NCAA Outdoor Championship Men's Review

It is officially here, the NCAA Division 1 Outdoor Championship. This meet has become a staple of the track and field calendar and one of the most celebrated meets. Year after year the meet has gone better and better. It gives more visibility to the sport and shows the much-needed team aspect. Predicting champions for this meet is incredibly difficult due to the talent and nature of the meet. In the preview we will look at each event individually.

100- What a fun event this will be. With the great weather we are expecting from Austin, Texas this week fast times are inevitable. The winner of the race should run a sub 10 second race and there a few guys who have already done that. Divine Oduduru of Texas Tech, Cravon Gillespie of Oregon and Hakim Sani Brown of Florida. Both Odudru and Brown are competing on teams who heavily involved in the team title battle and are being counted on heavily for team points.

Oduduru leads the way with his time of 9.94. He is currently ranked number three in the world and should be a factor at this years World Championships in Doha. Gillespie has 9.97 and Brown has run 9.99. All three are capable of winning the title and have championship trophies from the conference meets to prove they are post season ready. Oduduru has however been the most consistent since the start of the outdoor season and has been the favorite since I do not see that changing giving him the nod as the champion.

200- Oduduru leads the way here as well, not in the NCAA but in the world. His time of 19.76 is the second fastest in NCAA history behind record holder Walter Dix of Florida State. His time is also number one in the world and although it is still early in the year he is legitimate threat for a World title with a time of this magnitude. No other athlete in the field has gone under 20 seconds this season and it seems his only challenge will likely come from his teammate Andrew Hudson.

400- This event has gone through record changes over the years with the past two champions breaking the meet record. This year we do not have anyone who has given us any indication that they can go sub 44 but at a meet of this caliber you cannot put it past anyone. There are currently five competitors who have gone under 45 seconds with junior Trevor Stewart of North Carolina A&T leading the way.

Stewart is a part of a growing sprint powerhouse at North Carolina A&T and his time of 44.38 shows he is quite serious about competing for a national title. Kahmari Montgomery of Houston has one everything except a NCAA title and after finishing in second during the indoor season the senior is looking to finally add the only missing piece from his trophy case.

800- Bryce Hoppel of Kansas claimed the indoor title in a stunning upset. This outdoor season he has continued his winning ways. He has yet to lose this outdoor season in any race. He already has a national title and knows how to show up at the championship meet giving him a huge mental advantage. Devin Dixon of Texas A&M currently has the number one time in the NCAA with 1:44.76. Dixon led all indoor season and had a disappointing showing at the Indoor Championship and will be looking for redemption, Hoppel still will be the favorite after already having defeated Dixon indoors.

1,500- Oliver Hoare of Wisconsin has had the number one time since mid-April. He was serious threat in the mile indoors only to follow short after running a race that was perhaps a little too tactical. Even with leading the NCAA he still fell short at the Big Ten Championship finishing second a few weeks ago. He regained his form by earning the top entry time from the Eastern Region. Carlos Villarreal of Arizona has the overall top entry time with 3:39.67. Both battled at the Bryan Clay Invitational with Hoare winning. They will have to battle home town favorite Sam Worley of Texas who will have an excited crown behind him. This event is wide open with no one asserting dominance all year I will lean to the hometown favorite and Big 12 champion Sam Worley.

5,000- This is the last chance we will have to see Grant Fisher of Stanford and Morgan McDonald of Wisconsin face off. This has been a great rivalry this season with McDonald winning a indoor title in between them. Fisher is a former champion in the 5,000 winning it all in 2017. Last year he finished third to two great competitors in Sean McGorty and Justyn Knight. With the year he has had everything points to Fisher earning redemption defeating the field and rival McDonald. However, I trust McDonald in the final seconds of the race. McDonald is a gritty competitor and smart runner from a program with a great pedigree he is my pick to win the race, which should be spectacular.

10,000- BYU versus Everybody is the title of this race. The Cougars qualified a grand total of six competitors including the NCAA leading Connor McMillan. The Cougars currently lead the NCAA overall with the top four marks and look to continue that success at the championship meet. The only legitimate threat to BYU would be Gilbert Kigen of Alabama. Tyler Day of Northern Arizona is the top returnee from the championship meet last year but he has lost to not only Kigen already but two of the top competitors from BYU. This is likely going to be a sweep.

110 Hurdles- This event is huge for team title hopes and huge because two competitors threaten one of the oldest and most special records in the NCAA record book. Grant Holloway of Florida has dominated his rivalry with Daniel Roberts of Kentucky all season long. Roberts has chipped away at Holloway’s lead each time they race and finally beat him at the SEC Championships tying Holloway’s meet record. Holloway has proven to have superior speed but Roberts had the better technique. With a win under his belt Roberts will enter the meet with confidence that it can be done again. Holloway will enter the meet with uncertainty.

Holloway has been in this position before, his freshman season. Losing the SEC title refocused him and gave him the drive to win in it all. This time is different Roberts has not only great technique but speed as well. We may finally see a sub 13 second performance at the NCAA meet. I am leaning to Holloway to defend his title and win it a third time.

400 Hurdles- No event has a more dominant competitor than the 400 hurdles. Junior Quincy Hall of South Carolina is a strong 400 runner. He was one of the best in the country last season as a juco athlete. His 400-hurdle technique has noticeably improved thanks to the coaching of Curtis Frye, one of the greatest hurdle coaches in history. He ran a commanding race at the regional meet and barely broke a sweat running a time of 48.54. He is the only runner in the NCAA that has run sub 48 and he has ran 44 second open 400 to win the SEC title. With his speed and improved technique, we are likely looking at another 47 second 400 hurdler. Hall for the win.

