NCAA Women's Championship Preview

Following up our men’s preview, this is our women’s preview. The regional meet really opened up a few eyes and proved how tight some of these races will be. The women will be competing Thursday and Saturday night live on ESPN. Like the men’s preview we are going to do an event by event prediction.

WOMEN

100- I do not remember a more quality field. There are four women in this field who have run under 11 seconds. Normally there is one, maybe two but this year there are four. Senior Kayla White of North Carolina A&T leads the way. The hurdler turned sprinter has a NCAA leading time of 10.96. At the indoor meet she claimed the 200 and finished second in the 60 hurdles, so she clearly has championship pedigree.

Senior Teahna Daniels of Texas was indoor champion at 60 meters as a freshman and she is breaking records this outdoor season. Daniels has personal best of 10.99 tied with Twanisha Terry of USC and true Sha’Carri Richardson of LSU. All three of these ladies are capable of challenging White for the title and Richardson already has a win against White when she defeated her at Regionals. Richardson is my pick to win the event. Richardson seems to perform at her best at the highest levels of competition. I expect her to lower her time again.

200- Defending champion Anglerne Annelus of USC shocked everyone last season winning the 200 in a rainstorm. This season Annelus has so far proved that her 200 title was no fluke. At the regional meet she ran a NCAA leading time of 22.36. USC is in the team title race and Annelus is a big piece of their hopes. Janeek Brown of Arkansas is also a big piece of Arkansas championship hopes making this race all the more interesting. Brown is ranked number two with her time of 22.47 but proved at the SEC Championships competing in both the 100 hurdles and 200-meter dash maybe difficult for her. For that reason, I will lean to Annelus to defend her title.

400- Lynna Irby of Georgia turned pro after the indoor season leaving a gaping hole as to who would win the NCAA title. Sharrika Barnett of Florida became the top returnee and at the beginning of the outdoor season set a strong tone running the NCAA leading time of 50.96. She has held the number one ranking since the end of March and she is the only athlete in the field to run under 51 seconds this season. But her season has not been consistent, and she did not defend her SEC title. Kethlin Campbell of Arkansas did defeat with her number two ranked time of 51.03. This event is wide open with a myriad of quality competitors, but I will lean to Barnett to step up and claim the title further improving her national leading time.

800- Senior Jazmine Fray of Texas A&M already owns the NCAA record indoors at 800 meters. She has yet to translate her success during that indoor season to the outdoors. Fray quietly been having a solid outdoor season that includes a NCAA leading performance ran at the Western Regional meet. Her time of 2:02.27 ran at the Western Regional meet vaulted her past Avi’ Tal Wilson-Perteete of UNLV for the top time in the NCAA. Perteete held the top time from mid-April until the regional meet proving her performance was of quality. Fray has no NCAA trophies but did earn the SEC title. With a open field and being near her school should give Fray the much needed encouragement to win her first NCAA title.

1,500- Jessica Hull of Oregon is the defending champion in the 1,500. She also earned another national title indoors competing in the 3,000. Hull is the latest of a long line of middle-distance stars to come out of the school that Pre built. Hull however may have her toughest challenge yet in the form Sinclaire Johnson of Oklahoma State. OK State is another middle-distance power and Johnson seems to be their next big star. Johnson qualified for the national meet last season but failed to qualify for the finals. Running in a separate heat from Hull at their regional meet Johnson earned the top time in the NCAA this season in 4:09.5. I still will lean to Hull to defend her title but the impressive performance by Johnson will not go unnoticed.

5,000- Weini Kelati of New Mexico is the latest distance star to come out of their championship program. Kelati has led the NCAA in the 5,000 since the middle of April. She will be joined by two teammates. Both of whom are ranked in the top five in the NCAA with her. Each of her runs this season have been impressive. She has a nearly five second lead on the rest of the competition and her championship level performance history shows this should be a rather convincing win for her. Although she is my favorite to win keep an eye on Allie Ostander of Boise State and any of her teammates to potentially challenge her.

10,000- Erin Finn of Michigan was granted a sixth year of eligibility after experiencing multiple injuries throughout her Michigan career which led to her missing multiple seasons. The only thing missing from her impressive Michigan career has been a national title. She has been runner-up in some form of fashion multiple times throughout her career. She had a rough start to this season finishing out of the top three at the Big Ten Championships. She still managed to qualify for the NCAA meet at regionals having the fourth overall qualifying time. With that being said it is not likely that she will win but she has progressed slowly this season and could be a dark horse.

The real threat to win this event is Weini Kelati of New Mexico and or Paige Stoner of Syrcause. Stoner is ranked number two in the nation in this event behind only Allie Ostrander. She stepped out of the 5,000, an event she is also ranked number two in to focus solely on the 10,000. The fresh legs I think will serve her well. The 5k and 10k double have been done before but Kelati is competing against an experienced runner whose sole focus is this race.

