What NCAA outdoor track and field collegiate records could fall at the 2025 DI championships after four records fell in 2023 and eight in 2024? Here are the records that I think should be on notice in Eugene.
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Records that have already fallen
We’ll start with the collegiate records in events that take place at the NCAA championships. If an athlete broke the record once, obviously the record should be on notice to fall again.
- Women’s 3000m steeplechase — Doris Lemngole | Alabama
- Women’s Pole Vault — Amanda Moll | Washington
- Men’s 1500m — Liam Murphy | Villanova
- Men’s 5000m — Habtom Samuel | New Mexico
- Men’s 10,000m — Ishmael Kipkurui | New Mexico
- Men’s Discus — Mykolas Alekna | California
MORE RECORDS: Every collegiate track and field record broken in 2025, so far
Men’s records that should be on notice
- 100m | Record: 9.82s by Tennessee’s Christian Coleman in 2017
- 4x100m relay | Record: 37.90 by LSU in 2023
- Hammer | Record: 81.94m by Southern California’s Balazs Kiss in 1995
The men’s 100-meter record would surprise no one if it fell after the spectacular performances seen in the first round competition. South Florida’s Abdul-Rasheed Saminu ran the fastest wind-legal mark in a 9.86-second finish, the No. 2 time in NCAA history. Arkansas’ Jordan Anthony ran a +2.1 wind 9.75-second 100 meters, the No. 2 all-conditions time in NCAA history. Let’s hope it’s not windy in Eugene so the 100-meter record can go down.
Championship stakes, the first event of the championship and all-time teams? The 4×100-meter relay has all the ingredients for another record-breaking performance. We’ll start with South Florida, which ran 38.05 in the East region to qualify for the championship. Then we’ll go to Auburn next, which returns three runners from 2024’s title-winning squad that ran 38.03 to jump into the top five of the charts. Throw in Tennessee, which has run 38.20 this season, and you have three teams that could break into the 37 seconds and challenge for the NCAA record.
Balazs Kiss owns the top-eight all-time NCAA marks in the hammer throw as the greatest in the history of the event. That’s how dominant he was at USC. However, in 2025, Minnesota’s Angelos Mantzouranis and Kostas Zaltos have climbed the top-10 charts as the No. 3 and No. 8 performers, respectively. Those two are the top threats to take down the record that has stood since 1995
MORE: Every potential repeat champion at the 2025 DI outdoor track and field championships
Women’s records that should be on notice
- 200m | Record: 21.80 by Kentucky’s Abby Steiner in 2022
- 400m | Record: 48.89s by Arkansas’ Nickisha Pryce in 2024
- 800m | Record: 1:57.73 by Texas A&M’s Athing Mu in 2021
- 5000m | Record: 14:52.18 by Florida’s Parker Valby in 2024
- High jump | Record: 1.99m by Arizona’s Brigetta Barrett
- Discus | Record: 70.22m by Arizona State’s Jorinde Van Klinken in 2021
- Javelin| Record: 64.19m by Nebraska’s Rhema Otabor in 2024
The athlete with the best shot at taking down Abby Steiner’s 21.80 is South Carolina’s JaMeesia Ford. Ford has run 22.01 seconds this season, the sixth-fastest finish in NCAA history. 0.21 seconds is a long time in track, but if the conditions are right, it can be done.
It was only last year that we saw the 400-meter record fall at the NCAA championships as Nickisha Pryce became the first to ever break 49 seconds. In that same race was Arkansas’ Kaylyn Brown, finishing in 49.13. She’s back this year. You also have Georgia’s Aaliyah Butler this year. Butler ran 49.44 back in April. Both Brown and Butler are building up after running in the Olympics last year, so the two could be peaking just in time for the championships.
Athing Mu’s women’s 800-meter record has been on notice for the past few championships, but I think we may finally get that record to fall with top contenders to break the record back for another year. If that sounds like the same thing from the indoor season, it is! The top candidates to break the record are LSU’s Michaela Rose, BYU’s Meghan Hunter, and North Florida’s Smila Kolbe, who have all run top-10 times this year in the 800, with the former two breaking 1:59. Will 2025 finally be the year Mu’s record breaks?
New Mexico’s Pamela Kosgei ran the No. 2 all-time 5000 meters and is only 0.27 seconds behind Parker Valby’s record. Can 0.27 seconds be made up with a championship on the line? Of course it can.
Kosgei is the top candidate to break Valby’s 10,000-meter record, too. NC State’s Grace Hartman is another one to watch. Kosgei has run 31:02.73 (No. 2 all-time) and Hartman has run 31:20.60 (No. 4 all-time).
The last two indoor and outdoor high jump titles have ended in a tie. Texas Tech’s Temitope Adeshina, Georgia’s Elena Kulichenko and Illinois’ Rose Yeboah have all had a share of the title at some point during that stretch. All three have reached 1.97 meters outdoors. With only .03 meters to go for a record, the high jump record is one for the taking.
Louisville’s Jayden Ulrich threw the No. 2 all-time mark in the discus when she hit 69.39 meters back in April. With only one meter standing between the Cardinal and the record, she has a realistic chance of etching her name in history.
Three of the top four all-time javelin throws were launched by the Georgia Bulldogs this year. Manuela Rotundo and Lianna Davidson are the only non-record-holding women to surpass 63 meters in NCAA history. Either one could break the javelin record we saw set at last year’s championships.
BROOMS OUT: 16 DI track and field indoor champions looking for a season sweep at the 2025 outdoor championships
Bonus records to watch
- Women’s 100 meters
- Women’s long jump
Tima Godbless has progressed nicely this year in the 100 meters, going from 11.20 in her opener to 10.91 in the East meet. Leah Bertrand also ran 10.99 and 10.92 at the East meet, jumping up from an 11.20 at Big Tens. Sha’Carri Richardson set her 10.75-second record after not running faster than a +4.3 10.91 and a +0.7 10.99 ahead of her NCAA championship meet. Godbless and Betrand have already run faster at the same point in the season.
Baylor’s Alexis Brown jumped 7.03 meters at the Big 12 championships. The collegiate record is 7.14 meters. Brown has shown on multiple occasions that she can get beyond seven meters, so she’s a dark horse candidate to break a record.