2019 NCAA Division 1 Indoor Preview

LYNNA IRBY

Welcome to 2019, what a season this should be. The past few seasons we have season the NCAA record book change consistently almost every week. There are still old records left to be broken and it remains to be seen if this is the season for those old records to fall. The team title on both sides is wide open with major transfers from not only athletes but coaches as well. Although the indoor season started in December 2018 we are heading into the first full week of the indoor season.

60 Meter Dash

On the women’s side Natalliah Whyte of Auburn by way of Jamaica stormed onto the scene last scene. As a stellar freshman she clocked in at 7.12 finishing 2^nd last indoor season. Although sprints coach Henry Rolle has left and now focusing on professional sprinters, head coach Ralph Spry should still be able to coach her to championship form. Kortnei Johnson of LSU is her main challenger and the top returner for the Lady Tigers. Former NCAA Champion from 2016 Teahna Daniels of Texas who is now under new head coach Edrick Floreal.

On the men’s side there is Andre Ewers of Florida State and Raheem Chambers now of Miami formerly of Auburn. Ewers is named to the preseason Bowerman’s list and has been nothing but sensational. The talented sprinter dipped under 10 seconds in the 100 and 20 seconds in the 200. He is the only returning athlete to do so. His personal record time of 6.52 will likely improve and we may see him run 6.4. Chambers is now under new tutelage having left Auburn, while under a new coaching staff it remains to be seen what he will do but we know he can run 6.53 and challenge Ewers for the title.

200 Meter Dash

Lynna Irby of Georgia will have all eyes on her. The talented sophomore burst onto the scene as a freshman setting records in both the 400 and 200. She set an NCAA record in the open 400 last outdoor season. Irby is the lead candidate to complete the long sprint double. NCAA Champion from 2017 Ariana Washington is looking to rebound and push Oregon towards another Championship after an eventful offseason. Also, we must not forget the 2018 outdoor champion in Angerlene Annelus of USC, she has already beaten Irby one on one. Annelus can use the indoor season to prove her win was no fluke.

Divine Oduduru of Texas Tech was the darling of this event for men for majority of the year last indoor season. At the championship meet Eli Hall flew past him for a NCAA/World record mark of 20.02 indoors. Oduduru who is from Nigeria was able to redeem himself by winning the outdoor title over Ewers of Florida State. This could be round two of their battle and a new NCAA/World record maybe established to win.

400 Meter Dash

Irby as previously stated is the highlight here on the women’s side of this season. After chasing Sydney McLaughlin and Kendall Ellis she is now alone at the top. As the top returnee on the only athlete in the field who ran under 51 seconds indoors this looks to be her best event to win. Sharrika Barnett of Florida will be close behind and will look to close out a stellar career in style. Barnett has had an impressive career that includes a SEC title but she is missing a national title and it will require a personal record to take down Irby.

Last year was another record breaking year in this event on the men’s side. Michael Norman set the world record indoors in this event and broke the NCAA record outdoors as well. Kahmari Montgomery of Houston is the top returnee. After having been overshadowed by the stellar work of Norman last year all eyes will be on him this season. Wil London of Baylor a senior who has previously made Team USA in the event will be a solid challenge as both will look to close out their senior years in style.

800 Meter Run

Both sexes have broken the NCAA record in the event in the past two years. Jazmine Fray for women of Texas A&M and Michael Saruni for UTEP. Saruni is the defending champion and will have all eyes on his this indoor season with Marco Arop of Mississippi State chasing. Fray is a different story, although she is the indoor record holder she has no national titles to her credit. Her talented teammate Sammy Watson and Danae Rivers of Penn State will likely challenge her for the title. If there is any event that has a record more under threat it would be this one.

Mile

Dani Jones

Dani Jones of Colorado is the favorite for women to win this race. She is the top returnee in the event and is coming off a stellar cross-country campaign that saw her win the NCAA title both individually and as a team. Jones will like to add another NCAA title to her trophy case here. Millie Paladino of Providence is the only returnee capable of competing with Jones.

