Official 2025 NCAA Indoor Conference Championships Live Discussion Thread

losing to a team barely ranked is good?

Through first three legs, split of 2:39 was strong. Legs just fully gave out, everyone knows the feeling.

Hilda O is going to be #20 on the 3000 list...Who would have thought she would (likely) not make Nationals in that after the 14:52?

Palmer tried to get a pacer out there with Tia Wilson like Hartman and Young did for the womens and mens at ACC's. But Wilson was only able to last 1200 and after she dropped none of the other athletes wanted to take the lead and the pace dropped to a 38 then a 39 over the next 400. Whereas Young and Hartman both helped pace for longer and the athletes left after they dropped were game to keep the pace hot.

I'm sure Palmer wasnt pleased with Olemomoi letting the pace drop like that. Lemngole clearly didn't care about time, she was just going to sit on Olemomoi and outkick her however fast the race was.

I attended the meet and was thinking the same thing. I looked at the board and North Carolina trailed the team score 71-53. I told the Syracuse fan seated in front of me that the North Carolina guys could make it very interesting going into the relay. But he seemed to think North Carolina wouldn't care about the team score and obviously he was correct. He was the father of a Syracuse runner.

Many good races but loads of frustrating choices. Neither Juliette Whitaker or Parker Wolfe ran an individual race. Wolfe's father showed up today after being absent on Saturday, which led me to believe he thought his son would run. Stanford fared well on the women's side despite Whitaker running nothing and Bunnage held out.

I thought the most amusing moment was the Duke coach going into the stands to watch the women's 4 x 400 and loudly stomping his feet on the metal grandstands numerous times during the race. I guess he was energized and emotional since something was finally going right. Duke won in a meet record. They've fallen off a long way since nearly winning the title 2 years ago other than the Miami runner knocking the baton out of the hand of the Duke anchor just before the wire. That Duke anchor Megan McGinnis was also the anchor today.

Why do you think that is on Henes? Most likely Hartman’s simple plan was to win the race, but she got a little too excited, running the first 409m at 4:15/mile pace.

Per post-meet recap on gostanford.com, Bunnage DNSd due to a family emergency. Likely, she is now back in Australia. Sure hope this doesn't mean she has to "stop out" for the rest of the winter quarter. We'll find out later this week when declarations & scratches for NCAAs are released.

However, if Amy had raced, an obvious 4th would have been her place, albeit likely with a new pr.

On another front, looks like Stanford does have a solution to its DMR 400 leg woes after all.

Sage Hinton gave Stanford 54.11 leadoff leg on its section-winning 3:36-point 4x400 team. On the DMR with a running start, that time should drop into the 53s, especially since Whittaker will give her a clear lead at handoff. Far better than the 55s they gotten from the other gal.

So, if Amy is back and still fit, a lineup of Whittaker -> Hinton -> Willis -> Bunnage will be very hard to beat.

And, if Amy is scratched from NCAAs, likely will see Kennedy take her place. Sophia actually anchored the team's DMR @ NCAAs last year when JJ entered a "B" squad to allow W&W to focus on the 800. Split 4:41-point, slowest anchor, but still managed to stay out of the cellar. Kennedy has run a 4:32-point mile this winter; a sub-4:30 anchor would be reachable.

Just noticed this for the first time: when the camera showed close-ups of Sophia throughout the race and in the home stretch, looked like she was breathing through her nose. Mouth was closed. Expressionless face. Looked like she was half asleep. And, admitted on the gostanford.com meet write-up, she recently missed a week due to an "injury scare." But had the confidence in her fitness to come out today and do what she did.

Whittaker, Willis, Bunnage, Kennedy -- quite a quartet JJ has assembled for this school year and next.

You see this quantity of high-end talent all the time at sprint/jump dominant schools like USC, Florida, Arkansas, et al, but rarely at schools with a big distance focus.

Include Alyssa Jones who just pulled off the HJ/LJ ACC double -- and confirmed afterwards she will do both at nationals -- JJ might have his women within grasp of an NCAA title.

I noticed Bandukwala anchored the 4x4 for Duke, this is the back-to-back Illinois XC State champion. So, that's quite a range. Although I think he started high school as a 400m/800m runner (I could be wrong). If you watch the replay, he did a good job on the anchor leg, too. He's returning to speed.

//subject change//

Is Jackson Heidesch update? He's still listed on the roster for Duke. Not sure what injury he has, thoughts and prayers.

Even though he hasn't competed in 1.5 years, he could still finish out his college career (at Duke, or elsewhere). Talent doesn't dissipate. It's still there, even if he isn't "race sharp". Plus, look at how old some of the NCAA athletes are. Patrick Tuohy is like, what, 26?

goduke.com

Jackson Heidesch - 2024-25 - Track & Field - Duke University

Jackson HeideschDistance - https://www.tfrrs.org/athletes/8618954/Duke/Jackson_Heidesch.html 2023-24 Outdoor Did not compete Indoor Did not compete Cross Cou...

Open link

EDIT: Wait, I found the answer, nevermind https://www.letsrun.com/forum/flat_read.php?thread=13065294

"So, if Amy is back and still fit, a lineup of Whittaker -> Hinton -> Willis -> Bunnage will be very hard to beat"

Well, if NC State runs Hartman I think they can match that, giving up some on the middle 2 legs but perhaps having an advantage on the 1200 and 1600. They would need to find a 2:06 at worst. But I still think taking Bunnage out of the 5000 is a big ask.

I finally rewatched and removing Brown imho was harsh....she was moving a little (and others were also) and did step forward slightly as gun went off but more often they just tell them to stand up, no?

Can we have a link to the source?

The video is on Youtube, search "ACC women's mile indoor 2025" and it should come up. Brown did move her foot before everyone else. It's harsh. It obviously was just nerves.

It was an expensive lesson to learn. It's too bad b/c she could've scored points for her team. She ended up 9th in the 3K. Just out of the money. Edit: she kind of fell forward though. I've heard: if you ever false start, don't look guilty. DON'T ADMIT FAULT. Just stand there, like you didn't do anything.

In this post-race interview, Willis seems unsure about it: she's all in on the individual 800, but "we'll see if our DMR can come together." Maybe reflecting the uncertainty about Bunnage? https://www.dyestat.com/gprofile.php?mgroup_id=44531&do=videos&video_id=419479

I hope Bunnage is OK & not injured too badly. I was sort of hoping to see a rivalry develop between her and Hartman for outdoor & cross seasons. She’s incredibly talented.

Bunnage declared for 5000 and 3000 so no dmr for her

Sorry a link to the go Stanford page please

We often see the talent on the roster at Oregon, CU, Stanford, NC St etc, just seldom all healthy and fit at the same time!

In addition to your law firm of Kennedy, Bunnage, Willis & Whitaker, the Cardinal has Dudek, Riggs, Dadamio and Riley Stewart floating around. Maybe the xc team finally maxes out this year.

Dudek by the way looks healthy and efficient again.

Kennedy appears to have made a big breakthrough. Watchout for outdoor 5&10 and xc!

No one fears the tree. They couldn't even beat #21 ranked clemson. They soft.