NCAA Women’s Track: BYU Repeats in DMR Thriller as Doris Lemngole Keeps Winning – Day 1 Recap

VIRGINIA BEACH, Va. – Day one of the 2025 NCAA Indoor Championships is in the books, and what a day it was. The BYU women repeated as distance medley relay champions after Riley Chamberlain ran down NCAA mile record holder Silan Ayyildiz of Oregon on the anchor leg, and Alabama star Doris Lemngole won her third NCAA title – one for each season of competition – by holding off BYU’s Lexy Halladay-Lowry in a pulsating women’s 5,000m final.

Tthe women’s 800 prelims delivered a pair of stunners as sub-2:00 women Sanu Jallow of Arkansas and Juliette Whittaker of Stanford, the reigning NCAA champ and Paris Olympic finalist, both failed to qualify for the final.

Recaps, analysis, and interviews covering all the distance action below.

Women’s distance medley relay: BYU denies Oregon to repeat as champions

NCAA mile record holder Silan Ayyildiz of Oregon got the baton on the anchor leg of the DMR with nearly a 4-second lead. If you think that meant she ran away with the title, you haven’t been following the history of the event.

Video of race here:

It helps to be fresh and Ayyildiz was doubling back from the mile prelims while BYU anchor Riley Chamberlain was fresh. Chamberlain caught up to Ayyildiz with 500 meters remaining and moved into the lead with 300 to go and never relinquished it as the Cougars, who set an NCAA record earlier this year of 10:37.58, repeated and won in a meet-record time of 10:45.34. Ayyildiz ran strong through the line to grab eight important team points for the Ducks in 10:45.99, as Providence, who snuck into the field as the 12th and final qualifier, ended up third in 10:46.28.

Chamberlain had the fastest split of the night in 4:25.12 as Ayyildiz split 4:29.68.

Looking back at the last 10 NCAA DMR women’s races, nine times the winning anchor was running fresh as shown in the table below:

With the win, BYU became the first women’s team to repeat in the DMR since Oregon in 2018-19. They also became just the fourth team to win the XC team title and the DMR in the same academic year; Villanova did it in 1994-95 and 2010-11, and BYU most recently did it in 2020-21 (with two entirely different sets of athletes).

One interesting note about BYU is that their 1200 runner, Jenna Hutchins, had never run a DMR in her life before tonight. She had taken multiple shots at qualifying individually this year but came up just short, running 8:52 and 15:31. Then, roughly two weeks before NCAAs, coach Diljeet Taylor held a 1000m time trial (complete with batons) that served as a de facto tryout for the DMR team. Hutchins won that race, made the team, and handed off in 3rd place tonight.

The Oregon women also deserve major props. It’s always tough doubling back from a prelim earlier in the night, particularly after the NCAA changed the schedule a few years ago to tighten the gaps between races. Wilma Nielsen doubled back from winning her mile prelim and ran the fastest 1200 leg of the night (3:19.66). Anchor Silan Ayyildiz was also doubling back, and while there is an advantage to running with a 2.7-second lead, it also essentially forced her to keep the pace honest not to squander it. That’s a tough spot to be in with a prelim in your legs. They came up just short, but this was a gutsy run by the Ducks. 

Women’s 5,000: Doris Lemngole completes her three-season sweep in a thriller

Alabama’s Doris Lemngole continued her mastery of the NCAA by defeating BYU’s Lexy Halladay-Lowry to win the 5,000 in a thrilling last lap duel, 15:05.93 to 15:06.17. The pace was hot from the beginning thanks to Stanford’s Amy Bunnage, who towed the field through 3000m single-file in 9:02.46. But Bunnage stepped off just after that, limping off the track and favoring her right leg, which was taped during the race.

From there, the nine-woman lead pack began to slow until the racing began in earnest with four laps to go. Halladay-Lowry took the lead with just under 600 to go and held it until just before the bell, when Lemngole went around. Halladay-Lowry tried to come back on her on the back straight and was making up some ground, but they were approaching a lapped runner and Halladay-Lowry could not get around in time before the turn. From there, Lemngole pulled away and held on to win thanks to a 30.48 last lap (30.56 for Halladay-Lowry).

