Most Exciting Athletes To Watch At The NCAA Indoor Track and Field Championships

The 2023 NCAA Indoor Track and Field Championships return to the Albuquerque Convention Center for the first time since teams arrived in New Mexico in March 2020 before the meet was canceled due to the coronavirus.

What You Need To Know

– The meet will be held on March 10-11.

– You can find a full schedule of events here. | Women’s entries | Men’s entries| Live results here.

– Arkansas is the favorite on the men’s side to win its 21st title in program history. The Razorbacks are looking to snap a nine-year indoor title drought.

– Texas’ women will try to win their first NCAA indoor title since 2006.

How to Watch

Live coverage of the NCAA Indoor Track and Field Championships will be available with a subscription to ESPN+. You will be able to watch a tape-delayed version on Sunday night at 6 p.m. ET and Monday night at 7 p.m. ET on ESPNU.

The athletes I’m most excited about at this weekend’s NCAA Track and Field Championships:

NC State’s Katelyn Tuohy In The 3000m, 5000m and DMR

This indoor season, Tuohy has held her own against some of the best professional runners in the country. She clocked the NCAA 3000m record with an 8:35.20 at the Millrose Games – which is 10 seconds better than anyone else in the nation. (Alabama’s Hilda Olemomoi and Parker Valby have run 8:45.50 and 8:49.71, respectively.) She also leads the nation in the mile with a 4:24.26 NCAA record but opted to go for the 5000m double instead. She ran 15:15.92 just weeks after her NCAA cross-country title and wasn’t feeling her best. We’ll get to see what a healthy Katelyn Tuohy runs this weekend. She’ll also be part of N.C. State’s DMR squad.

Texas’ Julien Alfred In The 60m

Alfred is undefeated at 60m this indoor season. Before clocking the NCAA record of 6.97 in late February, she ran 7.02 on Jan. 21 and 7.00 in Albuquerque on Feb. 4 so she’ll be familiar the track and a heavy favorite to win her third career NCAA title.

LSU’s Favour Ofili In The 200m

After many great battles with Abby Steiner in 2022, a new rival has emerged for Ofili in Julien Alfred. Ofili is set to race the 60m and 200m. Despite the phenomenal season she had in 2022, she didn’t earn any NCAA titles so her moment is coming.

Her better shot at the title will come in the one-lap distance since she ran a personal best of 22.36 on Feb. 11, which was a world-leading time until Alfred went 22.26 to win the Big 12 Championships. Ofili is looking for he first-ever head-to-head win over Alfred but they’ve never raced over 100m.

Florida’s Jasmine Moore In The Long Jump and Triple Jump

She’s going for the NCAA double in the long jump and triple jump. She leads the nation in both events – 14.44m SB for the triple jump and 6.91m SB for the long jump. Last year, she completed the sweeps of all the horizontal jump titles and now has a chance to do so again.

Oregon’s Jorinde Van Klinken In The Shot Put

Last year was a fantastic year for the Arizona State-to-Oregon transfer. She was fourth at the World Championships in the discus and went on to earn a European Championship bronze medal for The Netherlands in the shot put. She threw the collegiate record of 19.57m at altitude in New Mexico on Feb. 11 so she’s the clear favorite to defend her title.

The Stanford Freshmen In The 800m

I’ve been impressed by Stanford’s Roisin Whittaker and Juliette Whittaker getting off to a solid start in their collegiate careers. Three weeks ago, Willis ran the second-fastest time in history with a 1:59.95. Whittaker was right behind her in 2:00.32. We got the chance to get to know them while covering them as high school seniors last year so it’s no surprise how well they’ve fared in their first year. Their biggest competition will come from LSU’s Michaela Rose, who is No. 2 on the NCAA list heading into the meet, and Florida’s Imogen Barrett, who is No. 4 with a 2:01.23 season’s best.

Florida’s Talitha Diggs In The 400m

Some of the early-season 60m work that Diggs was doing has paid off big time in the 200m and 400m. Her win at the SEC Championships added a good chunk of text to her resume with a conference title, NCAA record and American record in 50.15. Now, we get to get antsy to see if she can benefit from the altitude a little bit to go sub-50. Keep an eye on Arkansas’ Britton Wilson also entered in this event with a season’s best of 51.14.

