NCAA Track Day 1 Women’s Recap: Distance Favorites Advance, Julien Alfred and Abby Steiner Fly, Camryn Rogers and Adelaide Aquilla Break NCAA Records

By LetsRun.com
June 9, 2022

EUGENE, Ore. – The women’s portion of 2022 NCAA Outdoor Track and Field Championships got underway today at Hayward Field.

The only track final was the women’s 10,000m, won in dominant fashion by Alabama’s Mercy Chelangat. That gets its own article here.

Below we recap the semifinals in the 800, 1500, and steeplechase and then the sprint and field action after that.

For Wednesday’s Day 1 men’s action click here: LRC 2017 Foot Locker Champ Dylan Jacobs Wins NCAA 10,000m Title, Unheralded Former High School Phenom Alex Maier 2nd 

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Women’s 1500: Top 5 All Advance

The 1500 semis were largely uneventful as all of the expected contenders moved on to Saturday’s final. In terms of the 10 fastest seeds, 8 of the top 10 advanced, including the top 5.

Top 10 1500 Seeds / Result

1. 4:08.72 Sintayehu Vissa, Ole Miss Q – Won heat 2
2. 4:10.80 Shannon Flockhart, Providence Q – 4th in heat 1
3. 4:11.00 Julia Heymach, Stanford Q- 2nd heat 2
4. 4:11.33 Ellie Leather, Cincinnati q q – 1st time qualifier in heat #2
5. 4:11.65 Emily Mackay, Binghamton – Won heat 1
6. 4:12.04 Anna Vess, NC State – DNQ – last in heat 1
7. 4:12.65 Eusila Chepkemei, Middle Tennessee State Q- 5th heat 1
8. 4:12.67 Flomena Asekol, Alabama DNQ – 8th heat 2, missed time qualifier by 0.03
9. 4:12.82 Christina Aragon, Stanford Q – 2nd heat 1
10. 4:13.26 Micaela DeGenero, Colorado Q – 3rd heat 1

Indoor mile champ Micaela DeGenero is known for having a big kick but the runner with the biggest kick in the tactical first heat was Binghamton’s Emily Mackay who won it in 4:21.44 after a 60.95 final 400. The win was some nice redemption for Mackay who went into NCAA indoors as the collegiate leader in the mile (4:30.94) but failed to make the final and then finished next to last in the 3000. A sub-61 close is pretty good for someone who ran the 5000 last year at NCAAs (7th). 

Indoor mile runner-up Sintayehu Vissa of Ole Miss, the SEC champ, won the much faster heat #2 (everyone in heat 2 ran faster than the heat 1 winner) in 4:13.13 after a 64.26 final lap.

Results *Results by heat and lap splits
1 Sintayehu VISSA SO OLE MISS 4:13.13 Q 2(1)
2 Julia HEYMACH SR STANFORD 4:13.45 Q 2(2)
3 Krissy GEAR SR ARKANSAS 4:13.48 Q 2(3) SB
4 Olivia HOWELL SO ILLINOIS 4:13.76 Q 2(4) SB
5 Maia RAMSDEN FR HARVARD 4:14.12 Q 2(5)
6 Ellie LEATHER SR CINCINNATI 4:14.20 q 2(6)
7 Melissa TANAKA JR STANFORD 4:14.43 q 2(7) PB
8 Flomena ASEKOL SO ALABAMA 4:14.46 2(8)
9 Stefanie PARSONS JR NEW MEXICO 4:14.58 2(9) PB
10 Megan MARVIN SO FURMAN 4:15.76 2(10)
11 Grace JENSEN SR VANDERBILT 4:17.07 2(11)
12 Rachel MCARTHUR SR COLORADO 4:21.15 2(12)
13 Emily MACKAY SR BINGHAMTON 4:21.44 Q 1(1)
14 Christina ARAGON SR STANFORD 4:21.53 Q 1(2)
15 Micaela DEGENERO SR COLORADO 4:21.61 Q 1(3)
16 Shannon FLOCKHART FR PROVIDENCE 4:21.76 Q 1(4)
17 Eusila CHEPKEMEI SR MID. TENN. STATE 4:21.84 Q 1(5)
18 Caroline TIMM JR PRINCETON 4:22.32 1(6)
19 Anna GIBSON JR WASHINGTON 4:22.42 1(7)
20 Izzy THORNTON-BOTT JR OREGON 4:23.90 1(8)
21 Abbe GOLDSTEIN JR NEW MEXICO 4:25.25 1(9)
22 Gracie MORRIS SO TCU 4:25.53 1(10)
23 Nevada MARENO JR NC STATE 4:26.52 1(11)
24 Anna VESS SR NC STATE 4:34.08 1(12)

Quick Take: Julia Heymach is into the final after heartbreak in 2021

Stanford’s Julia Heymach had an interesting 2021 postseason. At NCAA regionals, she dropped her pb from 4:16 to 4:09 to make it to NCAAs, but she failed to qualify for the final at nationals. She bounced back, however, running a pb of 15:33 to finish 6th in the NCAA 5,000 final, and then, after grabbing the final time qualifier into the Olympic Trials final, ran another huge pb of 4:04 to finish 6th.

