Maura Beattie
Mar 16, 202223 min
Click here to see our Just Missed and Honorable Mention names.
Listed eligibility takes redshirts and Covid-related extensions into consideration.
TFRRS is used as a general guide when determining eligibility.
Was not ranked in our last update.
First number indicates how much the individual has moved in the rankings.
The second number indicates where they were ranked in our last update.
Covert came into the national meet with a solid 5k performance behind her after she ran 15:35 in mid-February at the Husky Classic. That was a PR for the Colorado redshirt freshman who then backed that up mark with a 3k personal best of 9:04 at the PAC-12 Invitational.
For someone who is stronger over the 10k, we felt like the 5k was the right path for Covert.
The 5k went out a little slow at the indoor national meet and then Mercy Chelangat (Alabama) threw in slow-surges a few times over the middle-half of the race before things started to ramp up. During the race, Covert was in there through the first 4000 meters, but then it got quick and the race required a lot more turnover.
The Colorado Buffalo wasn’t able to hang with the leaders, ending up in the chase pack, but that wasn’t necessarily a poor spot for her, seeing that it was her first indoor national meet.
She eventually held on for a 10th place finish in a time of 15:56.
Covert's ceiling is high and she still has plenty of room to grow and succeed on the national level with some added experience. We know that she has the aerobic capacity to stick with fast paces, but now she'll just need to learn how to translate that fitness to a championship setting that isn't as even pace-wise.
Week after week, Illinois’ Olivia Howell was on the cusp of making the rankings, but there was always one performer that out-did her. But thanks to her BIG 10 mile title and her 5th place finish at indoor national meet, Howell finally cracked the code and made our list.
Howell was consistent throughout the season, racking up multiple wins across the 800 meters and the mile. She event threw down a spectacular 4:33 mile personal best which looked much more exciting when you see who she beat this season.
When Howell arrived at the indoor national meet, she had the momentum to contend for a national title. She safely made it out of the prelims and ended up bettering her NCAA #11 seed time en route to the 5th place All-American finish. Her positioning was strong and she was also within striking distance. When looking at her poise, it was clear that she had been on the national stage before
Her performance this past weekend definitely wasn’t surprising given the fact that Howell ran 4:09 for 1500 meters last spring. The Fighting Illini’ stud isn’t one to be sleep on as we head towards the outdoor season, especially if she builds off of her winter success.
Finishing 7th at the indoor national meet is not a bad feat, but given that there were other performances that steal the show, Rynda falls back in the rankings.
The Michigan senior had never competed in an individual event at the indoor national meet, but after running 2:02 at the Meyo Invitational, Rynda’s name was tossed around in the conversation as a potential champion.
She impressed at the BIG 10 Championships, running a new PR in the 600 meters, an off-distance event, and that set her up nicely for a potentially big performance at the national meet.
Rynda qualified through to the final, running 2:04 to pick up the final automatic qualifying position in her heat. WIth Michigan not fielding a DMR, Rynda was able to rest that evening and set her sights on what was expected to be a fast 800 final.
Rynda didn’t let Sarah Hendrick’s (Kennesaw State) hot pace from the gun affect her race plan, but unfortunately, Rynda was never really in the race as the lap numbers dwindled.
The Wolverine veteran ended up finishing 7th in the field and ran 2:06. She has the potential to contend for top-three finishes when she is at the front, but a tactical race doesn’t seem to be her cup of tea. This race, of course, made things challenging given how odd the race dynamics were.
With the focus turning to the outdoor season, Rynda will surely just focus on a few 400 and 800 meter races before the championship portion of the season.
Can she prove that she still belongs in the title conversation? We think she can, but she'll need to be able to respond to certain moves with the same conviction that Butler and Seymour did this past weekend.
Finally, McArthur earned her first individual All-American honor after racking up so much national meet experience over the course of her career at both Villanova and Colorado.
During the regular season, prior to 2022, McArthur would put together solid performances, putting her name into the conversation to earn an All-American honor. However, once she reached the NCAA Championships, things would fall apart and she would fade out of contention.
Luckily, things changed this season for McArthur.
The senior raced somewhat sparingly (only three times) prior to the national meet, but each time she ran, she was posting strong mile performances and making improvements.
