Meet Recap: 2025 NCAA DI Indoor T&F Championships

Champions were crowned at the 2025 NAIA Indoor Track & Field Championships!

The meet was held at the Virginia Beach Sports Center in Virginia Beach, Virginia.

From The USTFCCCA InfoZone: Meets & Results
Related: National Championships Central

Men’s Recap

It took a while – more than an hour after the final event – for the team results to be final, but Southern California won the team title for the first time since 1972. The Trojans scored 39 points without winning a single event, and their most points came in the 200 meters that included an athlete – Garrett Kaalund – who was admitted to the meet only on Tuesday as a replacement for a late scratch.

Kaalund entered with a best of 20.67, 16^th fastest of the 16 entrants. He PRed in the prelims at 20.54, then ran 20.56 in the final for an unexpected five team points as the Trojans’ total of 39 points was six points ahead of runner-up Georgia’s 33.

Meet records were set in four events, with two of them seeing five or more better the old standard.

Brian Musau of Oklahoma State won the 5000 in 13:11.34, leading a total of seven under the meet record of 13:19.01 set by Abdihamid Nur of Northern Arizona in 2022. Habtom Samuel of New Mexico was runner-up in 13:11.78, while Wake Forest’s Rocky Hansen (13:12.65) was one of five who PRed in the race.

The distance medley relay lived up to its billing in a zany year of fast running. Five squads broke the MR of 9:19.98 set by Oregon in 2021, and the race came down to a duel up front between ACC rivals Virginia and North Carolina, featuring the two fastest all-time collegiate milers on anchor.

UNC’s Ethan Strand had control of the DMR until UVA’s Gary Martin bolted ahead with less than two laps to go to wrap up the Cavaliers’ victory in 9:15.12 with a 3:48.12 for the closing 1600 meters. Strand, who split 3:49.23 for the Tar Heels’ 9:17.17, got a bit of revenge in the 3000 the next night, winning in 7:52.03 over the 7:52.69 by Martin.

The weight throw had three efforts over the previous meet record – all by Wyoming’s Daniel Reynolds, whose best heave of 25.08m (82-3½) moved him to No. =2 collegian all-time. Two others bettered 80-feet – returning runner-up Trey Knight of CSUN at 24.49m (80-4¼), just a centimeter ahead of Iowa’s Ryan Johnson at  24.48m (80-3¾). Knight was shy of his 24.87m (81-7¼) from earlier this year that has him No. 4 all-time collegiately, while Johnson is now No. =5.

The mile’s meet record fell to Abel Teffra of Georgetown. Teffra outkicked Washington’s Nathan Green – the 2023 NCAA DI Outdoor 1500 champ – to cross the line in 3:53.60 in lowering the MR of 3:53.71 by Oregon’s Cole Hocker from 2021. Green was runner-up in 3:53.99.

Not setting a meet record – but equaling the fastest time in the world this year – was Carli Makarawu of Kentucky in the 200 at 20.13. He got revenge over Auburn’s Makanakaishe Charamba, who won the SEC title over Makarawu in the then world-leading time of 20.13. Charamba was runner-up here in 20.16.

Women’s Recap

Oregon won convincingly with 55 points – their first women’s title since 2017 and eighth all-time (all since 2010). The Ducks won just one event – the mile by Wilma Nielsen – but had five runner-up finishes to score all of their 55 points in six events. Two of those runner-up finishes came from sprinter Jadyn Mays, who PRed in the 200 at 22.45 after a second place in the 60 at 7.12, another seasonal best.

Three meet records were highlighted by a Collegiate (and American) Record by Isabelle Whittaker of Arkansas in the 400 meters. Running in the first section, she blazed a 49.24 to eclipse the CR/AR (and Razorback school record) of Britton Wilson, who clocked 49.48 in 2023. Whittaker’s mark is also the second-fastest in world history.

The Moll twins – the two highest pole vaulters in collegiate history – continued their incredible rivalry. Defending champ Hana was in the lead until Amanda cleared the winning height of 4.70m (15-5) – a meet record – on her first attempt, while Hana needed three tries. They were the only ones to better 15-feet, a height with which a record eight vaulters had exceeded.

Four squads broke the meet record in the distance medley relay, led by BYU at 10:45.34 with a 4:25.12 anchor from Riley Chamberlain in the 1600. Oregon (10:45.99), Providence (10:46.28) and LSU (10:47.17, a program record) were also well under the previous MR of 10:50.98 – a then-CR – run by Tennessee in 2009.

Notre Dame’s Jadin O’Brien won a third-straight pentathlon with a PR 4596 points to become No. 5 collegian all-time. Her trio of victories in the event puts her alongside Jackie Johnson of Arizona State (2006-08), Brianne Theisen of Oregon (2010-12) and Kendell Williams of Georgia (2014-17), with the latter winning four.

Indya Mayberry moved to No. 4 collegian all-time in the 200 with her 22.30 victory. Among those in her wake was defending champ JaMeesia Ford of South Carolina.

Two field events had very close finishes – the high jump ended in a tie between Temitope Adeshina of Texas Tech and Elena Kulichenko of Georgia at 1.94m (6-4¼), while the tiebreaker went to a third-best effort (and just 1cm at that) to separate Oklahoma’s Agur Dowl from Texas Tech’s Tamiah Washington, who both had bests of 13.72m (45-0¼).