The indoor track season is in full swing as we enter the depths of January. While early in the season, we've seen some impressive starts that could carry over into the indoor national championships in Virginia Beach in March.
Of course, there's the obvious. The two collegiate records set by Florida's Jenoah McKiver and Georgetown's Tinoda Matsatsa stood out. But let's look at the other eye-popping numbers and performances from the first month of the year.
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6.5s galore in the men's 60
Twelve men have run 6.60 or below in the 60 meters, and it's only mid-January. Of those 12, Cal's David Foster and Texas Tech's Shawn Brown ran 6.6 or faster twice in January, while Penn State's Ajani Dwyer and Washington State's Mason Lawyer ran 6.6 or faster twice in December. Florida's Wanya McCoy ran sub-6.6 three times in the same day at the Corky Classic.
๐๐ค๐ฉ ๐ข๐๐จ๐จ๐๐ฃ๐ ๐๐ง๐ค๐ช๐ฃ๐.
โ Cal XC/Track & Field (@CalTFXC)
David Foster posted the second-fastest time in the NCAA this season at the Spokane Sports Showcase, finishing the 60m in 6.54. ๐ฎโ๐จ๐ป
Why is this impressive? Because 6.60 seconds in the 60 meters was good enough for third at last year's championships and would've qualified a sprinter for the final in two of the last three championships.
It's exciting that 12 different men are running so fast, so early into the year. It raises the bar for what we should expect at March's indoor championships, and for what time may be needed to qualify a sprinter to get there.
Washington's mid-distance success is back
Washington has won two of the last men's mile titles and they could be in for a third. Nathan Green and Ronan McMahon-Staggs ran the two fastest miles in the country at 3:50.74 and 3:51.85. Green's nation-leading time is the fourth-fastest in NCAA history. Green has shown he can step up on the championship stage before, winning the 2023 outdoor 1500 meter title. Green's January showing in the mile could carry over into March's championships.
3๏ธโฃ:5๏ธโฃ0๏ธโฃ.7๏ธโฃ4๏ธโฃโผ๏ธ
โ Washington Track & Field and Cross Country (@UWTrack)
Nathan Green takes the ๐๐๐ก๐จ๐จ๐ฅ ๐๐๐๐จ๐ซ๐ and the ๐๐๐ฆ๐ฉ๐ฌ๐๐ฒ ๐๐๐๐จ๐ซ๐ with the fourth-fastest mile time in NCAA history! baby
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Weight throw might be the field event to watch
Only three men have landed beyond 24 meters in the weight throw across the last three indoor championships. Iowa's Ryan Johnson has already reached the mark at his first meet of the season (24.00m), while Ole Miss' Tarik Robinson-O'Hagan (23.99m) and Virginia's Jeremiah Nubbe (23.94m) have already surpassed 23.9 meters in mid-January.
Ryan Johnson goes NUCLEAR โข๏ธ-24.00m!
โ Beau Throws (@beau_throws)
The athlete goes over the 24m barrier and is currently tops in the world๐
Men's Weight is going off today!
*Tarik Robinson-O'Hagan
-23.99m
*Jeremiah Nubbe- 23.94m
You'll notice, that none of the three throwers near the 24-meter threshold are the first and second-place throwers that broke 24 meters at NCAA championships last year. Those two โ Harvard's Kenneth Ikeji and CSUN's Trey Knight โ are back in school this year.
Last year's top-two will have plenty of competition in 2025 with Johnson leading the way this winter. Only three times before in NCAA history has ever reached 24 meters as early in the calendar year โ Isaiah Rogers twice in 2023 and Bobby Colantonio in 2022. Both Rogers and Colantonio won the title later in March, a good sign for the Hawkeye who leads the nation.
ABOUT LAST MONTH: Recapping December in NCAA indoor track and field
Women's 800 is going to be exciting
The women's 800 meters should live up to the hype if January showed anything. But, it's not because of the 800 meter event itself. Arkansas' Sanu Jallow ran the second-fastest 600 meters all-time, finishing in 1:25.37. Stanford's Roisin Willis ran 1:25.74 in the 600 meters, which would be the No. 3 all-time mark in the event if it wasn't on an oversized track.
As you probably know, the 600 meters isn't an event at NCAA championships, but both Jallow and Willis run the 800 meters too. The duo's fast 600 meter times could translate to even faster 800 meter times by championships.
2025 Arkansas Invitational | Video update
โ RazorbackTF/XC (@RazorbackTF)
600m Invitational
1) 1:24.60 Shafiqua Maloney (St. Vincent) NR
No. 9 performer, No. 10 performance World all-time
2) 1:25.37 Sanu Jallow-Lockhart (Ark-Gambia) NR
No. 2 performer & performance Collegiate all-time
3) 1:26.08 Rosey Effiongโฆ
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Illinois might need to buy some brooms
A quick look at the top long jump marks from January will show plenty of references of Illinois. Tacoria Humphrey leads the nation with her 6.78 meter jump and Sophia Beckmon sits second nationally with her 6.71 meter jump. Darja Sopova, Morgan Smalls and Elizabeth Ndudi also landed impressive jumps at the Fighting Illini Open to give Illinois five of the top 10 jumpers so far this year. To put the numbers in perspective, Illinois combined has 11 of the top 19 individual long jumps so far this season, good for 58 percent.
The Illini have displayed impressive depth in the long jump to start the season and that could lead to big things at indoor championships.
Tacoria Humphrey's Big Ten, school and UI Armory record 6.78m (22-3) long jump ๐ฅ
โ Illinois Track & Field and Cross Country (@IlliniTrackXC)
It's also currently the national leading mark for the 2025 season! I
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