The NCAA track and field championships features some of the fittest and fastest athletes in the country every year, and 2019 is no exception.
NCAA TRACK AND FIELD: Schedule, results, how to live stream 2019 DI outdoor championships
With the championships set to start on June 5, here are the five female and five male athletes you won't want to miss:
CHAMPIONSHIP HISTORY: Men's outdoor T& F | Women's outdoor T& F
WOMEN:
Southern California earned the national title in 2018, but this year, the Trojans face stiff competition from within their own conference and beyond. Leading the way for Southern California this year is its trio of top-ranked sprinters including Twanisha Terry, Anglerne Annelus and Lanae-Tava Thomas. The Trojans have enough star power in the shorter events to put them in position to defend their first-place finish, but Southern California athletes won't be the only ones to focus on in this year's event. Jessica Hull of Oregon, Allie Ostrander of Boise State and New Mexico's Weini Kelati all have titles to defend as well, and they make up part of the dominant five athletes to watch on the women's side heading into this event.
Kayla White, North Carolina A&T
Kayla White is making a name for herself, not just at North Carolina A&T or in the Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference, but on the national stage, and she'll work to add to her legacy at this year's national championship. The senior Aggie brought A&T its first track and field national championship when she won the 200m Indoor NCAA title this year in 22.66 seconds. In the East Preliminary, White ran an 11.11 in the 100m, a 22.56 in the 200m, and ran second in a 4x100 relay team that finished in 43.41. In her last race in a North Carolina A&T uniform, White will attempt to solidify herself as the best sprinter in the country this year with two more individual titles in the shorter events. Her races won't take long, but don't miss White in her final runs as a collegiate athlete.
Yanis David, Florida
👀👀👀👀👀👀
— Gators Track and Field & Cross Country (@GatorsTF)
Here's the 🏆🏆 SWEEP that put on Watch List! 🐊
Yanis David is looking for gold, and for the senior field athlete, such a goal is within reach. After finishing third in 2017 in the triple jump and second in 2018 in the same event, David is striving to go out a champion, and she's in a great position to do that. A five-time USTFCCCA Outdoor All-American, David has shown her strength with podium finishes at the outdoor national championships in the long jump and the triple jump, but this is her final chance to take home the top trophy. She finished first in both events at the SEC championship, earning USTFCCCA National Athlete of the Week honors for her efforts, and she's primed to carry that momentum into Austin to add an exclamation mark on her career.
Jessica Hull, Oregon
Since the last Watch List release (May 1), @jessicahull143 has...
— oregontf (@OregonTF)
🏆 won a second-consecutive title at 1,500 meters
⏱️ run an -best 4:12.08 at the Payton Jordan Invitational
Jessica Hull is set to defend her 1500m national championship and pick up a third overall NCAA crown in Austin. The senior three-time All-American will race just the one individual event at the national championship, but if her Pac-12 title is any indication of her dominance in the distance, she's ready to make a final mark and go out a champion again. The most dangerous element of Hull's racing style is her kick, and the other top-seeded runners in this event — notably, Alexis Fuller, Sinclaire Johnson and Sarah Feeny — will need a strong start to hold off the surging senior from Oregon.
Allie Ostrander, Boise State
WATCH | The duo of Alexis Fuller and Allie Ostrander continue to dominate the 1,500-meter event! The two go back-to-back for the second-straight year!
— Boise State XC | T&F (@BroncoSportXCTF)
Allie Ostrander's track and field accolades are impressive. She has two NCAA national championship titles in the 3000m steeplechase, but what might be even more impressive is that she also has two Elite 90 Awards to claim, one from the 2019 Indoor Track and Field Championship and one from the 2017 Cross Country Championship. Now the redshirt junior will look to win her third consecutive NCAA title this spring in her signature event, but she'll have stiff competition in Adva Cohen of New Mexico — a sophomore distance specialist who finished in 9:44.41 in the West Preliminary. Cohen did not race in this event last year, and Ostrander crossed the tape more than six seconds ahead of second-place Charlotte Prouse. This year could be a different story, but after defending her title at the conference level in this event, Ostrander looks just as dominant as ever.
Weini Kelati, New Mexico
Way to go, Weini!