Johnathan Davis of Illinois is the top returnee based on time in the mile in an event that technically is wide open. The former NCAA Champion Josh Kerr turned professional early leaving a major void in the event. Kasey Kevelbaard of Southern Utah should challenge.

3,000/5,000

There is the potential for two double champions. Ednah Kurgat of New Mexico along with her teammate Weini Kelati are top returnees in both events. Kelati is coming of a stellar cross-country campaign where she finished 2^nd at the national meet. Both events will have new champions and it is possible that either Kurgat of Kelati could win both or they could split events.

Grant Fisher is the big gun in the longer distance races. Fisher finished 2^nd at the NCAA Cross Country Championship and is the top returnee in the 3,000 from last indoor season and in the 5,000 last outdoor season. Each event will present a challenge, in the 3,000 Cameron Griffith from Arkansas and in the 5,000 Vincent Kiprop of Alabama. It remains to be seen if he competes in both events but for now he is the favorite.

60 Hurdles

Payton Chadwick of Arkansas returns as the defending champion on the women’s side. Chadwick has sub 23 second speed in the 200 and the height to improve greatly in the event. After having clocked 7.93 last season we should not be surprised to see if she goes under 7.9. On her heels will be Anna Cockrell of USC who finished in a closed second last season. Also, Dior Hall and Channel Brissett of USC will be challengers as well.

Grant Holloway

Grant Holloway of Florida is the two-time defending champion. He has won every NCAA Championship race since he arrived as a freshman. Now as a junior and the NCAA record holder he is still the favorite to win. However, he will not be without challenge, Trey Cunningham is now a sophomore and will have adjusted to the increase in height. Chad Zallow of Youngstown State has also been chasing Holloway, the talented sprint hurdler from Ohio is now a senior and has one last shot to win the title.

High Jump

Nicole Greene of North Carolina is the defending champion for the women’s high jump. She had a season’s best of 6’2 last indoor season and went into the championship meet ranked number three but came out on top. Zarriea Willis of Texas Tech had the higher ranking but was unable to out jump Greene. Both are seniors looking to end their indoor careers with a bang.

A new champion will be crowned now that Randall Cunningham of USC has exhausted his indoor eligibility. He is also recovering from a devastating leg injury that he sustained while winning the NCAA title. Vernon Turner who was a stud as a freshman returns as the top performer from last season. He will have to deal with the outdoor champion Tejaswin Shankar of Kansas State. Shankar who set the Indian National Record last season indoor season will look to avenge his lost.

Pole Vault

Mondo Duplantis of LSU is perhaps the most talked about freshman in the NCAA this season. He is already a American National Record Holder and World Junior Record Holder. He has already been added to the Bowerman Watch List. He is number two all-time on the outdoor world list. His accolades go on and on. With a personal best of 19-10 ¼ he is clearly the favorite to win the NCAA title. The defending champion Hussain Alhizam of Kansas will most certainly have his hands full.

Formerly known as the Weeks sisters, Alexis Jacobus and Victoria Hoggard of Arkansas have continued Arkansas strong tradition of great pole vaulters. They finished 1-2 last indoor season with Alexis setting a NCAA meet record with a mark of 15 feet 3 ½ inches. Olivia Gruver of Kentucky has the marks to compete with them as well but will hard pressed to surpass both Arkansas sisters.

Long Jump

Georgia has dominated the women’s jumps in recent years with Florida hot on their tails their entire way. With Tara Davis transferring to Texas and now ineligible for the 2019 indoor season all eyes point to Yanis David of Florida. She is the top returnee in the event and already the favorite to win the triple jump. The men of Florida have great success in both horizontal jumps it is now the women’s turn.

