The 2025 DI men's and women's indoor track and field championships are this week. There's no better time than now for my championship predictions, event by event. Let's dive in.
Men’s event predictions
60 meters — Kanyinsola Ajayi, Auburn
Kanyinsola Ajayi tied the men’s 60-meter collegiate record with a 6.45-second finish to win an SEC title. Ajayi is not only the new record holder, but more importantly, he showed he can run his fastest on the biggest stage. He’s the favorite entering indoor championships.
RECORD TRACKER: Every track and field record broken in 2026
60 hurdles — Ja’Kobe Tharp, Auburn
Ja’Kobe Tharp is the defending 60-meter hurdles champion and has had a nice progression this year. He opened running 7.65 in his season opener, then ran a 7.5 and 7.4 in mid-February, all before closing with a 7.46 and 7.48 to win the SEC title.
Tharp still hasn’t reached his PR of 7.45 set last year to win the NCAA title, but his progression indicates that he's on track to do so in Fayetteville. Until someone beats the defending champ, it’s his title to lose.
200 meters — Garrett Kaalund, Southern California
Garrett Kaalund has run three 200-meter races this year. He’s run 20.30, 20.12 and 20.06. Kaalund has been consistently fast and should drop another low time with a national title at stake.
WHAT TO KNOW: 2026 DI Indoor track and field championships
400 meters — Samuel Ogazi, Alabama
The 400 meters is up in the air. The fastest sprinter this year is Georgia’s Jonathan Simms. He’s only a freshman and hasn’t run sub-45 since his season opener that launched him up the all-time charts. Arkansas’ Jordan Pierre has gone for 46.0 to 45.06 this season, his first with the Razorbacks since transferring from Arkansas-Pine Bluff. He’s never run at an indoor meet before.
Then there’s Samuel Ogazi. He beat them all at the SEC indoors and won the outdoor 400 meters last season. Yet, Ogazi has never run an individual event at an NCAA indoor meet before.
There’s plenty of inexperience at the top of this year’s field, and it could come down to lane draws in heats for who’s the winner. That said, I’ll go with Ogazi as the pick with two sub-45-second times run so far this season.
800 meters — Handal Roban, Penn State
We won’t see the 800-meter collegiate record holder in this race, more on him later, but we will see a field with the second-fastest ever in the event, Penn State’s Handal Roban. Roban not only has the second-fastest all-time mark at 1:44.73, but he also ran the fourth-fastest all-time mark of 1:44.91 this season.
Roban has run historic times in the 800 meters this season on multiple occasions. Another occasion could come this week.
Mile — Gary Martin, Virginia
Gary Martin doesn’t have the fastest time in the mile this year, but he has experience with championship-level racing. He ran the mile at Millrose Games this year and was a finalist in the event at the NCAA indoors in 2024. With the mile Martin’s only individual event this year, I think the Virginia Cavalier could finally break through and win an individual crown.
SELECTIONS: 2026 NCAA Division I men’s and women’s indoor track and field championships selections
3000 meters — Colin Sahlman, Northern Arizona
Colin Sahlman scratched from the 800 meters as the collegiate record holder and also the mile to solely run the 3000 meters individually. The collegiate record indicates the speed needed to have a kick in what should be a fast race. Sahlman has also run the fourth-fastest 3K collegiately this year.
While the 3000-meter field is loaded, I think Sahlman could bring the 3000-meter title back to Northern Arizona for the first time since 2024
5000 meters — Habtom Samuel, New Mexico
Habtom Samuel hasn’t lost to a collegian all season, with a win streak that dates back to the cross country season. He’s the top returning finisher from last year’s 5K and has run the sixth-fastest time this year.
4x400 relay — Arkansas
While South Carolina ran the second-fastest 4x400 meter relay of all-time on Valentine’s Day, the Gamecocks only finished fifth in the SEC Championships. The 4x400 relay is completely up for grabs. That’s why I’m going with Arkansas. The Razorbacks will get to run on their home track, potentially with a chance to win a title.