At the indoor national meet, McArthur continued to impress as she qualified out of the prelims with a new PR of 4:33 and a guaranteed spot in the final as she finished 4th in her heat.
McArthur found herself in the right place during the mile finals and although Degenero made a move that McArthur wasn’t able to cover it, that move did open up the field for McArthur to utilize her strong mix of 800 speed and cross country endurance to run away from her competition.
In the end, she earned a 4th place finish, only a 0.26 seconds out of 2nd place.
Either way, this was a big result for her and it was validated the idea that she was peaking right on time, something that many of her Colorado teammates can also boast.
West Virginia’s Ceili McCabe had a remarkable season opener back in December at the Boston University Season Opener when she ran 8:52, but then she went silent on the track. Weeks passed and we didn’t see McCabe’s name on any start lists.
But then came the JDL DMR Invitational in mid-February where McCabe contested the 1600 meter leg as a tune-up before the postseason. The sophomore ran a respectable time, but she wasn’t able to get the baton around the track fast enough for West Virginia.
One week later, McCabe toed the line in the mile at the BIG 12 Championships and came away with a 3rd place finish and new mile PR of 4:38, as well as a 3rd place finish alongside her teammates in the DMR.
Was she back in prime race shape to contend for the 3k title at the national meet?
This past weekend, McCabe competed in her first indoor national meet and was holding her own in the 3k final until Taylor Roe (Oklahoma State) opened up the race. McCabe wasn’t able to match the move and began fighting for a top finish, but she ultimately finished 8th overall in 9:05.
If McCabe had raced a few more times prior to the national meet, could she have placed amongst the top-three and match her seed? Would she have been able to better respond to the moves?
Maybe, but running a fast 3k doesn't always translate to having great tactics.
Now she can truly show off her talents during the outdoor season when she transitions to the steeplechase, her primary event.
She picked up her NCAA qualifying time thanks to an altitude-converted 5k at the Mountain West Championships and she left the NCAA Championships with an All-American honor. New Mexico’s Amelia Mazza-Downie flew under the radar during the season and then she showed up when it mattered the most.
At the NCAA Championships, Mazza-Downie led the pack of four Lobos with her 7th place finish. And to make it better, the sophomore matched her 15:37 PR from the outdoor season. She finished only one second out of the top-five as well.
This was a great improvement for Mazza-Downie from her 9th place finish in the 5k from the outdoor national meet last spring. Knowing that she can compete upfront with the nation’s best has to prepare Mazza-Downie for the outdoor season which likely have similar surges in pacing that we saw this past weekend.
As one of the most consistent 800 meter runners in the field, Maloney was on track to pick up her first individual NCAA title. However, things didn’t go as planned.
It was a nail-biter from the beginning for Maloney as she was the last athlete to pick up a time qualifier, just outpacing Gabija Galvydyte (Oklahoma State) by a mere two-tenths of a second.
Then, rather than competing on the Razorbacks' DMR team, Maloney regrouped and set her sights on the 800 meter final the next day so she could be a little fresher.
The next day was a new day. All of the women in the field had at least one half-mile race in their legs already, so it still an even playing field.
With Sarah Hendrick (Kennesaw State) taking the race out at a blistering pace, Maloney put herself in the front of the chase pack, going through the first 400 meters in about 58 seconds, two seconds behind Hendrick.
The redshirt senior started to pay for that hot pace over the course of the third lap as she started to fade into the pack and out of title contention. Ultimately, Maloney dropped to 6th place overall, finishing in a time of 2:05, well off of her 2:01 PR.
This was odd. Maloney didn't look great the entire weekend. Her strength allowed her to hang on for a 6th place finish, but that just didn't match what we had seen from her all season long. She stays in our top-20 given what she accomplished this season, but her national meet didn't help her stock.
Maloney is a name who shouldn’t be forgotten as we head into the outdoor season. One race won’t define her resume, but it does show that the competition in the 800 is fierce and she will need to work on her racing strategies to ensure her legs don’t fall out from underneath in the third-quarter of the 800.
After being disqualified the night before in the DMR, NC State’s Samantha Bush turned in a solid performance in the 3k.