How does someone go from not making the NCAA final to running 4:04 two weeks later? Well, in her semifinal last year, Heymach lost her balance with about 150m to go and spent a lot of energy trying to catch up. As a result, she wound up tying up badly – so badly that she wound up falling before the line.

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So despite finishing 6th in the Olympic Trials final, Heymach was very pleased to make it into the NCAA final this year. She said her fitness now is similar to this time last year, so she has NCAA-winning potential. But she was also only 7th in the mile indoors, so any outcome is on the table.

Quick Take: Micaela DeGenero ready for Saturday’s final

DeGenero, the NCAA indoor champ, spent a lot of time near the front of the pack, which isn’t her favorite position to be in – even though it wound up benefiting her once the pace went super slow. She closed well, running 61.17 for her last lap, but given the slow winning time in her heat (4:21), it was actually only the fifth-fastest last lap.

DeGenero’s season’s best of 4:13 is only 10th in the field, but that’s a bit misleading as DeGenero hasn’t had the opportunity to get in a truly fast race this year. Despite her big kick, she stressed that she is ready for any kind of race on Saturday.

“I think a lot of people are inclined to think that a slow pace caters to my strengths, and I am too, but I’m fit and ready to do a fast race as well,” DeGenero said.

Women’s Steeple: Top 9 Advance

The women’s steeple prelims went very much according to form as all nine of the women who had run 9:45 or faster on the season advanced to the final. Arkansas senior Logan Jolly, the SEC 3rd placer and Clemson grad, ran the fastest as she ran a big 7+ second PB to take the first heat in 9:38.13 (previous pb of 9:45.47).

The winner of the second heat almost ran a 7-second PB as Pac-12 runner-up Kaylee Mitchell of Oregon State lowered her pb from 9:48.30 to 9:41.51 to take the he

9:45 was the magic number as you had to run that fast to advance.

Top 9 Seeds / Results

1 9:26.88 Courtney Wayment SR-4 BYU Q – 4th in heat 1 after leading a lot of it
2 9:32.14 Ceili McCabe, SO-2 West Virginia Q – 3rd in heat 1
3 9:32.42 Elise Thorner, SO-2 New Mexico Q – 5th in heat 2
4 9:41.15 Joyce Kimeli SR-4 Auburn – Q – 3rd in heat 2
5 9:42.22 Madison Boreman,  JR-3 Colorado – Q 2nd in heat 2
6 9:44.71 Kayley DeLayJR-3 Yale – q 1st of 2 time qualifiers, 6th in heat 6 in 9:43.86
7 9:44.76 Grace Fetherstonhaugh, JR-3 Oregon State Q – 5th heat 1
8 9:45.31 Olivia Markezich SO-2 Notre Dame – 2nd in heat 1
9 9:45.47 Logan Jolly, SR-4 Arkansas – Ran 7+ second pb to win heat 1 (9:38.13)
10 9:48.20 Emily Colev JR-3 Duke DNQ – 7th heat 1

Results *Results by heat and lap splits

1 Logan JOLLY SR ARKANSAS 9:38.13 Q 1(1) PB
2 Olivia MARKEZICH SO NOTRE DAME 9:40.81 Q 1(2) PB
3 Ceili MCCABE SO WEST VIRGINIA 9:41.10 Q 1(3)
4 Courtney WAYMENT SR BYU 9:41.21 Q 1(4)
5 Kaylee MITCHELL JR OREGON STATE 9:41.51 Q 2(1) PB
6 Madison BOREMAN JR COLORADO 9:41.95 Q 2(2) PB
7 Joyce KIMELI SR AUBURN 9:42.27 Q 2(3)
8 Alissa NIGGEMANN SR WISCONSIN 9:42.75 Q 2(4) SB
9 Elise THORNER SO NEW MEXICO 9:43.00 Q 2(5)
10 Kayley DELAY JR YALE 9:43.86 q 2(6)
11 Grace FETHERSTONHAUGHJR OREGON STATE 9:45.17 Q 1(5)
12 Adva COHEN SR NEW MEXICO 9:45.18 q 1(6) SB
13 Kayla WINDEMULLER SR MICHIGAN 9:47.36 2(7) PB
14 Carmen RIANO SO MIAMI (OHIO) 9:48.81 2(8)
15 Emily COLE JR DUKE 9:57.09 1(7)
16 Perri BOCKRATH JR KENTUCKY 9:57.58 2(9)
17 Laura TABORDA SO EASTERN KENTUCKY 10:03.13 1(8)
18 Gabrielle ORIE JR COLORADO 10:04.28 2(10)
19 Helena LINDSAY SO VIRGINIA 10:14.78 2(11)
20 Sasha NEGLIA SO NORTH CAROLINA 10:15.44 1(9)
21 Malia PIVEC JR OREGON 10:23.96 2(12)
22 Kayla SCHIERA SR SOUTHERN ILLINOIS 10:29.58 1(10)
23 Lexy HALLADAY SO BYU 10:31.38 1(11)
24 Annie BOOS SR SYRACUSE 10:35.61 1(12)

