Athletics: Ackelia Smith and 9 other NCAA track & field stars to watch
The collegiate athletics year is well and truly underway, with the NCAA Indoor Championships set for 8-9 March in Boston. We examine a few names to know ahead of the outdoor season.
Athletics
With the 2024 indoor season underway, it's set to be a fascinating few months in the world of NCAA track & field - particularly with the looming Olympic Summer Games Paris 2024.
The collegiate indoor championships are set for 8 and 9 March in Boston, while the outdoor season will culminate at nationals 5-8 June in Eugene, Oregon.
Reigning long jump champion Ackelia Smith of Texas is one of many college stars to watch, the Jamaican having placed 11th at the World Athletics Championships in Budapest last August. Earlier this month she soared to a 6.85m, the third longest jump internationally this season.
Her fellow Jamaican Jaydon Hibbert of Arkansas is perhaps the most thrilling athlete in college track and field right now, the 19-year-old having won the prestigious Bowerman award last year after capturing the NCAA triple jump title and splashing onto the global stage. He's among the favourites to go back-to-back for the Bowerman this year.
Below, a look at nine other collegiate stars to keep an eye on.
NCAA track & field: Stars to watch
Australian distance runner Ky Robinson of Stanford is the reigning NCAA champion in both the 5000m and 10,000m, his two victories helping the Cardinal to a third-place team finish in the men's event. Now a senior, Robinson comes off a cross-country season in which he won the Pac-12 conference title. His 7:36.90 in the 3000m last week was the second-fastest time at that distance in NCAA indoor history.
Tarsis Orogot of Alabama has helped lead a new wave of African men in the sprint events in the last couple of years, the Uganda native finishing fifth at the NCAA outdoors in the 200m (20.03). His 20.20 in the 200m indoors last year was a world leading mark, which also saw him set the Ugandan national record. Oh, and have you seen his socks?
Nigeria's Godson Oghenebrume (LSU) is another African sprinters on the charge - like Orogot. Oghenebrume finished as runner-up in the NCAA 100m. His fellow Nigerian Udodi Onwuzurike won the 200m title and has since turned pro.
LSU's Michaela Rose has started out her 2024 indoor season with a bang, recording the second-fastest time in NCAA history in the 800m with a 1:59.49. The fastest? That belongs to the (eventual) Olympic champion at Tokyo, Athing Mu.
NCAA track & field: Neugebauer returns for decathlon
After playing second fiddle to North Carolina State's Katelyn Tuohy in both the 5000m and in cross-country, Florida junior Parker Valby has flipped the script in the last 12 months: She won the 5000m outdoor title in June, then was runaway champion (literally) at the cross-country championships to close out 2023. In December, she set a new collegiate record for the 5000m indoor, clocking a 1:46.11.
2022 was a standout season for Alia Armstrong of LSU, winning the NCAA title and then going on to place third at the U.S. Championships to qualify for her first Worlds, held at home in Eugene. She's started 2024 off strong, winning a fist full of 60m indoor races while consistently staying under the 8-second mark.
The Bahamas' Terrence Jones of Texas Tech can be a threat in both the 100m and 200m, having clocked a national record-tying 9.91 in the 100 last season. He ended up third int he 200m at NCAA outdoors, the 21-year-old looking to learn from a disappointing debut at Worlds in 2023 where he failed to get out of the first round (in the 100m).
After finishing the 2023 NCAA season with a record-breaking performance to claim the decathlon title, Germany's Leo Neugebauer went on to place fifth at the World Championships. The Texas Longhorn is back this year, his 8457 points at nationals last June setting the NCAA and German national records. "The sky's the limit," he told Olympics.com in an interview after his national title.