In only her second NCAA Championship appearance, Bush picked up her second All-American honor after finishing 6th in a time of 9:02 via a tactical race. The sophomore was the second Wolfpack team member across the line and surely benefited from having teammates to race alongside, potentially giving her some sense of familiarity and comfort.
Bush came into the 3k final with a PR of 8:54 and was a name that was sort of passed over as she didn’t have the same type of resume as some of her competitors in this field. Her fastest mile was a recent 4:37, so Bush likely knew that she had to use her endurance rather than to rely on her finishing speed...or so we thought.
Bush flew under the radar and kept herself in the mix the entire race before closing in 32.28 seconds, the fourth-fastest amongst the field. She bettered her NCAA #8 seed by two places and will clearly be one to watch as we approach the outdoor track season.
This NC State standout was great this season. Her 3k personal best was obviously impressive, but her efforts to improve her speed, specifically in the mile and the 1000 meters, clearly paid off.
However, now the new question is...what will she ran during outdoors?
Steady and reliable. Those are the qualities that best describe Keegan.
In an 800 meter race that featured a handful of established and nationally-recognized names, Keegan seemed unfazed. The Villanova veteran didn't fret when Hendrick took out the pace hard and she rallied in the second-half of the race with a great late charge. Ultimately, the Villanova star finished in 3rd place.
Keegan could do no wrong this season and she once again delivered a great performance. We could try to say more, but what else is there to say for someone who never has a bad result?
Leather was fantastic this winter. She was a national qualifier in the mile last year, but she just wasn't strong enough at that point to truly contend for a place in the finals, much less an All-American spot.
However, Leather racked up major win after major win this season. She ran a 4:34 mile personal best and was able to take down some of the best distance runners in the country. The Cincy ace validated her fitness multiple times this season, which is why we should haven't been surprised to see her place 3rd in the mile this past weekend.
The Bearcat veteran perfectly timed her move late in the race. She fed off of the momentum from Rachel McArthur and eventually passed her to earn bronze.
Leather didn't have a poor race all season long. She was super consistent when it came to her wins and her times and her past experience at the national meet likely gave her poise that she didn't have last year.
Magness entered the 5k at the indoor national meet as the top returner from the 2021 indoor season after finishing 7th. But in 2022, the Michigan State Spartan one-upped her 2021 performance when she finished 6th in a time of 15:37, only five-seconds shy of her PR.
This Michigan State veteran was consistent all season long, never finishing outside of the top-two prior to the national meet. Magness also had plenty of momentum after coming off of her third-straight BIG 10 title in the 5k.
In the 5k final this past weekend, Magness placed herself well amongst the middle of the pack, staying in contention for the title through 4600 meters and covering moves incredibly well despite sitting in lane two for longer expected.
To say that Magness fell off the pace would be misleading. It would likely be more accurate to say that she just doesn’t have the same turnover as her competitors. That makes sense given that Magness is a long distance aerobic veteran who often utilizes strength rather speed.
As we turn to the outdoor season, Magness will look to once again finish highly amongst the NCAA in the 5k, but could we see the Spartan also move up in distance and dabble in the 10k? Shockingly, she has yet to contest that distance.
Seymour sort of fluctuated throughout the season. There were meets where she impressed, but there were also a few where we were looking for more.
Everything came together perfectly for Seymour at the indoor national meet when she finished runner-up in a time of 2:01 in the 800 meters. Rather than go with Sarah Hendrick (Kennesaw State) or Shafiqua Maloney (Arkansas), Seymour sat on the heels of Lindsey Butler (Virginia Tech) and waited to strike.
The BYU Cougar waited until the third lap of the final to start passing her competitors and in the process, she recorded the fastest 200 split of the field.
Seymour wasn’t able to catch Butler in the closing meters of the race, but she did walk away with her highest finish at an NCAA Championship ever and she was only five-hundredths of a second of her PR.
Not only that, but after coming in as one of the lowest seeds in this field, Seymour has once again proven that she peaks for the postseason better than anyone else regardless of her regular season. If you don't believe us, then her 2021 spring season will tell you otherwise.
At the same time, trying to rank her any higher than this is a challenge, mainly because other middle and long distance talents have been so much better throughout the entirety of this season.
