Five NCAA track stars who could star at Paris 2024, featuring Julien Alfred, Terrence Jones and Katelyn Tuohy

If you want to see some of the best track & field performances of 2023, look no further than the US collegiate scene.

The past indoor season saw 27 NCAA records fall and the outdoor season is already shaping up to be one for the history books as the class of 2023 show their form a year and change out from the Olympic Games Paris 2024.

With the NCAA outdoor track and field championships taking place from 7-10 June 2023, expectations are sky-high for a select group of athletes who will have their eyes not just on collegiate podiums but also the upcoming World Athletics Championships (19 to 27 August) in Budapest.

Read on to discover five young athletes who are raising the bar in college athletics and look like serious contenders to take their form to the international stage.

Five of the best NCAA track athletes of 2023

Julien Alfred, Saint Lucia, University of Texas

21-year-old Julien Alfred is currently on her way to becoming one of the greatest collegiate athletes of all time. In 2023 alone she set five new 60m indoor NCAA records, becoming the first-ever woman in college history to break the 7-second mark.

In March, she came 0.02 seconds away from the outright indoor 60m record, with her run of 6.94 seconds also equaling the American record set by Aleia Hobbs, who at 27 is six years her senior, in February.

In the 200m, Alfred is also in formidable form. Her 22.01 indoor time set in March 2023 is the joint-second fastest ever, behind Merlene Ottey, and she followed it up with a world lead in the outdoor 200m when she raced to 21.91 in the Tom Jones Memorial in April.

Alfred has also already shown her ability to rise to the occasion, coming home second in the 100m at the 2022 Commonwealth Games to win silver. The only person to beat her that day? None other than double Olympic 100m and 200m champion Elaine Thompson-Herah.

Katelyn Tuohy, USA, North Carolina State University

Is there a more popular athlete in collegiate running today? With 100k Instagram followers, there’s no denying middle-distance runner Katelyn Tuohy has star power. But there’s good reason why the 21-year-old has so many fans - and even fan pages - on the Internet.

This year alone, Tuohy has broken collegiate records in the mile (4:24:26) and the 3000m (8:35.20), but there is a school of thought that the best is yet to come.

Tuohy won five Gatorade Player of the Year awards before 2018, and her transition to college athletics saw her win the 2022 5000m title, the NCAA Division 1 Cross Country Championships and the 2022 ACC Cross Country Championships before continuing her exceptional form in 2023.

What she does in the 2023 outdoor season may just pave the way for a successful outing at Paris 2024.

Terrence Jones, Bahamas, Texas Tech University

At time of writing, the fastest outdoor 100m time in the world in 2023 belongs to a college athlete, with Bahamas sprint sensation Terrence Jones setting the rapid mark at the Tom Jones Memorial Invitational in April.

Still only 20-years-old, Jones holds the joint-fastest time in NCAA history for the indoor 60m, clocking 6.45 to draw level with Leonard Myles-Mills and Christian Coleman.

His 9.91 in the 100m also makes him the joint-fastest Bahamian of all time, as he equalled the time set by Derrick Atkins who won silver in the 2007 World Championships.

Favour Ofili, Nigeria, Louisiana State University

Another athlete who has already cut her teeth on the international scene is Nigerian sprinter Favour Ofili. The 20-year-old is a national record holder in the outdoor 200m event (21.96) and the African record holder in the indoor 200m after setting a time of 22.11 in 2023.

The 2022 Commonwealth Games showed the wider world just how rapid Ofili is, as she won silver in the 200m and gold in the 4 x 100m relay.

In February 2022, Ofili was briefly the fastest-ever collegiate 200m runner before being overtaken that same year by Abby Steiner.

However, with time on her side, there’s no guessing what the Nigerian junior may be capable of before next year’s Olympic Games in Paris.

Tarsis Orogot, Uganda, University of Alabama

Hailing from a land better known for its distance runners - including Joshua Cheptegei and Halimah Nakaayi - Tarsis Orogot is making waves over the sprint distances since his move to the University of Alabama.

Despite a period of personal adaptation to the USA, the 20-year-old has begun to shine - particularly in the indoor 200m where he set a world-leading time of 20.20 in Albuquerque, which stands as a national record.

Running with a style that has been said to be reminiscent of the American record holder Noah Lyles, Orogot holds the seventh-fastest 200m time in NCAA history. He also ran a wind-assisted 19.60 in April 2023, putting him at number two in all conditions in collegiate history behind only Lyles himself.

With less competition in the sprints back home in Uganda than in the USA, it is likely we will see Orogot representing his country in the upcoming Worlds in Budapest.

And his determination to continue to hone his craft may well see him transfer his stunning college form to the international scene faster than many people thought.

“These are just small steps in the right direction,” he said after his Ugandan record run in February 2023. “Right now, I am focused on preparation and working on my mistakes. I just go out there and try to make as few mistakes as possible.”