Quick Take: Courtney Wayment would love to close her NCAA career with a title in her favorite event

Wayment has won NCAA titles in the 3000, 5000, and DMR indoors, but never in the her specialty event.

“The steeple, it’s my baby,” Wayment said. 

Though she was only 4th in her prelim, Wayment said things went exactly to plan for her today as she was never in any danger of missing the final and could relax over the final lap with her spot assured. Wayment will be the favorite on Saturday, and we asked whether she would target Courtney Frerichs’ NCAA record of 9:24 set at this meet six years ago (Wayment’s pb is 9:23).

“I’ve kind of put records not really on my list of goals,” Wayment said. “I want to just focus on being here and in the moment. I think if I do that, everything will work out how it’s supposed to.”

Quick Take: A long road back to the NCAA final for Madison Boreman

Madison Boreman was second at NCAAs as a Colorado freshman in 2017. But that would prove to be the last steeple she would run for almost four years due to a combination of injuries and the COVID pandemic. The COVID break turned out to be a blessing in disguise for Boreman, however, as she no longer had to worry about trying to get back into action quickly for a race. Instead, she kept her mileage low and focused on getting healthy. It worked, and after making it to NCAAs last year (but missing the final), she ran a pb of 9:41.95 today to finish second in her prelim and make the final. What’s her goal for Saturday?

“I think everybody goes into the final and wants to win it,” Boreman said. “Or at least get a PR out of it or something to be proud of. So all of the above, I guess.”

Women’s 800: 7 of top 8 Advance

800 semis at all levels of sport can be dicey but for the most part things went according to form as 7 of the 8 fastest women on the year made the final.

Women’s 800 Top 8 Seeds / Results

  1. 2:00.98 Katy-Ann Mcdonald, LSU Q – 2nd heat 2 – 2:02.51.
  2. 2:00.98 Sarah Hendrick, Kennesaw State q – was rewarded to taking heat 3 out as she got 2nd time qualifier in 2:02.34 after finishing 4th
  3. 2:01.41 Kristie Schoffield, Boise State  Q – Won heat 3 in fastest time of day (2:01.79)
  4. 2:01.42 Imogen Barrett, Florida – q – Rallied from 7th to 3rd in over final 200 in third heat to time qualify (2:02.24)
  5. 2:02.14 Valery Tobias, Texas Q Won heat #1 in 2:03.50
  6. 2:02.31 Aaliyah Miller, Baylor – q – Led heat 2 for 700+ meters but ended up third but got in as last time qualifier at 2:03.05.
  7. 2:02.49 Josefine Eriksen, Utah – DNQ – Last in heat 3 (2:09.57)
  8. 8. 2:02.70 McKenna Keegan, Villanova Q – 2nd in heat 3.

One person not making the final was indoor NCAA runner-up Claire Seymour of BYU, who was just 5th in heat 1 in 2:04.91 – three full seconds behind what she ran to get 4th outdoors last year

The two women who made the final but are not listed above are Oklahoma State’s 22-year-old freshman Gabija Galvydyte from Lithuania, who closed hard to take heat 2 in 2:02.46, as well as Texas’ Valery Tobias, the indoor 4th placer who was just 5th at Big 12 outdoors a few weeks ago but won heat 1 in 2:03.50.