Quick Take: Doris Lemngole remains unbeatable (for now)

Lemngole came to the NCAA in the fall of 2023 and has been incredible ever since (it does help when you enter the NCAA with a 14:40 5k pb on the roads). She was 2nd in her first NCAA final at 2023 NCAA XC behind Parker Valby, then 3rd and 4th in the 3k and 5k at 2024 NCAA indoors before breaking through to win her first NCAA title in the steeple at 2024 NCAA outdoors.

Since Valby turned pro, Lemngole has become the dominant force in women’s collegiate distance running. She has won 13 of her last 14 races against collegiate competition (her only defeat was 2nd in a photo finish at the NCAA South regional in XC) and has won NCAA titles on every surface – outdoors (steeple), cross country, and now indoors (5000). She also holds NCAA records in the steeple (9:15.24) and indoor 5000 (14:52.57).

Quick Take: Lexy Halladay-Lowry gave it her all but felt she made some tactical mistakes

Halladay-Lowry has been in a number of NCAA finals over the years, but she has never been kicking for the win like she was tonight. And that inexperience showed a little at the end of the race.

Halladay-Lowry said she knew Lemngole had a strong kick so she needed to be in the lead with more than a lap to go. She accomplished that. The problem was, she did not create any separation, which allowed Lemngole to pass her just before the bell. Halladay-Lowry said she regretted not making a bigger move when she took the lead.

“I took it kind of hesitantly,” Halladay-Lowry said. “Even in the moment I went, I was like, if you’re going to go, you have to go…I should have just hammered right from when I took it.”

That said, making a big enough move to drop Lemngole is easier said than done. And Halladay-Lowry also caught a bad break on the last lap – there was a lapped runner just ahead as she was making up ground on Lemngole entering the final turn. Halladay-Lowry noticed the presence of the lapped runner and said it forced her to briefly put on the brakes before resuming her kick once the runner moved aside.

“Passing people is always tough,” Halladay-Lowry said diplomatically. “I could tell Doris was still accelerating, so I had to wait, come back, and then I tried to go again on the side. I should have just waited.”

It’s hard to say whether it cost her the race (the runner did manage to step aside before Halladay-Lowry got there), but either way, Halladay-Lowry ran a very strong race tonight to challenge the brilliant Lemngole.

Women’s 800: Utter chaos as top seeds Whittaker and Jallow go out

Two women in the NCAA have broken 2:00 for 800 meters in 2025. Neither of them will be in this year’s NCAA indoor final.

The drama began in heat 1 when Arkansas’ Sanu Jallow, #2 in the NCAA this year at 1:59.77, took the race out in an insanely fast 56.72 for the first 400. She still held the lead at the bell, but finished the race with a piano on her back, running her last lap in 33.79 and fading to 6th. With the top three advancing automatically and only the next two fastest times advancing, Jallow was out.

Heat 2 was even more surprising as defending NCAA indoor/outdoor champion and Paris Olympic 7th placer Juliette Whittaker of Stanford was eliminated. Whittaker was in a qualifying position, third place, at the bell, but faded badly over the final lap and wound up 6th. Whittaker was the first woman out, missing the last qualifying spot by 0.21.

The other two NCAA champions in the field, 2023 indoor champ Roisin Willis of Stanford (2nd in heat 1 in 2:00.84) and 2023 outdoor champ Michaela Rose of LSU (2nd in heat 2 in 2:01.42) both advanced automatically, but neither won their heat. Instead, those honors went to Harvard’s Victoria Bossong in heat 1 (2:00.82) and North Carolina’s Makayla Paige in heat 2 (2:01.36), making for a wide-open final on Saturday.