Distance Medley Relay — Oregon
The DMR should be exciting yet again this year. My pick to win is the Oregon Ducks, who have shown the level of resilience needed by championship groups. The Ducks ran 9:14.88 to close the regular season in Boston after a DQ in Arkansas during the same weekend. Oregon redeems itself this go around in Fayetteville.
SLEEPERS: Sleeper teams to watch during the men's indoor track and field postseason
Heptathlon — Peyton Bair, Oregon
Peyton Bair swept the combined event titles last year at Mississippi State. He hasn’t missed a beat in his new threads at Oregon with the No. 6 all-time point total of 6371 back in January. We should be able to look forward to another strong multi-event showing from Bair.
Weight Throw — Ryan Johnson, Iowa
Ryan Johnson is the collegiate record holder in the weight throw after breaking the all-time mark to win a Big Ten title. Johnson could surpass 25 meters again in Arkansas.
Shot put — Tarik Robinson-O’Hagan, Mississippi
Tarik Robinson-O’Hagan has won three of the last four shot put titles across the indoor and outdoor seasons, including the last two indoor shot put titles. He’s the pick here.
DEFENDING: Every returning champion for the 2026 DI indoor track and field season
Long Jump — Kelsey Daniel, Texas
Kelsey Daniel looks to be peaking at the right time, setting a new long jump PR of 8.12 meters to win an SEC title. The defending long jump champion has jumped beyond 8.10 meters three times in his last two meets.
Triple Jump — Jonathan Seremes, Texas Tech
Jonathan Seremes is the defending triple jump champion and leads the nation with a 16.96-meter jump. He’s the pick here.
High jump — Kimani Jack, Georgia
Kimani Jack has cleared 2.20 meters at four meets this season. Of those four meets, he only has three misses on 19 attempts at 2.20 meters or below. In what could be a close battle for the high jump crown, every miss will matter. Jack has shown the ability to be consistent at the lower heights and I think that will pay off.
Pole Vault — Dyson Wicker, Nebraska
Dyson Wicker has cleared 5.70 meters at every meet since his season opener back in December. En route to the Big Ten title, Wicker only needed two vaults before attempting a 5.79-meter pole vault. Wicker is on a heater entering indoor championships.
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Women’s event predictions
60 meters — Shenese Walker, Florida State
The fastest 60-meter time run by a collegian at Randal Tyson Track Center this year belongs to Shenese Walker, running 7.09 back in January to win the Razorback Invitational. Walker hasn’t lost a 60-meter race all season and has just one race over 7.2 seconds. Her consistency makes her the title pick here.
60 hurdles — Aaliyah McCormick, Oregon
Aaliyah McCormick just dropped a new PR of 7.89 seconds to win the Big Ten title. The last time she PR’d in a race ahead of an NCAA championship was 2025 at the West First Round meet. She then went on to win the 100-meter hurdles title.
We could see deja vu, but in the 60 hurdles this time.
BOWERMAN: The 2026 Bowerman Watch List for men's and women's NCAA track and field
200 meters — Adaejah Hodge, Georgia
In the 200 meters, we’ll see last year’s indoor champion, Indya Mayberry (TCU), race last year’s outdoor champion and 2024 indoor champion JaMeesia Ford (South Carolina). You’ll also have freshman sensation Adaejah Hodge (Georgia) in the race, the national leader in the 200 meters.
It’s a Cars 1-level race with Strip Weathers, Chick Hicks and Lightning McQueen — the legend, the runner-up and the rookie.
Who wins?
It’ll depend on the lanes and the heats for the final, but unlike McQueen in Cars 1 (spoiler alert), I think the rookie takes this one.
Hodge has won over Ford twice head-to-head this season and has run no slower than 22.53 in four races this season.
400 meters — Ella Onojuvwevwo, LSU
Ella Onojuvwevwo ran her first 400 meters of the season at the SEC Championships. She ran 51.79 in the prelims before dropping a 50.96-second finish to win one of the hardest non-NCAA title races in the sport. Onojuvwevwo proved she was in championship shape, even with a late start. That impressive showing creates intrigue for if she can run sub-51 again at nationals.
800 meters — Sanu Jallow-Lockhart, Arkansas
Take a look at this field for the women’s 800 meters.
