What NCAA indoor track and field collegiate records could fall at the 2024 DI championships after 11 records fell in 2023? Here are the records that I think should be on notice in March.
Records that have already fallen
We'll start with the collegiate records in events that take place at NCAA Championships. If an athlete broke the record once, obviously the record should be on notice to fall again at NCAA Championships.
- Women's 5000m — Parker Valby | Florida
- Women's DMR — Washington
- Women's High jump — Lamara Distin | Texas A&M
- Men's 5000m — Nico Young | Northern Arizona & Graham Blanks | Harvard
- Men's 400m — Christopher Morales Williams | Georgia
MORE RECORDS: Every collegiate track and field record broken in 2024, so far
Records that are held by current athletes but set in prior years
Two athletes, Terrence Jones of Texas Tech and Drew Bosley of Northern Arizona, own collegiate records that were set before 2024. Like the records broken this year, if an athlete broke the record once, obviously the record should be on notice to fall again at the NCAA Championships.
- Records held by current athletes
- Men's 60m — Terrence Jones | Texas Tech
- Men's 30000m — Drew Bosley | Northern Arizona
Now that those seven records are out of the way, let's look at the rest of the records that should be on notice.
2024 INDOOR T&F CHAMP INFO: Schedule, selections, how to watch, history
Men's records that should be on notice
- Mile | Record: 3:50.39 by Oregon's Cole Hocker in 2021
- Men's DMR | Record: 9:16.40 by Oklahoma State in 2023
- Heptathlon | Record: 6,639 by Georgia's Kyle Garland in 2023
I wouldn't be surprised if any of these records fall at the 2024 DI indoor championships. Starting with the mile, Northern Arizona's Nico Young has already run an altitude-converted time that's faster than the record when he ran 3:57.33 at nearly 7,000 feet. South Carolina's Anass Essayi was only .07 seconds off the collegiate record last year and has retained his top form, running the fourth-fastest time ever earlier this year. The 2024 mile field should be fast, and I think it may take a collegiate record to win this year's final.
Now to a pair of records broken last year, the distance medley relay and heptathlon. In the DMR, four of the eight-fastest times ever run were run this year. That DMR record seems like a lock to fall. The heptathlon record fell last year in an all-time battle between Kyle Garland and Arkansas' Ayden Owens-Delerme, with Texas' Leo Neugebauer finishing third. Neugebauer is the lone returnee, and he's since set the decathlon record outdoors. He has what it takes to shake up the record book for the second year in a row.
MORE: Georgia's Christopher Morales Williams sets world record in indoor 400 meters at SEC Championships
Women's records that should be on notice
- 60h | Record: 7.72 by Arkansas' Ackera Nugent in 2023
- 400m | Record: 49.48 by Arkansas' Britton Wilson in 2023
- 800m | Record: 1:58.40 by Texas A&M's Athing Mu in 2021
- Mile | Record: 4:24.26 by NC State's Katelyn Tuohy in 2023
- 3000m | Record: 8:35.20 by NC State's Katelyn Tuohy in 2023
- Long jump | Record: 7.03m by Florida's Jasmine Moore in 2023
The three safest picks as records to fall on the women's side are the 800 meters, mile and 3000 meters. In the 800, Michaela Rose has run sub-two minutes twice this year and said after her SEC championship win that she wanted to break 1:59 in that race. 2023's indoor 800 champion Roisin Willis has also broken two minutes in her career and is capable of breaking the record.
Katelyn Tuohy's two distance records could also fall at championships. Harvard's Maia Ramsden was only .57 seconds off of the mile record earlier this year, and Notre Dame's Olivia Markezich ran the second-fastest all-time 3000 meter time earlier this year. Florida's Parker Valby already broke the 5000m record this year and if she runs the 3K — without the slow pacers she had at SEC championships — she's capable of claiming a second collegiate record this winter.
The 60 meter hurdles record fell last year in one of the greatest years the event has ever seen. The talent in the event remains high as Southern California's Jasmine Jones, Florida's Grace Stark and LSU's Alia Armstrong lead the nation in the event this year. When all three take the track together, a collegiate record may be what's needed to win the indoor title.
In the 400 meters, Britton Wilson's sub-50 time may look far-fetched when considering no woman has run faster than Wilson's former teammate Amber Anning's 50.43 this year. However, Wilson didn't break the 50-second barrier until the indoor 400-meter final last year. I wouldn't be surprised if anyone from Arkansas' loaded 400-meter roster challenges the collegiate record at championships in a similar fashion.
The indoor long jump record should be on watch every time Ackelia Smith prepares to jump into the sand as she already owns a personal-best mark of 7.08 meters, .05 meters more than the indoor collegiate record.
TOP TEAM TITLE CONTENDERS: Men's title | Women's title
Bonus records to watch
- Men's long jump
- Women's pole vault
These records don't seem as likely to fall at championships based on performances this year, but new PRs from standout performers could launch a select group of athletes to the top of the record books.
In the men's long jump, Arkansas' Wayne Pinnock and Southern California's Johnny Brackins own the nation's top two marks at 8.34 meters and 8.23 meters, respectively. The collegiate record is 8.59 meters, a huge gap for both to cover. However, Pinnock has excelled all season and has two NCAA titles to his name, and Brackins is trending upwards after winning an American title.
The women's pole vault collegiate record is 4.75 meters, a few notches higher than Washington's Hana Moll's 4.64-meter mark that leads the nation this year. Moll is only a freshman, and the sky — literally and figuratively — is the limit for her based on her regular season success. She's already attempted 4.73 meters this season, so she's come close to the collegiate record height before.
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