3000 Steeple- Senior Obsa Ali of Minnesota is the defending champion in the 3,000-meter steeplechase. Earlier this season though he garnered a loss to Ryan Smeeton of Oklahoma State at the Payton Jordan Invitational. Smeeton has held the number one time since then and has a better personal record. Ali may be the defending champion but Smeeton has had the better performance. I will lean to Smeeton to win the title.

High Jump- Defending champion Tejaswin Shankar of Kansas State has bee quiet this season. Last season he burst onto the scene with a great post season that led him to winning the NCAA title as a freshman. After a disappointing indoor campaign Shankar has been slowly building during the outdoor season. He had a strong Big 12 championship that earned him the number three mark in the nation at 7 feet 5 inches. Earnie Sears of USC and Roberto Vilches of Missouri have had strong outdoor campaigns. Shelby McEwen of Alabama won the Indoor title and is also having a quality outdoor season. Yes, it is one big pile up but Shankar is following the same format as last year and until someone dethrones him he is my pick to win the title.

Pole Vault- Mondo Duplantis of LSU verse Everybody. The NCAA record holder and superstar freshman is perhaps the easiest pick to win the national title. But alas let us not forget the other competitors in the field like the defending champion Chris Nilsen of South Dakota. Nilsen is the only athlete that has proven capable enough to challenge Duplantis, but the young star is on another level and my pick to win the NCAA title.

Long Jump- This event is critical for team title hopes. Florida has been “Jumps U” in years past but this season not so much. In both the long jump and triple jump they are not favored to win it. LSU has taken the reigns as of late with a competitor in all four jumping events. The long jump is their deepest event with two athletes in the top ten and a total of three qualifiers. JuVaugh Harrison leads the NCAA with his mark of 26 feet 9 ¾ inches and could complete the high jump long jump double or a championship performance by teammate Rayvon Grey could garner the Tigers a champion. Grey won the event indoors but has yet to compete at the same high-level outdoors. Keep an eye out for Odaine Lewis of Texas Tech and Ja’Mari Ward of Missouri. Both are tied for second and are big meet performers. With such a loaded strong field that includes Grant Holloway of Florida, who will need big points from him, I will push here as anyone of them is truly capable of winning the title.

Triple Jump- Jordan Scott of Virginia has led all season long. The indoor champion has had big performance after big performance, whether it is a small invitational or the ACC championship Scott has performed at a high level. With a NCAA leading mark of 57 feet even, more than a foot and half ahead of the rest of the NCAA; Scott is the obvious favorite to win the title.

Shot Put/Discus- Payton Otterdahl of North Dakota State pulled off an impressive double this past indoor season winning the shot put and weight throw. He has qualified for both the shot put and discus for the outdoor meet. He is ranked second in the shot put and fourth in the discus. Both events will present a challenge to him claiming the title.

In the shot put there are only two athletes over 70 feet this season, Otterdahl and number one ranked Jordan Geist of Arizona. Geist was the story last season, he was true freshman performing at a high level and was living up to the hype of a storied high school career. He has led the NCAA this season with a mark of 70 feet 10 inches and will be one of two true challengers to Otterdahl (70-1 ½). The other big challenger is the defending champion Denzel Comenentia of Georgia. He will be competing in three events which may be too much for him to handle. Otterdahl has beaten Comenentia a few times this season and would enter the meet with confidence knowing that. Comenentia is still deserving of acknowledgement as the defending champion but he will likely have a very difficult time.

In the discus Greg Thompson of Maryland is looking to redeem himself after finishing second last season. He is currently the number on ranked thrower in the nation and he has almost a 10-foot lead on Otterdahl. Thompson for the win.

Hammer Throw- This is Comenentia’s best chance to win a title. He is competing in the shot put, discus and hammer throw. He is the defending champion in this event as well and has the leading NCAA mark at 252 feet even. No other athlete is over 250 feet but the strain of three throwing events maybe too much for him and Hilman Orn Jonsson of Virginia may take advantage. I still will lean towards Comenentia of Georgia to win.

Javelin Throw- This event belongs to Mississippi State. The Bulldogs currently have the top four ranked athletes in the NCAA and all four have qualified for this meet including defending champion sophomore Anderson Peters. He has not lost in the javelin since enrolling in college and it does not seem as if that will happen this weekend either. Peters for the win.

Decathlon- Ayden Owens of USC leads the pack with a point total of 8,130. He has proven to be a very adapt runner, he has strong speed and great jumping ability. Along with performing at a high level in the jumping events. Owens however is a freshman and the big lights maybe too much for him to handle. Johannes Erm of Georgia comes from championship pedigree and the Georgia Bulldogs always have a multi-event athlete in the meet competing at a high level.  Erm however has yet to go over 8,000 points this season and could use this as an opportunity to do so. Owens however has a quite repertoire and performs as a high level in too many events, Owens for the win.

4x100- It was disappointing to watch Houston drop the baton on the first exchange at the Western Regional meet. Many, including myself were anticipating a rematch with LSU after the viral video at the Texas Relays. With Houston out and Florida not at their best LSU is the clear odd’s on favorite to win the NCAA title. Their number one ranked time of 38.41 will likely be lowered.

4x400- LSU’s team title hopes hit a big snag when they did not qualify for the NCAA championship after getting disqualified at the Eastern Regional meet. Texas A&M has perhaps been the most consistent 4x400 relay team over the past decade. They are currently ranked number one with a time of 3:01.77 but Houston cannot be counted out. The Cougars will have their healthiest line up all season and will be difficult to defeat. I am leaning towards Houston.

Team Title- I believe Texas Tech has way too much depth for Florida to overcome. The Gators have shown up the past few years, but it will be asking a lot for them to score enough points to defeat Texas Tech who has a more versatile group.