100H- Each year we learn there is a difference between 60-meter hurdles and 100-meter hurdles. The distance is obvious yes but the longer distance requires more speed and even greater discipline. Janeek Brown of Arkansas who did not win the NCAA title indoors is the clear favorite here outdoors. She has speed of 22.4 in the 200. That level of speed can only be matched by Gail Devers and Jackie Joyner-Kersee. That is the level of talent that Brown has. Her national leading time of 12.55 leaves her clear in the driver’s seat to claim the title. Chanel Brissett of USC did win the indoor title and is currently ranked second in the NCAA but has not shown the speed of Brown, Brown for the win.

400H- Maybe it is me, but I feel this event is having a down year. So far this season not one athlete has gone under 56 seconds at all this season. After record breaking performances the past few seasons that include World and Olympic Medalist the event this year is in rebuild mode. Anna Cockrell who missed a portion of the outdoor season due to injury has the most speed of the qualifiers and may shock with a special time. She will have to do it while defeating the currently number one ranked Ranae McKenzie of Kansas State and her time of 56.11. The speed and experience of Cockrell bends me into her direction as my choice to convincingly win the title.

3000S- The steeplechase is Allie Ostrander’s event to lose. The junior from Boise State is the defending champion in the event and has impressed with being ranked amongst the elite in majority of the long-distance races. I still would issue caution, Adva Cohen of New Mexico ran her to the line at the Payton Jordan classic. Do not be surprised if she does in fact upset Ostrander. I still personally think Ostrander is the better runner and already has proven she knows how to win this event against a quality field.

High Jump- Andrea Stapleton-Johnson of BYU has held a very thin number one ranking this season. Her mark of 6 feet 2 ¼ inches has lasted at the top of the rankings since early May. Nicole Green of North Carolina has a best of 6 feet 2 inches that was marked on the same day that led to her ACC title. Green already has an NCAA title earning it this past indoor season. Although Johnson leads the NCAA Green has proven that she can consistently step up to the competition and is my pick to win another title.

Pole Vault- This will be quick and fast, Olivia Gruver of Washington. That’s it. Well besides the fact that she broke the NCAA record early this season and is the only athlete over 15 feet, she has nearly foot lead on the field. Gruver, for the easy victory.

Long Jump/Triple Jump- I am going against the number one ranked Aliyah Whisby of Georgia (22-2 ¼) because I believe Yanis David of Florida can truly pull off the jumps double. David has the number two ranked mark of 21 feet 10 inches but defeated Whisby one on one at the SEC Championship. David has already cemented herself in the indoor season as one of the best triple jumpers ever. She further cemented her status with her SEC winning mark of 47 feet 1 inch to mark number two all-time. I think it is time for her long jump performance to match her triple jump

 performance. I am prediction a 22-foot jump and an improvement on her record setting triple jump.

Shot Put- Portious Warren of Alabama is having a special outdoor season. At the end of April at the LSU invitational she became the only thrower in the nation over 60 feet. That mark of 61 feet and ¾ of an inch has been the number one mark since then. She has done nothing but win since then, a streak that I believe will continue this weekend.

Discus- Different school same expectations for Shadae Lawrence. The defending champion is now competing for Colorado State after competing for Kansas State. The senior has looked impressive all year including her NCAA leading mark of 213 feet 5 inches. She has almost a 10-foot lead on the field and to me is an easy favorite to win the title.

Hammer Throw- You though we were going to make an entire preview without mentioning a thrower from Arizona State, well you were wrong. The school has another throwing prodigy in sophomore Beatrice Llano. Llano has an NCAA leading mark of 234 feet 4 inches. Camryn Rogers of California did beat her though at the Pac-12 championships. Llano has not performed at the same level of her NCAA leading mark since she hit it leaving me to believe the field is wide open for this one.

Javelin- Mackenzie Little of Stanford has led most of the year and has shown no signs of slowing down. She looks to comfortably defend her title and nearly 200 foot thrown shows the level of talent she possesses.

Heptathlon- Ashton Zamzow of Texas is clearly in the driver’s seat here. Her nearly 200-point lead on the field is a clear indicator of how far ahead she is of her competition. Michelle Atherley of Miami won the Pentathlon indoors, but the Heptathlon is a different animal, one that Zamzow can tame with 6,148 points. Atherley will present a strong challenge but Zamzow looks more than capable of winning the title.

4x100- USC has been the most consistent in this event all season long. For majority of the season they were the only team with a time under 43 seconds. Their leading mark of 42.44 is impressive and they should challenge the NCAA record. LSU is not to far behind with a time of 42.93, the NCAA record holders however have had some questionable exchanges but have an excellent anchor in Sha’Carri Richardson who likely end up competing against Twanisha Terry an equally capable anchor.

4x400- It has been a long time since South Carolina was in the driver’s seat to win an NCAA title in the 4x400 relay. They have an incredible history under head coach Curtis Frye and this group looks to be one of his best yet. Their NCAA leading time of 3:27.53 will likely come down along with the school record.

Team Title- It will be tight between USC and Arkansas, but I think Arkansas has more wiggle room and a greater chance to score big points. Arkansas for the team title.