Quick Take: You never know what is going to happen at NCAAs

Jallow and Whittaker’s races were both surprising, in different ways. Jallow, a noted front-runner, only has herself to blame. She got overexcited, went out too hard, and paid for it.

Whittaker’s was more surprising, but we later learned from someone close to Whittaker that she has been battling an injury. That would explain why she only ran on relays at ACCs two weeks ago and why she looked so far off her usual self on Friday. If that is the case, however, it was risky for Stanford to run her at NCAAs – considering how incredibly talented she is, it’s important to keep her healthy.

Quick Take: Harvard is now 800 U?

Okay, so 800 U might be a bit generous. But the Harvard Crimson are the only team with two women in Saturday’s final, led by Victoria Bossong. Bossong said she was pleased to make the final, but she came into the meet with the goal of winning. After Jallow’s and Whittaker’s exits, that is now a real possibility.

Women’s mile prelims: Oregon’s Wilma Nielsen & Virginia’s Margot Appleton impress

With no clear favorite in the women’s mile, the battle for spots in the final was always going to be tight. The second heat was particularly fierce, with Washington’s Chloe Foerster and NAU’s Maggi Congdon bouncing off each other at the bell of heat 2 as both tried to fight for inside position. That allowed Oregon’s Wilma Nielsen, already moving ahead, to open up a gap and win the heat comfortably in 4:34.17 thanks to a 30.46 last lap (Foerster and Congdon both advanced automatically).

ACC champ Margot Appleton also impressed in heat 1 as she closed her last 800 in 2:09.66 to win in 4:34.97.

In all, seven of the top 10 seeds advanced to Saturday’s final, with #4 seed Laura Pellicoro, the 24-year-old Italian from the University of Portland, the highest-ranked woman not to advance. Georgetown’s Melissa Riggins, the #2 seed who is the top returner (4th last year), also had to work hard to advance as she finished 4th in heat 1, just .06 away from missing out.

Quick Take: Wilma Nielsen has been busy

Most collegiate athletes get a week off from racing between their conference meet and NCAAs. Not Oregon’s Wilma Nielsen. On March 1, she won the mile at the Big 10 championships in Indianapolis. The next weekend, she was in the Netherlands, where she ran two rounds of the 800 meters for Sweden at the European Championships on March 7-8 (she missed the final by .02). And today, six days later, she looked terrific in winning heat 2 of the mile at NCAA indoors. On top of that, she doubled back for the DMR less than two hours later and split 3:19.66 – the fastest 1200 leg of the night.

Nielsen said she flew from the Netherlands to Virginia rather than returning to Eugene and that she wasn’t feeling the effects of all the travel.

“I’m good at transitioning,” Nielsen said. “I just sleep everywhere, so I feel good.”

There’s no rest for the weary – Nielsen will run the mile final on Saturday and then it’s off to China, where she’ll run the 800 at World Indoors.

Quick Take: Margot Appleton ready for any kind of final

Two weeks ago at ACCs, Appleton won the mile by following the hard early pace of NC State’s Grace Hartman and hanging on for dear life. Her splits: 2:11.01 for the first 809m, 2:15.20 for the last 800. Today was the opposite: Appleton went out in 2:25.31 for the first 809m and came back in 2:09.66 for her last 800. 

Looking ahead to the final, Appleton said she is ready for any style of race. The women’s mile has been historically fast at the collegiate level this season, but this is a championship, which means Appleton knows it could go tactical, too.

“I trust my kick and I think I’m also pretty strong, so I’m good either way, I think,” Appleton said.

More NCAAs: Day 1 Men: Gary Martin Delivers, 5k Sizzles: 6 Thoughts on Incredible Day 1 of Men’s Action at 2025 NCAA Track and Field Indoors

• The Official 2025 NCAA Indoor Nationals Thread 
• GARY MF MARTIN 
• EPIC Marco Langon interview after he goes for broke in NCAA men’s 5000 
• Simeon Birnbaum goes home devastated 
• Slow motion video of Deloris Lemnegole running into Hallady Lowrys lane