 Sanu Jallow SO Arkansas 2:01.77

4 x 400 – 10 points1 Arkansas 3:25.59

Excessive Leap – 6 points3 Rachel Glenn SO Arkansas 1.94m

Lengthy Leap – 1 point8 Nia Robinson JR Arkansas 6.51m

Florida – 47 factors

Mile – 8 points2 Flomena Asekol SR Florida 4:26.47

3,000 – 8 points2 Parker Valby JR Florida 8:42.29

5,000 – 10 points1 Parker Valby JR Florida 14:56.11

60H – 8 points2 Grace Stark SR Florida 7.90

Lengthy Leap – 8 points2 Claire Bryant SR Florida 6.72m

Shot – 5 points4 Alida Van Daalen SO Florida 18.59m

Extra: 2024 NCAA Males’s Indoor Preview: Nico Younger Appears For NCAA Titles #1 & 2 & Can Anybody Cease The UW Milers? Will Nico Younger arrive as a collegiate monitor star like Katelyn Tuohy final yr or will Ky Robinson proceed to dominate? Can anybody cease the UW milers? And who has the sting within the crew battle?