Clemson’s Gladys Chepngetich has the nation’s fastest time. Penn State’s Hayley Kitching and Harvard’s Sophia Gorriaran both ran collegiate records in the 1000 meters. Arkansas’s Sanu Jallow-Lockhart ran a collegiate record in the 600 meters. Stanford’s Juliette Whittaker swept the indoor and outdoor 800 meters back in 2024. North Carolina’s Makayla Paige is the defending champion.
How do you pick a winner here? It’s not easy, but I’m going to pick Jallow-Lockhart to win thanks to a home-track advantage.
VALENTINE'S RECAP: Recapping an exciting weekend of track and field
Mile — Wilma Nielsen, Oregon
The women’s mile might be the most exciting race of the entire meet. BYU’s Riley Chamberlain ran the collegiate record this season, Oregon’s Wilma Nielsen is the defending champion and there are five women among the top six all-time performers in the race. Of the elite field, I’ll pick Nielsen to win because she’s done it before
3000 meters — Doris Lemngole, Alabama
Doris vs. Jane is back! Doris Lemngole ran a collegiate record in the 3K at Millrose Games, beating BYU’s Jane Hedegren in the process. In this elite matchup, I’m picking the reigning Bowerman winner.
5000 meters — Doris Lemngole, Alabama
Doris vs. Jane is back — again! One of the sport's newest rivalries has quickly become one of the best, with record-breaking performances in each of the last two meetings between Doris Lemngole and Jane Hedengren. Doris is 2-0 against Jane entering Fayetteville, so even though Jane has the collegiate record in the 5K, I’m picking Doris here.
4x400 relay — Arkansas
It’s hard to pick against Arkansas in a 4x400-meter relay. It’s even harder when two different quartets of Razorbacks have combined for the nation’s top-two times in the race this season. Arkansas wins its fourth indoor 4x4 title in the last five seasons.
Distance Medley Relay — BYU
BYU has Riley Chamberlain and Jane Hedengren on their DMR squad. Those two are good enough to win individual titles and help the Cougars to a third-straight DMR national championship.
MORE RECAPS: The most exciting performances of January | Performances you missed from December
Pentathlon — Meagan Humphries, Illinois
Meagan Humphries just won the Big Ten pentathlon with PRs in every event to give her the nation’s leading point total entering the indoor championships. That’s momentum that could carry her to a national title.
Weight Throw — Giavonna Meeks, Texas
Giavonna Meeks is coming off an SEC Championships where she landed weight throws beyond 24 meters three times in one meet. She had two 24-plus meter throws at the Tyson Invitational, giving her five on the season. Only one other woman has thrown beyond 24 meters this season, but even still, Meeks is the only one to throw the distance multiple times in the same meet.
Shot put — Axelina Johansson, Nebraska
Axelina Johansson won the shot put title last year and set a collegiate record this season. She’s the easy pick.
Long Jump — Sophia Beckmon, Illinois
Sophia Beckmon hasn’t finished a meet with a long jump shorter than 6.67 meters this season. That’s a distance that could win the title this year, and she’s reached that distance or further seven times this season.
Beckmon has also landed jumps of 6.85, 6.82 and 6.77 meters at the Randal Tyson Track Center this year. A good sign entering the championships.
Triple Jump — Ruta Lasmane, Texas Tech
It’s been two years since Ruta Lasmane won her indoor triple jump title, but she could return atop the podium this year. Lasmane hit 14.47 meters to win the title back in 2024 and has five jumps over 14 meters in her career, including one this season.
High jump — Temitope Adeshina, Texas Tech
Temitope Adeshina was a co-champion in the high jump last year. She’s since hit a new PR of 1.97 meters this season on the same track that she’ll compete for a title on. Adeshina has zero misses of 1.93 meters or below this year and she should defend her title in her second showing in Fayetteville.
Pole Vault — Hana Moll, Washington
Hana Moll is on a different level than the rest of the field as the lone Moll sister participating in this year’s pole vault. Hana is the favorite, and should keep the pole vault trophy in the family after her sister Amanda won last year.
🧠 WHAT TO KNOW: Comparing indoor and outdoor seasons | Wind and scoring explained | Greatest venues | Best uniforms
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