The long jump is another event that Grant Holloway has been a star in. However, he has yet to claim the long jump title. He finished 2^nd last season indoors and did not score outdoors hurting the Gators team title hopes. We do not know when he will decide to go the professional route this maybe his last opportunity to win the event. Charles Brown of Texas Tech is the top returnee and will have the help of his teammate Odaine Lewis to pressure Holloway. This event will be key for both universities in the team title chase.

Triple Jump

As stated previously Yanis David is the favorite to win the event. She spent the past few years chasing Keturah Orji. With Orji out of the way David steps into the forefront. She will not be without competition, Marie-Josee Ebewea-Bile of Kentucky is close behind and should be a strong challenger to David’s attempt on the jumps double.

O'Brien Wasome

O’Brien Wasome of Texas returns as the defending champion in the triple jump. He stunned KeAndre Bates last season by winning it all. After a disappointing outdoor season that did not even see him compete at the national meet Wasome will look to rebound this indoor season under a new coach. His coach Edrick Floreal is former NCAA Champion in the triple jump from the great Arkansas days and expect for him to impart great wisdom to Wasome. Chengetayi Mayuba of TCU will be there to challenge along with outdoor champion Tahar Triki of Texas A&M. Triki will be especially difficult for Wasome and could technically be considered the favorite after his great outdoor season. He was also absent during the indoor season making this event more interesting.

Shot Put

The shot put on the women’s side will birth a new star. With most of last year’s All-Americans and champions gone in this event it will be time for new blood to rise up. Lena Giger Stanford is the top returning All-American from last season. Not only does she have the rigors of a brutal academic load at Stanford but also the weight of being the top returnee. Kelly Sabin of Minnesota will be a quality challenger.

Denzel Comenentia of Georgia a huge part of their field event machine. He is also the defending outdoor champion and the runner up from last indoor season. As the top returnee from a school that produces great field athletes Comenentia will look to continue the tradition and live up to the hype. Last year’s freshman stud Jordan Geist will have something to say about that. He was not able to claim the title at either meet but was quite impressive as a freshman and is the next top returnee in the event.

Weight Throw

Sade Olatoye of Ohio State and Stamatia Scarrelis of Tennessee are the top returnees in this event. Like the shot put there is no returning champion and a new one will be crowned. Scarrelis has already gotten the season off to a good start with her early season throw of 72-5 ¼. Both can win the event and it is clear between the two there is no obvious favorite.

David Lucas of Penn State is the defending champion in the event. He also was not the conference champion. It was Michigan’s Joseph Ellis who won the Big Ten title and will be a strong challenger to Lucas this season. Also, there is Daniel Haugh of Alabama and Denzel Comenentia of Georgia looking for the chance to double.

Pentathlon

Payton Chadwick of Arkansas is also the number 1 ranked pentathlete with Nina Schulz not returning to Kansas State. Chadwick is well versed athlete with great speed, strength, endurance and jumping abilities. With another great off season of technical training beating Chadwick in this event will be extremely difficult. Michelle Atherley of Miami should be the primary challenger.

Heptathlon

Johannes Erm of Georgia is the latest multi-event athlete to come from Georgia. Georgia has done a great job over the years in this event with quite a few All-Americans and National Champions. As the top returnee Erm will look to continue the tradition. TJ Lawson of Kent State will be close behind. His personal best is only 50 points below, that could change with just improvement in one event. This event will go down to the wire.

RELAYS

Every year I do a preview for the relay events, this year I will post our predictions until around mid-season. With transfers and new freshman, it feels that this year is the best time to postpone that preview.

TEAM

Although the relays are postponed the team battle can be previewed. Currently Texas Tech has the number one ranking on the men’s side and defending champions Florida are 2^nd. Texas Tech returns a bevy of talent and is loaded. Texas Tech has room to spare in terms of errors, it will be interesting to see what happens come March, I will still rock with Florida. On the women’s side I do not see anyone other Arkansas. If you think Texas Tech is loaded, Arkansas is even more so. With great athletes in every area of the sport the Razorbacks have far more than any other team.