2025 NCAAs Day 1: 1500m Bloodbath as Abel Teffra & Liam Murphy Are Eliminated

EUGENE, Ore. – The 2025 NCAA Outdoor Track & Field Championships began with a bang on Wednesday at Hayward Field as NCAA 1500m record holder Liam Murphy of Villanova and NCAA indoor mile champion Abel Teffra of Georgetown were both stunningly eliminated in the first individual track race of the meet in the men’s 1500 meters. It was a very rough day for Georgetown as the Hoyas’ Tinoda Matsatsa, one of the favorites in the 800, had to scratch due to a quad injury.

In the sprints, Auburn’s Kanyinsola Ajayi ran 9.92 (+1.6) to lead the 100m qualifiers as Arkansas’ Jordan Anthony, who ran 9.75 at regionals, only got into the final as the final time qualifier after finishing 4th in the same heat (10.06). In other sprint action, Auburn’s Makanakaishe Charamba led the 200m qualifiers with a 19.94 (+0.9), while his teammate Ja’Kobe Tharp ran 13.15 in the 110 hurdles, Baylor’s Nathaniel Ezekiel ran a 47.86 400h. In the field, Minnesota went 1-2 in the hammer to give themselves a shot in the team hunt, while Wisconsin’s Jason Swarens won a dramatic shot put on his final attempt (21.23m).

New Mexico’s Ishmael Kipkurui and Habtom Samuel went 1-2 in the 10,000 in the only track final of the day. We have a separate article on that coming.

*Full results

Men’s 1500: NCAA champ Abel Teffra & NCAA record holder Liam Murphy are both eliminated

We did not have to wait until Friday’s final for the drama to start in the men’s 1500 as the first semifinal on Wednesday afternoon was an absolute bloodbath.

Villanova’s Liam Murphy, who set the NCAA record of 3:33.02 in March? 6th in 3:52.44. Eliminated.

Northern Arizona 3:33 man Colin Sahlman, the 4th placer last year? 7th in 3:52.76. Eliminated.

NCAA mile champion Abel Teffra of Georgetown? 11th in 3:53.52. Eliminated.

All three of those guys will be watching the final from the stands, while the likes of Bradley’s Jack Crull – who won heat 1 in 3:51.96 after closing in 50.62 for his last 400 – and Michigan true freshman Brendan Herger (4th in heat 1 in 3:52.36, 50.77 last lap) both advanced. That is the beauty of the NCAA championships. Nothing is given.

Four of the “Big 6” from our preview advanced – Washington’s Nathan Green, Virginia’s Gary Martin, Wisconsin’s Adam Spencer, and North Carolina’s Ethan Strand – with Murphy and Teffra eliminated. Of that group, Spencer (1st in heat 2 in 3:41.67) and Green (3rd in heat 1 in 3:52.19) looked the best. Strand was 4th in heat 2 in 3:42.09 while Martin just scraped through, grabbing the final auto spot in heat 1 by .07.

Heat 1 today was a reminder that anything can happen in a slow 1500

Today you saw why guys like Jakob Ingebrigtsen and Yared Nuguse prefer faster races – if you are strong enough to lead at a fast pace, you give yourself a better choice of advancing by minimizing the effects of variables like tactics and positioning. Leave it to the final 400, as the men in heat 1 did today, and the margin for error shrinks—you have to outkick more guys. Today, Murphy and Tefera simply couldn’t.

You can watch the final 700m below.

Here's the final lap of the men's 1500m heat 1 that caused chaos at NCAAs with Abel Teffra, Liam Murphy & Colin Sahlman all eliminated. pic.twitter.com/GIutRZck1v

— LetsRun.com (@letsrundotcom) June 12, 2025

But this is also what makes championship 1500s fun. Few people would have picked Bradley’s Jack Crull to win that heat – let alone win it comfortably enough that he could start celebrating before the line, urging the crowd to pump up the volume. Crull’s season’s best is 3:40.51, which ranks just 85th in the NCAA entering the meet. But he stayed on the rail throughout the race and still found himself near the front at the bell and showed today he can close as well as anyone in a slow race.

Crull, whose pb is 3:38.47 (which came en route to a 3:55.93 mile indoors), had pbs of 1:55/4:13/9:17 in high school, though he missed his senior year in 2020 due to COVID. He finished 2nd at the Missouri Valley Champs this spring. Before today, he had never run at NCAAs, and he admitted that when he saw some of the names in his heat, he expected a fast race and was hoping to just snag a time qualifier.

But he quickly realized it wasn’t going to be fast and adjusted immediately. 

“As soon as it changed plan, I knew I had to stay mentally focused on staring at everyone around me, focus on when people are making moves, and really just lock in,” Crull said.

Crull was still in shock over making the final when we spoke to him and said he had no expectations for the final. But no matter what he does in the rest of his career, he will always be able to say he won a race and celebrated to the crowd at Hayward Field.

What happened to the big names?