— New Mexico XC/T&F (@UNMLoboXCTF)
New Mexico is known for its distance success, and Weini Kelati is just the latest star to emerge from this dominant program. She finished second in the 5000m at the indoor championship and third in the 3000m. Now, racing in the two longest events at the national championship — the 5000m and 10000m — Kelati could pick up her first and second championship trophies in the same weekend. As a sophomore, Kelati will be a force to watch this year and in the two years to come.
RANKINGS: DI Men | DI Women | Championship info
MEN:
Georgia won the 2018 NCAA outdoor track and field title behind top finishes from Denzel Comenentia in the men's shot put and hammer and Karl Saluri in the men's decathlon. Saluri has since graduated, but Comenentia will arrive in Austin looking to defend not only his two individual titles but the team trophy as well. He's one of many talented athletes to take the field and track next month. Here are the five individuals who are poised for extraordinary performances:
Denzel Comenentia, Georgia: As previously mentioned, the two-time NCAA individual champion will aim to finish out his Bulldog career as a champion once again. Comenentia has already picked up an SEC title in his main event, the hammer throw, and is also seeded for the shot put and discus in the national championship. There's a tight field behind Comenentia — led by Kansas's Gleb Dudarev and Virginia's Hilmar Orn Jonsson among others — but if he continues to perform like he has, the senior thrower will be tough to beat.
Denzel Comenentia at :
— Georgia Track + Field (@UGATrack)
Shot put = 🥇
Discus = 🥈
Hammer = 🥈
2x Commissioner’s 🏆 winner with 26 pts.
Gilbert Kigen, Alabama: Another SEC star will make his final lap at the 2019 NCAA track and field championships as Kigen looks to take home gold in both the 5000m and 10000m events. The senior runner picked up a conference title in the 10,000m and finished second in the 5,000m, but he'll look for his first individual national title this year. Kigen finished third behind Kyle Mau of Indiana and Kigen Chemadi of Middle Tennessee in the East Preliminary 5000m, but he is seeded over two seconds ahead of the second-seeded Adriaan Wildschutt of Coastal Carolina in the national championship's 1000m. He'll be a force around the track in Texas and someone worth watching before he ends his collegiate career.
Gilbert Kigen follows up his 🥇in the 10K with a🥈in the 5,0000 meter w/a 13:54.84‼️
— Alabama Track & Field (@AlabamaTrack)
Divine Oduduru, Texas Tech
Divine Oduduru breaks 10s again!
— Making of Champions (@MakingOfChamps)
At the Big-12 Championships, he powered off to a dominant win in the men's 100m, flashing past the line in 9.99s (+0.3) well ahead of Joseph Sheffield who finished 2nd in 10.29s and Micaiah Harris in 10.34s.
Divine Oduduru's resume speaks for itself. The Red Raider junior won the 200m Outdoor NCAA title and has picked up five total All-American honors during his three years in the Red and White. Oh, and he's also the fastest 200m sprinter in the world this year. Oduduru broke 10 seconds again at the 2019 Big 12 Championships to claim another conference title, and he'll race the same event in Austin. At the NCAA championship, he will be running with a target on his back, but if he can push the pace as fast as he did last weekend, he'll not only bring home another title but a new record as well.
Rodney Rowe, North Carolina A&T
Like his senior Aggie teammate Kayla White, Rodney Rowe is also looking to solidify himself as one of the nation's top sprinters at the 2019 national championship in Austin. He won his second consecutive 200m conference title this year and also added gold in the 100m, and he'll now race the 100m for the first time in an outdoor championship with the possibility of winning the race outright in his first national attempt. Rowe is a budding sprinter whose already earned All-American honors and could pick up his first individual crown this weekend alongside his female teammate.
Grant Holloway, Florida
😲
— USTFCCCA (@USTFCCCA)
1️⃣3️⃣.0️⃣7️⃣
🔥🔥🔥🔥🔥’s Grant Holloway just blew the Championships record out of the water, took the 🌎 lead & improved his No. 2 all-time standing in collegiate history in the 110H!
That was just the prelims, too 🤭
Grant Holloway has been an athlete to watch for the last three years, and this season, in his third NCAA Outdoor championship performance, he's looking to become even more successful. A versatile athlete, Holloway is a four-time NCAA champion and four-time SEC champion, as well as the No. 2 110m hurdler in NCAA history. Holloway will attempt to cement his name into NCAA track and field history with a fifth and perhaps sixth individual title.
CHAMPS SEASON: 2019 NCAA Division I men’s &; women’s outdoor track & field east and west preliminary championships selections