So far in her career, Seymour has now finished in 5th place, 4th place and 2nd place at the national meet In her primary event. Given her progression, does she have what it takes to win a title before her time as a Cougar is done?
A lack of experience on the national stage, specifically as such a high seed, may have affected Mackay’s final races of the season.
Before this winter, Mackay had competed at three NCAA Championships and was named an All-American twice, but had yet to compete on the national stage during indoors.
The Binghamton senior had taken the NCAA by storm this season, quickly climbing up the ladder that is the national leaderboard week after week. Mackay’s personal bests of 2:03 (800), 4:30 (mile) and 8:54 (3k), which all came from this season, proved that she could compete in any event that she toed the line for.
The mile prelims were a little rocky for the senior as she failed to qualify for the final after finishing 5th in her heat, only 0.01 seconds out of 4th place and finishing 12th overall. This has to have taken some type of toll on Mackay’s confidence as she entered the 3k the next day.
A race that started out honest before turning tactical left Mackay in the race until the final 600 meters before a quick uptick in the tempo shook many tired legs. Mackay, unfortunately, wasn’t able to match the turnover of the field she and eventually faded to 11th place in a time of 9:11, running well off of her PR.
As poor as those performances were, this past weekend doesn’t take away from Mackay’s regular season highlights. The Binghamton senior was catching the NCAA off-guard each and every weekend, taking down big names en route to nationally ranked times.
So while she does fall in our rankings, we have to still acknowledge how elite she was this season.
Now, with some extra national meet experience, Mackay can translate some new racing tactics to her outdoor season. She’s been an All-American in the 5k, but will she attempt to pursue the 1500 meters after her regular success in the middle distance race this winter?
Competing at her first indoor national meet, Portland State’s Katie Camarena had two semi-respectable performances in both the mile and the 3k.
In the mile final, the senior was consistent through the first three-quarters of the race, bumping elbows to establish her position for the final two laps, right when Micaela Degenero (Colorado) made her move.
Camarena wasn’t able to react fast enough and began to get passed when it mattered the most, ultimately faded to 9th place in the field, finishing well off her PR in a time of 4:41, eight seconds behind the winner.
There was a short rest period between the mile and 3k finals, and the effort Camarena most likely put into the mile had to take a toll. The Portland State standout was never really in contention to contend for the 3k title as she wound up 13th in a time of 9:09.
These races were by no means poor for Camarena in her first track championships, but they just didn’t match her 4:32 and 8:57 performances from earlier in the season. Her versatility and promising positioning in past races from earlier this year led us to believe that she would be better.
You can’t take away the fact that Camarena beat numerous All-Americans throughout the season. Her regular season was spectacular and although her lack of national meet experience caught up to her, it's also fair to say that this Portland State star was still one of of the best runners in the NCAA this season.
Stanford’s Julia Heymach was peaking at the right time heading into the national meet after running 4:31 at the Boston University Valentine Invitational as well as a 3k personal best of 8:59 at the PAC-12 Invitational.
However, the senior opted to go for the mile/DMR double and opted out of the 3k.
Heymach safely qualified for the mile final, finishing 3rd in her heat, but it took a hot 4:33 pace to ensure a guaranteed spot. Heymach ended her first night at the national meet with a runner-up finish for the Stanford Cardinal in the DMR, anchoring the team home with a 1600 meter split of 4:33.
On day two of the national meet, the Cardinal veteran was right on pace with the field, staying out of any danger by running on the outside of lane one.
Although this is a good tactic for responding to moves, it still requires the runner to run a few extra meters per lap. The plan was working well for Heymach until the final 400 meters when Micaela Degenero (Colorado) threw in a big surge and opened the race up for the kicking to begin.
Heymach tried to match her competitors, but was unable to get to the front as the frantic nature of Degenero's kick from so far out truly caught everyone by surprise. In the end, Heymach had to settle for a 7th place overall and a finishing time of 4:37.
An All-American performance is still noteworthy and it sets Heymach up well for when she transitions to the outdoor track. This is a woman who is more than capable of winning a national title and her regular season performances, across any season of competition, suggest exactly that.