Results *Results by heat and lap splits
1 Kristie SCHOFFIELD SR BOISE STATE 2:01.79 Q 3(1)
2 McKenna KEEGAN SR VILLANOVA 2:01.82 Q 3(2) SB
3 Imogen BARRETT JR FLORIDA 2:02.24 q 3(3)
4 Sarah HENDRICK JR KENNESAW STATE 2:02.34 q 3(4)
5 Gabija GALVYDYTE FR OKLAHOMA STATE 2:02.46 Q 2(1) PB
6 Katy-Ann MCDONALD JR LSU 2:02.51 Q 2(2)
7 Aaliyah MILLER SR BAYLOR 2:03.05 q 2(3)
8 Dorcus EWOI JR CAMPBELL 2:03.17 3(5) PB
9 Carley THOMAS SO WASHINGTON 2:03.44 3(6)
10 Avi’ Tal WILSON-PERTEETE SR TEXAS A&M 2:03.50 [2:03.492] 2(4)
11 Valery TOBIAS JR TEXAS 2:03.50 [2:03.499] Q 1(1)
12 Gabrielle WILKINSON JR FLORIDA 2:03.70 Q 1(2)
13 Sydney STEELY SO MISS STATE 2:03.85 [2:03.841] 2(5)
14 Kassidy JOHNSON JR KANSAS STATE 2:03.85 [2:03.845] 3(7)
15 Aurora RYNDA SR MICHIGAN 2:03.85 [2:03.846] 1(3)
16 Honour FINLEY SR KANSAS 2:04.42 2(6)
17 Presley WEEMS SR AUBURN 2:04.65 1(4)
18 Claire SEYMOUR JR BYU 2:04.91 1(5)
19 Rachel GEARING JR PENN STATE 2:05.41 2(7)
20 Laura PELLICORO SO PORTLAND 2:05.59 1(6)
21 Katherine MITCHELL JR BOSTON COLLEGE 2:05.86 1(7)
22 Victoria TACHINSKI SR PENN STATE 2:06.16 2(8)
23 Ellie DELIGIANNI SO STANFORD 2:07.21 1(8)
24 Josefine ERIKSEN SO UTAH 2:09.57 3(8)

Quick Take: Boise State’s Kristie Schoffield thinks it will take sub-2:00 to win on Saturday

Only five women have broken 2:00 in NCAA history, but after four women ran 2:02.34 or faster in heat 3, the winner of that heat, Boise State’s Kristie Schoffield, said she expects the sub-2:00 club will expand in Saturday’s final.

“I think it’s gonna be sub-2:00, but I definitely think I’m capable of that right now,” Schoffield said.

Schoffield was 6th in the final in 2019 but then went almost three years before PRing again due to a combination of injury, COVID, and a coaching change. But after pbs at her conference meet and regionals (2:01.41 in the latter) and another 2:01 today, the gains Schoffield believed she made indoors – evident in workouts, if not her races – are starting to show.

“I’ve really been working hard to reprove myself on the track,” Schoffield said, adding that her goal for the final was simple: “Win.”

Sprints: Julien Alfred, Abby Steiner, and Talitha Diggs All Go Fast

The women’s 100 was historically fast as Julien Alfred of Texas and Abby Steiner of Kentucky both ran 10.90 (+0.6, and +1.0 respectively) and 6 different women broke 11.00. Steiner was even better in the 200 as she ran another pb and equaled the meet record with a pb of 22.02 (+0.5).

In the women’s 400, indoor champ and Florida sophomore Talitha Diggs ran the fastest semi in meet history as she came from behind to take heat 1 in 50.08 (#8 in collegiate history) as Texas’ Stacey Ann Williams, the Big 12 champ and indoor 3rd placer, ran 50.18 for second. Today’s run made us wonder if Diggs might do something similar to what she did indoors. Indoors, Diggs, who was second last year as freshman and is the daughter of four-time 800m Olympian Joetta Clark Diggs, was third at SECs but first at NCAAs. At SEC outdoors, she was fourth a few weeks ago.

Field Events: Meet and College Records Galore

The men’s decathlon wrapped up on Thursday and Arkansas’ Ayden Owens-Delerme tied Ashton Eaton‘s meet record by scoring 8457 to finish ahead of Texas’ Leo Neugebauer (8362), who was only 11 points behind coming into the 1500, but Owens-Delerme is a much better 1500m runner. NCAA record holder Kyle Garland of Georgia was 3rd with 8333 points.

The women’s field events started and ended with collegiate records. First up was Cal senior Camryn Rogers throwing 77.67 to break her own NCAA record in the hammer and win her third straight NCAA crown.

The field events ended with Adelaide Aquilla, the Ohio State Olympian and defending champ, throwing a massive PB of 19.64 (previous best 19.12) to break Maggie Ewen’s NCAA record of 19.46, and tie for #8 all-time in America.

In between, Gabriela Leon of Louisville won the pole vault (4.60), Ashton Riner of BYU (58.24) the javelin, and Jasmine Moore of Florida (6.72) the long jump.

*Full results here

Be a fan and talk about the meet on our world-famous fan forum / messageboard. *MB: Official 2022 NCAA Outdoors Women’s Discussion Thread – 5k is LOADED. Is it Tuohy’s time to shine?

More: Alabama’s Mercy Chelangat Earns Her 1st NCAA Track Title With Dominant 10,000-Meter Win  Washington’s Haley Herberg tried to make things interesting by grabbing a 26+ second lead early but Chelanagat ended up running the final 6 laps solo en route to her first NCAA track title.
*Complete 2022 NCAA Outdoor Coverage

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