Kentucky’s Masai Russell In The 60m Hurdles

Russell is in fantastic form heading into the NCAA Championships. She set the collegiate record of 7.75 on Jan. 20. She came so close to matching that en route to the SEC title in 7.77 – which is the second-fastest in NCAA history. She is undefeated in five hurdle finals this year and I expect her to continue that.

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Texas’ Crayton Carrozza In The 800m

This was a tough choice but I’ve been impressed by Carrozza in his runs at Boston University this winter and his unbeaten record at 800m. He ran a personal best of 1:46.28 on Jan. 27 and then went on to win the Big 12 title. He also went 3:56.79 for the mile on Feb. 11 and then took third in the mile at the Big 12 Championships. The biggest challengers will be Georgia freshman Will Sumner (1:48.28 SB at the SEC Championship) and Navasky Anderson (1:46.58 SB at the Music City Challenge).

South Carolina’s Anass Essayi vs. Washington In The Mile

I was so impressed with Essayi at the Dr. Sander Invitational in January that I had to get to know him after the race. He was hoping to get a spot in the Millrose Games Wanamaker Mile but didn’t get the invite and ended up running 3:50.46 at Boston University the same day. The only knock on Essayi is that he has not fared well in a championship setting. Last year, he was out in the first round of the 1500m outdoors. The year before that, he headed to the Olympics with a 3:34.58 personal best but was also bounced in the first round. We’ll see if he can figure it out in New Mexico.

He’ll have his hands full with Washington fielding six men in the mile. NCAA outdoor 1500m champion Joe Waskom is No. 2 on the entries with a 3:51.90 personal best. His teammate Brian Fay is just .13 seconds behind him on the list. I’m sure coach Andy Powell is getting to work on how to best prepare his guys for the rounds at altitude.

Tennessee’s Dylan Jacobs In The 5000m

The men’s 5000m is absolutely stacked with stars including Jacobs, Charles Hicks, Nico Young, Ky Robinson and Alex Maier. I’m highlighting Jacobs here because he’s been the best collegiate in some of the races where we’ve had NCAA stars competing among pros. Jacobs notched his NCAA-leading 13:11.01 at BU in late January and then was 7th in the 3000m at the Millrose Games in 7:36.89.

NAU’s Drew Bosley In The 3000m

I’ll pencil in Bosley as the favorite for the 3000m as the NCAA record holder (7:36.42) and the fact that he’s used to the altitude. We’ll have to see how he doubles back from the 5000m.

Texas Tech’s Terrance Jones In The Men’s 60m

Last year, we were robbed of an A+ showdown between Jones and Oregon’s Micah Williams in the 60m final at the NCAA Championships due to false starts. Earlier in the season, Jones tied the NCAA record of 6.45s. This year, he has raced at just one meet but asserted himself atop the NCAA list by clocking a 6.46 in the first round of the 60m at the Big 12 Championships before winning in 6.48.

Florida State’s Ismael Kone and Auburn’s Favour Ashe have also run 6.51 and 6.52 on the season, respectively.

Georgia’s Elija Godwin In The 400m

At last year’s World Championships, Godwin was one of the kindest people to interview after he earned a bronze in the 4x400m mixed relay and a gold medal in the 4x400m. His story of nearly dying when he was impaled by a javelin in practice in 2019 to running a world-leading 44.75 to win the SEC Championship has been nice to see get some attention from mainstream sports networks. As a senior, an NCAA title is missing from his career resume but that may just be the case for a few more days.

Florida’s Jacory Patterson

Patterson scored 18 points for the Gators at the SEC Championship with his win in the 200m in 20.29 and a second place finish in the 400m in 45.05 – only behind Godwin. Watch for him in the men’s 200m but he’ll have to hold off some strong challenges from Texas Tech’s Courtney Lindsey (20.20 SB), Louisville’s Cameron Miller (20.27 SB) and Georgia’s Matthew Boling (20.44 SB)

Princeton’s Sondre Guttormsen In The Pole Vault

No Mondo Duplantis at the European Indoor Championships led to a gold medal for the Norweigan pole vaulter last week. He cleared a personal best and national record of 5.90 back in February in Albuquerque so look for him to defend his title barring any disaster.

We’ll have Xavier Gallo as our boots on the ground in New Mexico while the rest of the team covers the 2023 New Balance Nationals Indoors in Boston. Thanks for reading! Let us know what other races you’ll be watching.

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Chris Chavez (@ChrisChavez)