Murphy, Sahlman, and Teffra were all eliminated in the first heat, and while a slower race can introduce some anarchy to the results, there is still a reason why all three are going home. Murphy was in good position throughout and was simply outrun – he had a pretty clean run at things as he basically was lane 1 in the top 3 until the very end. He closed in 51.13 but that was only 6th-best in the field.

Sahlman, meanwhile, ran a poor tactical race. Look at where he was positioned on the first turn of the bell lap. Being in last at the bell in a race that will be won in slower than 3:50 and running extra distance in lane 2 is not what you want. And that was after he spent a lot of energy moving up from the back of the pack in the middle of the race.

Sahlman wasted too much energy going early in the race, and it cost him dearly. 

Repeat this coaching mantra – if you go wide to move up mid-race (like he did just before 700), make sure the move sticks. Do not try to move and get shuffled to the back. He moved up from the back just before 700 meters, and with two laps to go, found himself in a great spot in 4th, just 0.14 off the lead. But for some reason, he refused to keep going and just settle into the front and move into lane 1. A lap later he was in last and 0.70 off the lead.

Sahlman actually closed well for the last lap – 50.87, which was more like a 50.0 considering he ran all of it in lane 2. But he left himself with too much to do. It’s hard enough to pass 7 guys when they’re running 51s and 50s and basically impossible when you have to run extra distance to do it.

As for Teffra, who declined an interview with LetsRun after the race, he ran A LOT of extra distance as well. We re-watched the race and honestly don’t think he ever put a single foot in lane 1 at any point in the race. He ran the ENTIRE race in lane 2 (except for one straightaway where he was in lane 3).

Still, unlike Sahlman, he was in position to kick – 4th at the bell and with 150 to go – but he ran out of steam in the home straight. For whatever reason, maybe all the extra distance, he was not ready to close hard today as his 52.09 last lap was second-worst in the field.

Simeon Birnbaum’s strong season continues as he will run his first NCAA final

Birnbaum was a star recruit in 2023 after running 3:37 in the 1500 and 8:34 in the 2-mile as a high schooler but barely raced as a freshman last year due to injury. This year he has been healthy and has flashed his immense potential. He made it to NCAA indoors but finished last in his heat. Outdoors, he won Big 10s in the 5k and now he is in his first NCAA final on his home track.

Birnbaum was a competitive 3rd at Big 10s in the 1500 behind Spencer and Green but is not content to just be competitive in the NCAA final. When we asked him for his expectations, he kept it simple:

“I want to win,” Birnbaum said.

Props to Michigan’s true freshman Brendan Herger

We heard Herger say “I wish someone would interview me” as he walked through the mixed zone after making it to the NCAA final. We would have loved to but unfortunately most of the 1500 guys came through at the same time. 

Consider this an acknowledgment of his efforts. This was one of the most loaded NCAA 1500m fields in recent memory, so for a true freshman to advance to the final ahead of guys like Murphy and Teffra is really impressive. Herger was only 5th at Big 10s but he’ll be lining it up for the final on Friday alongside teammate Trent McFarland, the Big 10 indoor champ. Michigan is the only school with multiple athletes in the final.

Probably because there were no expectations, he ran relaxed and a perfect tactical race. He basically did the exact opposite of Teffra. He ran the ENTIRE race in lane 1 until maybe 50 meters to go when he stepped into lane 2 probably out of the fear he was going to run into guys slowing down ahead (that didn’t happen, he could have stayed in lane 1 the whole race).

Despite not leaving the rail at all, he found himself ahead of Sahlman midway through the final turn. Running in lane 2 instead of lane 1 for one turn is an extra 3.835 meters. Since Teffra was often times in the middle of lane 2, we’d estimate Teffra ran at least 30 meters more than Herger in the race.

If you put someone running at 51.00 quarter pace into lane 2 and make them run a full lap, it takes them 51.98 seconds to run the lap.

Men’s 800: Tinoda Matsatsa DNS as four guys run 1:45 in heat 1

The biggest news of the day came before a step had been run when Georgetown’s Tinoda Matsatsa, the second-fastest guy in the NCAA this year (1:45.04) and an Olympic Trials finalist last year was a DNS due to a quad injury. Matsatsa was meant to be in heat 1, which proved to be a wild one as it produced all of the time qualifiers. The top 5 all ran 1:46.27 or faster, with the top four all breaking 1:46. That included Oregon teammates Koitatoi Kidali (2nd in 1:45.31, his fastest time in a Duck singlet) and NCAA indoor champion Matti Erickson (4th in 1:45.89). Arkansas’ Tyrice Taylor won the heat in 1:45.23, the fastest time of the day.

It’s not too late. The LetsRun.com NCAA Prediction Contest closes at Friday at 8pm eastern when the 1500m final goes off.

Get your picks in today. Takes 5 minutes to play.