We were hoping for more from Alabama’s Mercy Chelangat in the 3k and 5k at the indoor national meet, yet the Crimson Tide star only finished in 10th place (3k) and 3rd place (5k).
Don’t get me wrong, her 3rd place finish in the 5k is still impressive for someone who was making her indoor national meet debut. Chelangat led the field on multiple occasions, leading 14 of the 25 laps, and dictated when surges were made.
However, Chelangat’s hold on the field wasn’t enough to keep Courtney Wayment (BYU) and Katelyn Tuohy (NC State) from moving fast the last 600 meters. Thopse two women went 1-2, respectively, while Chelangat had to settle for bronze in 15:31.
The 5k was going to be Chelangat’s best chance at an NCAA title as she doesn’t have the same raw speed that her competitors in the 3k do, and that weakness showed the next day.
The Alabama ace led the race twice early-on before being swallowed up and ending up in the back. Her finishing time of 9:08 was 10 seconds off of the winner.
Chelangat is definitely more of a 5k/10k specialist, so she will get to showcase her endurance on the outdoor oval in the coming weeks. If she was able to hold her own in the 5k, then she should, in theory, be favored to win gold in the 10k come June.
After such a strong regular season, Kelsey Chmiel’s name was thrown around in the conversation for winning an individual title in either the 3k and/or the 5k.
That didn't come to fruition for the NC State runner, but she gave it her best two nights in a row and left the meet with two more All-American finishes, placing 5th in the 5k and placing 7th in the 3k.
Chmiel is surely a stronger competitor the longer the race is. I mean, just look at the 15:27 that she ran at the Boston University Season Opener in December. She wasn’t too far off from that time with her 15:36 mark at the indoor national meet, a time that could’ve won the meet in any other year.
The junior was outstanding this year and showed some promising development in her middle distance speed her mile and 1000 meter prowess. However, she'll need to better utilize that improved turnover in tactical races, something that she may be able to do in the 10k during the outdoor season.
Florida State’s Lauren Ryan is only one of two athletes holding down their same position following the end of the indoor season.
Ryan’s 8:47 (3k) at the Boston University Valentine Invitational was what put her into the top-10 immediately. When you run the nation’s fastest time of the season, how do you not get ranked that high?
The junior’s ACC Championship performances weren’t anything major as she raced the mile and ended up finishing 3rd in 4:37, not too far off of her 4:36 indoor PR set earlier in the season.
The 3k was the only race on the docket for Ryan at the national meet, but came up short finishing 4th in a time of 9:01. To Ryan's credit, she never wavered out of the top group, but when the winning move was made 800 meters out, Ryan wasn’t prepared to start kicking.
Frankly, the fact that Ryan ran so fast on the indoor oval this season and then held her own against such elite competition in her first-ever indoor national meet appearance is wildly impressive.
However, with everyone running great times this winter or putting together great tactics this past weekend, we had to settle for Lauren Ryan at our TSR #8 spot.
Vissa had a tremendous national meet. She entered this past weekend undefeated and proved to be one of the most elite milers in the nation. However, much like Camarena and Mackay, there was some level of uncertainty as to whether Vissa would fully translate her regular season success to the postseason.
Sure enough, she did. Vissa was the first woman to go after Degenero when the Colorado ace made her bold and very aggressive move. That decision to immediately go after Degenero ended up being a brilliant decision as the rest of the field was still trying to react to the sudden change in pace.
With Vissa being the first to give chase, she too was able to open up a gap on the field and ultimately finish runner-up.
Vissa was phenomenal all season long. She was always a factor in every race and it just seemed impossible to beat her sometimes.
Micaela Degenero may have made the smartest and best move in women's mile finals, but Vissa clearly made the second-best move.
When talking about contenders for the mile title, we’ll be honest, Colorado’s Micaela Degenero was never mentioned.
Gosh...we really missed that one, huh? The senior came out on top in the women's mile this past weekend after a decisive move made from two laps out essentially ended the race then and there.
Leading up to the national meet, Degenero had only raced a handful of times. There wasn’t anything head-turning about her performances until she dropped a 4:34 mile time to finish 2nd overall at the PAC-12 Invitational behind teammate, and fellow mile finalist, Maddie Boreman.
