Rejoice! DMR Weekend Is Here!

This weekend is very exciting for many fans as qualifying for the distance medley relay for the NCAA Division I Indoor Track & Field Championships takes center stage.

From The USTFCCCA InfoZone: Meets & Results | Records & Lists

Some call it “DMR Weekend” – and for good reason as many programs reach their best DMR qualifying mark of the season on this weekend. In fact, for the last two years all 12 men’s teams that qualified for the NCAA DI meet raced on the third weekend of February and earned their eventual ticket to the nationals with that performance.

How did such a weekend earn this moniker? Let’s take a glance at four meets for clues.

Alex Wilson Invitational

Held on the 320-meter oversized oval at Notre Dame’s Loftus Center, this meet was once a “last chance” affair that has always been popular with distance runners, including DMR squads. In 2013, all 12 men’s teams that qualified for the NCAA DI Championships did so at this meet – and that when it was held just one week before the NCAA Championships. Of the 12 men’s squads who qualified for last year’s DI nationals, nine raced here, including five who now top the all-time chart for oversized tracks.

JDL Last Chance Invitational

The JDL Fast Track in Winston-Salem, N.C., rebranded the former UCS Invitational to the JDL DMR Invitational in 2019, encouraging its destination for teams seeking quick times on its 200-meter flat track. Marks produced here gain benefit for NCAA-qualifying purposes based on indexing that shaves roughly seven seconds due to the track’s being unbanked and 200 meters or less. JDL has a meet this weekend, but its name includes “Last Chance” instead of “DMR” – will that make a difference this year?

Arkansas Qualifier

The meet added an invitational men’s DMR in 2022 and a women’s race last year, but will only have a men’s competition this year. The men’s CR of 9:16.40 by Oklahoma State was set in this race last year as Washington (9:16.65) also bettered the old standard. Fifteen of the fastest men’s DMR marks in collegiate history on a record-legal track have been registered inside the Randal Tyson Track Center.

Terrier DMR Challenge

Every distance runner loves the oval at the Boston U. Track & Tennis Center, making this a natural magnet for the inaugural Terrier DMR Challenge. The women’s CR of 10:46.62 by Washington was set here last year. And that’s not all: both NCAA DII records and the NCAA DIII men’s DMR standards fell inside the same building at some point.

How Fast Is “Fast Enough”?

That’s always a moving target. Going into this weekend, the No. 12 program – the cutoff to reach the NCAA DI meet – is 9:44.58 for men and 11:10.35 for women. Those are likely to change radically by late Saturday. Both are nearly 20 seconds slower than the final qualifier in 2023.

Here’s a look at the time of the No. 12 program that qualified for the NCAA DI annually since 2014, the first year the Notre Dame and JDL meets were held on the third weekend of February (the number in parentheses is the number of programs earning their NCAA qualifying mark on DMR Weekend):

So When Are They Racing?

Here is this year’s schedule (subject to change):

Friday, 2 pm CT – Arkansas Qualifier – Men’s DMR

Friday, 7:57 pm ET – Terrier DMR Challenge – Men’s DMR

Friday, 8:21 pm ET – Terrier DMR Challenge – Women’s DMR

Saturday, 12 pm ET – Alex Wilson Invitational – Men’s DMR

Saturday, 12:15 pm ET – Alex Wilson Invitational – Women’s DMR

Saturday, TBD – JDL Last Chance Invitational – Men’s DMR

Saturday, TBD – JDL Last Chance Invitational – Women’s DMR

Note that other meets have been known to contest distance medley relays on this weekend, and it’s possible there may be some this year. Also, qualifying for the NCAA DI meet continues through February 25 (of 26 if part of a conference championship meet).