The other two races were much slower as Cal Poly’s Aidan McCarthy (1:47.25) and Virginia Tech’s Christian Jackson (1:47.09) both rode the rail to win heats 2 and 3, respectively. 2024 NCAA runner-up Sam Whitmarsh of Texas A&M also made it by taking 2nd in heat 2 (1:47.29) while 2025 NCAA indoor runner-up Abdullahi Hassan of Mississippi State (4th in heat 2 in 1:47.47) was not as fortunate and was eliminated.

In all, five of the top seven seeds based on SB failed to advance with Clemson’s Brian Kweyei (1:45.09 sb), Penn State’s Handal Roban (1:45.16), and Wake Forest’s Rynard Swanepoel (1:45.42) also missing out.

Top 8 seeds by season’s best
Place Athlete Year Team Time

1 Jackson, Christian JR-3 Virginia Tech 1:44.83 – Won 3rd heat

2 Matsatsa, Tinoda SO-2 Georgetown 1:45.04 – DNS

3 Kweyei, Brian SO-2 Clemson 1:45.09 – 6th 3rd heat

4 Roban, Handal JR-3 Penn State 1:45.16 – 4th 3rd heat

5 Whitmarsh, Sam SR-4 Texas A&M 1:45.35 – 2nd heat 2

6 Hassan, Abdullahi SR-4 Miss State 1:45.39 – 4th 2nd heat

7 Swanepoel, Rynard SR-4 Wake Forest 1:45.42 – 3rd 2nd heat

8 McCarthy, Aidan JR-3 Cal Poly 1:45.53 – 1st 2nd heat

Tinoda Matsatsa missed NCAAs due to a poorly-timed injury

Georgetown coach Brandon Bonsey said Matsatsa strained his quad Friday at practice and that it was clear when he did strides yesterday that he wasn’t ready. 

“I don’t think it’s a major injury,” Bonsey wrote in a text message to LetsRun.com. “It’s just really poor timing. We are both really disappointed but I have to look out for the long term of his career. I wasn’t willing to put him out there when he wasn’t healthy.” 

A bad break, but Matsatsa’s future remains very bright. Bonsey said he thinks he will be fine to run USAs at the end of July.

Texas A&M’s Sam Whitmarsh hoping to run with joy, rather than pressure, in the final

Whitmarsh was 2nd in the 800 last year and said that a few weeks ago, he felt the expectations of trying to live up to that performance again in 2025. So he has tried his best to release those expectations and run with joy. 

So far, it has been working. He won SECs, then won both of his race at home at the West regional. Now he is hoping it all comes together at NCAAs, but mostly, the jovial Whitmarsh is trying to savor his final races as a collegian.

“It feels like the puzzle pieces have started to click,” Whitmarsh said. “I was definitely feeling [the pressure] a little bit earlier this season and just that weight of last year was kind of sitting on my shoulders. I had to figure out how to take that off and give it away and run with that joy.

“Nothing other than grateful can describe how I’m feeling right now. It’s awesome. What an opportunity. And what a special chance to get to step on the track with some other great guys and get to toe the line again one last time.”

Aidan McCarthy post-race

Men’s steeplechase: James Corrigan says he is fitter than he was at the Olympic Trials last year and thinks Henry Rono’s legendary meet record of 8:12.39 is “realistic”

There wasn’t much drama in the men’s steeple prelims as the three top seeds – Kenyans Geoffrey Kirwa of Louisville and Mathew Kosgei of New Mexico, and American Olympian James Corrigan of BYU – all qualified comfortably for the final. 

And what a final it should be. Kirwa has run 8:13.89 this year, which is the fastest by a collegian since Henry Rono in 1978, and Corrigan ran 8:13.87 last summer. Mathew Kosgei was the World U20 silver medalist last year.

Last year NCAA championships were a learning experience for James Corrigan. He had never run a steeple prelim before and got a bit excited, running a pb of 8:28 to win his heat. But he could not improve on that in the final, where he was 9th in 8:29.

Corrigan got more experience with the rounds at the Olympic Trials, where he finished 3rd to surprisingly make the team, and today he ran a controlled 8:24 to comfortably qualify 4th in his heat.

Corrigan said he wants to make another team this year to show that his Olympic berth was not “a fluke,” but he said that NCAAs is what he has been focused on. He has never won an individual title.

“This is definitely important to me,” Corrigan said. “We’re peaking hard for this.”

Corrigan added that he didn’t mind the influx of Kenyan talent into the NCAA this year (Kirwa and Kosgei are both freshman), saying it was an honor to race such talented athletes. And he said he’s “definitely” in better shape than he was at the Trials last year. 

“My workouts have been amazing, at least in my eyes, and I think I have a pretty good idea of where I’m at,” Corrigan said.

Corrigan was asked what he thought it would take to win on Saturday. He first said faster than the Worlds standard, which is 8:15.00. We then told him his coach Ed Eyestone had told us it might require breaking Rono’s 8:12.39 meet record to win. Corrigan did not disagree.

“I think it’s realistic,” Corrigan said.

Mathew Kosgei post-race