Ten Men’s Storylines To Follow At 2025 NCAA DI Indoor T&F Championships

EDITOR’S NOTE: This is by Doug Binder of DyeStat.com.

The 60th NCAA Indoor Championships is Friday and Saturday at the Virginia Beach Sports Complex. Here are some of the top storylines heading into the meet.

USC Trojans Aim To Bounce Back

Everybody saw what happened to USC at the end of the Big Ten Indoor Championships. 

Meet officials flagged USC for contact during the 4×400 relay and a subsequent DQ that left many observers scratching their heads. It prevented the Trojans from claiming the team title in its new conference. 

But USC moved on from that episode with a bigger job to do and the DQ now serves as motivation heading to Virginia Beach. 

The combination of JC Stevenson and Johnny Brackins is at the heart of a potential title run. Stevenson is the national leader in the long jump and also a contender in hotly competitive 60 meters. Brackins is the favorite in the 60-meter hurdles and could also give his team big points in the long jump. 

Add in William Jones as a factor in the 400 meters and if USC can get that stick around without any mishaps in the 4×400 relay, there is a chance that the Trojans could win this meet for the first time since 1972.

Incredible 3,000 Meters Lineup

In a season where the mile was such a focal point in January and February, it’s the 3,000 meters that has attracted many of the nation’s top distance runners. 

There is something about the lure of the 3,000/DMR double that has enticed collegiate record holder Ethan Strand of North Carolina to turn his back on the mile this week. 

Strand, instead, will be joined by teammate Parker Wolfe, Virginia’s Gary Martin, Villanova tandem Liam Murphy and Marco Langan, New Mexico duo Habtom Samuel and Ishmael Kipkurui and Northern Arizona’s Colin Sahlman in what should be one of the most exciting races of the weekend. 

It took 7:40 just to make the field of 16. Leading the way are Strand and Wolfe, who ran the fastest 3,000 meter times in NCAA history in December. 

Distance Medley Record Watch

It may require a collegiate record to win the men’s DMR and the best programs in the country are pushing their chips into this relay, which is primarily about having a great combo on the 1,200 lead-off and the 1,600-meter anchor. 

The team that can summon a 3:50 anchor, or better, is most likely to win th race. 

Washington, which ran 9:14.10 on its oversized track for an all-time best, is tailor-made for this event. North Carolina, with Wolfe and Strand involved, would seem a lock most years. Oregon, Virginia, Georgetown and Oklahoma State are also prime contenders. 

Tarik Robinson-O’Hagan Contending In Two Events

For the third year in a row, Robinson-O’Hagan of Ole Miss is entered in both the shot put and the weight throw. 

The junior is the defending champion in the shot put and swept the NCAA indoor and outdoor titles last year in the event before taking eighth at the Olympic Trials. 

He has placed third (2023) and fifth (2024) in the weight throw and will face a defending champion in Harvard’s Kenneth Ikeji. 

A bit of a wildcard this year is the vastly improved Daniel Reynolds of Wyoming, who threw an NCAA-leading weight mark at the Mountain West Conference Championships (25.06m).

All Eyes On Nathan Green In Mile

With some of the top milers in the country choosing the 3,000 meters, the spotlight is squarely on Washington’s Nathan Green.

The 2023 NCAA Outdoor 1,500 meters champion showed an incredible burst of late speed to win the Big Ten Indoor 3,000 meters title and it seems far-fetched that anyone else can match his kick. 

Green can extend Washington’s streak of NCAA mile/outdoor 1,500 titles to six straight. Luke Houser won the indoor mile last year. Green’s best this winter is 3:50.74. Five other guys in the field have run 3:52.

It’s worth noting that 139 men in Division 1 broke four minutes this season. 

Jonathan Seremes Taking Over Triple Jump

A sophomore from Paris, Jonathan Seremes wasted no time ascending to the top of the NCAA list in the triple jump and the NCAA Indoor Championships will be just his fourth collegiate meet for the Missouri Tigers. 

At the SEC Championships, Seremes jumped 16.97m (55-8.25) for the longest jump since Arkansas’ Bowerman Award winner Jaydon Hibbert in 2023. 

Kentucky’s Luke Brown, the runner-up last year, is the only jumper returning from the top five in 2024. 

Two 19-foot Pole Vaulters In Deep Field

Akron’s Hunter Garretson, who no-heighted at the NCAA Indoor championships last year, is one of three vaulters in this year’s men’s pole vault who have been over the bar at 19 feet. 

Russian newcomer Aleksandr Solovyov of Texas A&M no-heighted at the SEC meet but is also capable of winning the title. 

Simen Guttormsen, younger brother of two-time NCAA champion Sondre Guttormsen, is another contender and competed for Norway at the Olympics last summer. 

Clayton Simms of Kansas was second at the NCAA Outdoor championships last year and Kyle Rademeyer of South Alabama was the 2023 NCAA Outdoro champion. 

Auburn Set To Make Impact In Sprints

Two of the fastest men in the NCAA this year, Kanyinsola Ajayi and Israel Okon, are among the favorites in the men’s 60 meters. Ajayi owns the fastest time the nation at 6.51 seconds but he false-started at the SEC Championships. Okon, a freshman, has run 6.52. 

Arkansas’ Jordan Anthony won the SEC title and is one of a handful of legitimate contenders this week. 

Yet another Auburn sprinter, Makanakaishe Charamba, leads the NCAA in the 200 meters at 2013. 

Ajayi and Okon are from Nigeria; Charamba is from Zimbabwe. 

Another Tiger, JaKobe Tharp, is in contention with Brackins for the 60 hurdles title and was the NCAA Outdoor runner-up last year as a freshman. 

Cal Poly’s McCarthy Tops 800

Aidan McCarthy of Cal Poly broke the American collegiate record in the 800 meters this winter when he ran 1:45.09 at the BU Last Chance Meet. That was a stunning achievement that ripped more than a second off his lifetime best and made him the third-fastest collegian ever. 

McCarthy’s time exceeded Georgetown’s Tinoda Matsatsa, who had been the NCAA leader at 1:45.21 from the previous BU meet, the David Hemery Valentine Invitational.

Oregon duo Matthew Erickson and newcomer Koitatoi Kidali, who helped the Ducks win the Big Ten indoor team title, are also contenders.  

Peyton Bair Is Heptathlon Favorite

With Texas’ Leo Neugebauer finally out of the way, there is a big opportunity to secure the title of the best all-around athlete at this weekend’s NCAA Indoor Championships. 

Mississippi State’s Peyton Bair was second at the NCAA Outdoor meet last June and owns the best score (6,104) heading into the meeet. 

Freshman Jip de Greef of Illinois has also scored more than 6,000 points and The Netherlands product could be in the hunt for the victory as well. Miami’s Edgar Campre and Arkansas’ Jack Turner were third and fourth in the NCAA decathlon last June.