However, even with this then-personal best, Degenero’s name still didn’t cross our mind as one to watch amongst the leaders.
At the indoor national meet, the Buffalo veteran just barely made the final, getting in based on time as the 10th and final qualifier. In the final the next day, Degenero wasn’t exactly amongst the leaders early on, but as the pace quickened, she shot to the front with 400 meters to go and challenged anyone to hang.
Yet, no one did.
They just weren’t able to react fast enough.
Degenero went on to be crowned champion in a shiny PR of 4:33, taking down 2nd place finisher Sintayehu Vissa (Ole Miss) by over a second.
That was easily one of the hardest and most convincing moves that I have seen in a while. Degenero was great this season and was peaking at the right time, but because she is a veteran and has the confidence to make the right move, she is now a national champion.
Kudos to her.
Rather than help her teammates on the DMR, Lauren Gregory took to the track for the 3k/5k double. And in the end, the distance standout finished the weekend with two top-five finishes.
Gregory is someone who just latches onto the competition and stalks throughout the entire race before she uses her quick finishing speed.
Opening the weekend up with the 5k, the junior didn’t let Mercy Chelangat’s on-and-off surges affect her race. Gregory maintained her position near the front and never relinquished her spot, only responding to moves she absolutely had.
She ultimately finished the race in 4th, but besides another All-American finish to add to her resume, Gregory ran a two-second PR of 15:32.
The next night saw Gregory implement a similar race plan, running near the front out of traffic. Although she couldn’t react quick enough when Taylor Roe made a decisive move from 800 meters out, Gregory bided her time and came agonizingly close to a championship title, running 8:59 to finish 3rd, less than one second out of the win.
Gregory has multiple All-American finishes to her name and a few team titles across the DMR and overall finishes. She is easily one of the most reliable and skillful veterans in the NCAA. Her regular season and national meet results show us why she's at TSR #5.
But...can she get the elusive individual title. Will the outdoor season be her chance?
I guess we'll have to wait and find out...
Was she injured during her racing hiatus or was she just getting in some solid training en route to a spectacular showing at the national meet?
Does it really even matter?
In the end, Katelyn Tuohy recorded a 2nd place finish in both the 3k and 5k. And with those races, she makes a massive jump up in our rankings.
It’s never fun to be oh-so-close to glory yet fail to reach it, but considering that Tuohy is a second-year rookie who had only raced twice leading up to the indoor national meet, this has to be cause for major celebration.
We were a little iffy on the potential of Tuohy’s performances leading up to the national as her only performance prior to the ACC Championships was her 8:54 (3k) mark at the Boston University Season Opener.
But then the NC State freshman picked up an additional NCAA qualifier when she ran 15:41 to win the ACC title in the 5k.
In both the 3k and the 5k, Tuohy positioned herself extremely well and bided her time until the final remaining laps before putting in a massive kick and scaring the leader in both instances.
In the 5k, Tuohy picked up a new shiny PR with a 15:30 performance, seven-seconds faster than what she had run in 2018 as a high schooler. She ended up less than a half second behind winter Courtney Wayment (BYU) in the process of earning All-American honors.
The 5k the night before didn’t take anything out of Tuohy’s legs as she recorded the fastest last 600 meters in the 3k field while trying to chase down Taylor Roe. However, she ran out of real estate and had to settle for another runner-up finish.
Her finishing time of 8:59 could have won a national title in any other given year, but it just wasn’t enough that day.
Tuohy had the best double as far as the distance races go at the NCAA Indoor Championships. The Wolfpack youngster will definitely be one to keep an eye on as we approach the outdoor season as she now loos like a legitimate title threat.
Amongst the 3k title favorites, Oklahoma State’s Taylor Roe had the freshest legs. Roe hadn’t raced anything prior to the 3k and that paid off well in the end for the junior.
Letting others do the work for the first 2200 meters, the Cowgirl took off with four laps remaining in the race and quickly distanced herself from the chase pack. This was a good move for Roe as some of her competitors boast raw speed across 800 meters, whereas Roe only has a personal best of 2:08.
As the four laps ticked down closer to the finish, Roe continued to lead while the likes of Katelyn Touhy (NC State) and Lauren Gregory (Arkansas) began to reel her in. It took about a 64-second last 400 meters for Roe to hold off Tuohy, 8:58.95 to 8:59.20.
This 3k win was a possibility for Roe after her two top-five finishes at the national meet on the grass. Her domination of the the mile/3k/DMR triple at the BIG 12 Championships this winter was also outstanding.
However, Roe's improved mile speed and personal best of 4:33 gave her a lethal mix of endurance and turnover which made her instinctual move to the front that much more challening to deal with.
Overall, this was probably the most loaded distance event of the weekend. Not only did Roe win the race, but she also had a season that included key wins and top finishes over elite competition. She is every-bit deserving of a top-three ranking.
Putting all her eggs into one basket, this Virginia Tech star came out on top after letting Sarah Hendrick (Kennesaw State) essentially rabbit the race for the first 650 meters. Butler bided her time and struck at the right time en route to her win.
She held off a strong charge from BYU's Claire Seymour, 2:01.37 to 2:01.96, for the win.
This performance wasn’t shocking by any means as Butler had been on a tear over the last few weeks, especially when you look at her 2:01 mark and her remarkable 4:29 anchor split at the ACC Championships.
Not only did Butler have the aerobic and mile strength to thrive in a fast setting established by Hendrick, but she had seen this racing style before from Aaliyah Miller during last year's indoor national meet.
Everything worked out perfectly for Butler perfectly and that showed in the results.
Courtney Wayment entered entered the national meet on a mission: Add to her collection of championship titles. And as expected, she began the weekend with her third NCAA title, second individually, in the 5k.
Even with a slow pace early-on and then Mercy Chelangat throwing in surges, the BYU veteran latched onto whoever was leading before she made a decisive move late in the race. She was able to hold off an ever-gaining Katelyn Tuohy at the line, finishing in a time of 15:30.
On that same night, Wayment could’ve competed on the Cougar’s DMR team, but she and Coach Diljeet Taylor opted to rest and recover for a competitive 3k the next day with the hopes of repeating as the national champion two years in a row.
In yet another tactical race, Wayment positioned herself well behind the leaders, letting others do the work before she could put in a surge of her own. However, Taylor Roe beat her to it. The BYU standout wasn’t able to catch Roe off of some tired legs, but she held on to finish 5th place overall in a time of 9:01.
Although she wasn’t able to pick up another NCAA championship title, Wayment finished up her indoor season as one of the best in the NCAA after running personal bests of 8:50 (3k) and 15:15 (5k) this season, marks which prove that she is on another level.
Claire Seymour (BYU)
Olivia Howell (Illinois)
Micaela Degenero (Colorado)
Rachel McArthur (Colorado)
Ellie Leather (Cincinnati)
Amelia Mazza-Downie (New Mexico)
Parker Valby (Florida)
Anna Gibson (Washington)
Madison Heisterman (Washington)
Sarah Hendrick (Kennesaw State)
Allison Johnson (Penn State)
Bethany Hasz (Minnesota)
Parker Valby (Florida)
Anna Gibson (Washington)
Madison Heisterman (Washington)
Sarah Hendrick (Kennesaw State)
Allison Johnson (Penn State)
Bethany Hasz (Minnesota)
Mia Barnett (Virginia)
Valery Tobias (Texas)
Grace Fetherstonehaugh (Oregon State)
Cailie Logue (Iowa State)
Katy-Ann McDonald (LSU)
Adva Cohen (New Mexico)
Gabija Galvydyte (Oklahoma State)
Kassidy Johnson (Kansas State)
Brooke Fazio (Richmond)
Kaylee Mitchell (Oregon State)
Nicole Fegans (Georgia Tech)
Kassidy Johnson (Kansas State)
Kaylee Mitchell (Oregon State)
Eusila Chepkemei (Middle Tennessee State)
Madison Boreman (Colorado)
Gracelyn Larkin (New Mexico)
Alexandra Hays (NC State)
Imogen Barrett (Florida)
Laura Pellicoro (Portland)
Bailey Hertenstein (Indiana)
Tori Herman (Kentucky)
Ruby Smee (San Francisco)